The publishing industry, after several years of fearing that the Chancellor would impose VAT on books and newspapers, had something new to worry about last year; the longstanding Net Book Agreement was finally abandoned. Customers used to shopping around for the best price on carrots and turnips could now do the same with Tolstoy and Delia Smith.
Some said it was the best development in publishing for a very long time, and welcomed the increased competition. Others pointed out that publishing isn't the same as groceries. You don't stock good-looking carrots for the sheer prestige of it or because you think the farmer is worth encouraging, without reference to how many carrots you actually sell. But a surprising number of books are published for reasons that have nothing to do with profitability. 'Exactly', says the anti-NBA lobby. 'Try telling that to the struggling first-time novelist', respond the pro lobby.
When the Agreement (which began in 1899 as a terms-of-sale agreement between publishers and booksellers, aimed at preventing price wars and under-selling) crumbled, some were optimistic. It would lead to a Christmas bonanza, they said, but after Christmas when the accounts were drawn up, sanity and common sense would prevail. Unfortunately, though that has certainly to an extent happened (many bookshops will be sending large numbers of unsold titles back to publishers during early 1996), the loss of the NBA has had other consequences. Many top discounted titles have become seven-day wonders, for example. And like the retail market generally, book-buyers have become very bargain-conscious; according to one Christian bookseller, Christmas buying began very late last year, but the business done in the January sales was very brisk.
