Japanese Authors Blame Libraries for Declining Sales

April writes “According to this article at the Daily Yomiuri (JP), Japanese authors blame libraries for shrinking book sales. They say that many people will not buy a new book because the library has it. Their suggestions for how to fix the problem are sure to be controversial – either making the libraries pay authors a fee, or waiting some time after a book’s publication before making it available at libraries.”

November 20, 2003 by mcbride Uncategorized 7

Karl says:

November 21, 2003 at 12:53 am

Gee, here’s a thought…
…why not see what they can do to reduce book prices so that they can more easily compete with libraries. They are the publishers, after all.

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Anna says:

November 21, 2003 at 1:00 am

“Yeah, let’s make the libraries pay!”
I suppose they haven’t considered that the decline in book sales may actually have more to do with economic conditions than the presence of public libraries. It’s been at least 10 years since Japan’s economy took a downturn. You’d expect that some folks might not have the extra cash to buy books at this point.

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Walt says:

November 21, 2003 at 2:06 am

Not the first
It may be worth noting that the UK already has a process by which library circulation results in some payment to authors. Not that I necessarily think this is a good or equitable idea.

I don’t know whether near-universal public libraries are the great tradition in Japan that they are in the U.S. Here, most authors seem to recognize that libraries and bookstores support each other: That “getting read” is a key step toward “getting purchased.”

But, as with RIAA, when your industry is in decline, you tend to look for any available targets. Such is life.

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Lis says:

November 21, 2003 at 3:00 am

Re:Gee, here’s a thought…
Ah, no, Karl, they aren’t the publishers. They are the authors, and authors have zero input on the pricing of their books. And mouthing off to their publishers about bad pricing policies probably seems scarier than mouthing off to librarians about lending polices. Add to that the fact that most authors really no nothing about how bookselling and marketing work (neither do most readers, after all, or many librarians), it’s not that surprising that they’ve hit on this particular inappropriate target for their frustration at declining sales.

I’m sure their publishers will hurry to explain it to them, right?

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Karl says:

November 21, 2003 at 3:39 am

Re:Gee, here’s a thought…
Ooops. I’m sorry. I didn’t go back and check that we were talking about publishers. You’re right. Your points are well-taken. Thank you.

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Grumpy Librarian says:

November 21, 2003 at 5:22 am

Libraries = Organized Theft
Sounds like it might be time to revisit Writers Against Piracy.

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Anonymous Patron says:

November 21, 2003 at 6:38 pm

Too easy to find used books
Don’t blame the libraries – it’s much easier to find used books on the internet, in stores, etc. so why buy a new one and pay the author royalties? That’s what’s causing the decline in new sales – not the libraries!!

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