‘Special’ book sold out

Press, 22 June 1983, Page 5

‘Special’ book sold out

South Island readers are more interested in historic buildings than the Booksellers’ Association had thought. Copies of the June “Book of the Month,” “Historic Buildings of New Zealand: South Island,” have sold out in Christchurch and many would-be customers are upset that the book has not been available for the whole month. The “Book of the Month” campaign is run by a subsidiary of the Booksellers’ Association, which pfcts a

selected book “on special” for one month. This promotional scheme is run in March, June, and September, and a limited number of A first-release book is made available for sale by the “Book of the Month” body, at a discounted price. the book selected for June was “Historic Buildings in New Zealand: South Island,” published by Methuen New Zealand, Ltd. A limited edition of 6300 was bought by the body,, and orders taken from

Forty per cent of the copies were sent to the South Island, 16 per cent to Canterbury. Within a week of the book’s going on sale at $39.95 ($2O below its normal price), retailers sold out Many people have not been able to buy copies. “It appears that the Booksellers’ Association is doing its best to engender the illwill of the reading public,” said one unhappy Christchurch reader, Mr I. E. Martin. A spokesman for the

“Book of the Month” organisation said yesterday that retailers were notified well in advance of the choice of the book. The “Book of the Month” subsidiary decided on how many copies of the book would be released during the month, and retailers ordered the number of books which they considered would last the month. One leading book retailer in Christchurch saidd the shop had ordered 400 copies of the special edition, but had unexpectedly sold out $1 thin the first eight

days. The previous book for 1983 was Eion Scarrow’s “Guide to Gardening in New Zealand.” Thirteen thousand copies of the book were released during March at discount price, 10 per cent of them in Canterbury. Copies of that book had also sold out, said the spokesman. More copies of the book on historic buildings at the full price will be available at the end of JUne when the “Book of the Month” promotion ends. £»