BREXIT :

Iain2

Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Hi All…

Just a quick question ! For European Authors selling books to the UK, how will Brexit influence sales and distribution ?

Thanks in advance…, Iain.
 

stephenf

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
1,199
Reaction score
335
Brexit is not a predictable subject. However , I don't see the book trade being effected much . Currency fluctuation has always been a problem . Tax on books was harmonised by the EU . That was to stop Amazon trading in Luxembourger and only paying 3% vat . It is unlikely the UK will change it's tax on imported books or impose a levy .
 

Iain2

Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Thanks Stephenf… Surprised slightly; but I hope you are right.
 

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
7,271
Reaction score
9,335
Location
Dorset, UK
No-one knows what's going to happen after Brexit. Economists can speculate, "if this then that" but no-one knows what the "this" is going to be until Brexit happens. The government doesn't even know what's going to happen. They still don't have a deal. A deal would give people and businesses something concrete from which you can make predictions and decisions about markets and everything else. So basically, until the government knows what's going to happen, no-one else does.

On the plus side, people's reading preferences aren't going to change. Any distribution issues caused by a no-deal Brexit and border control re likely to be temporary because no-one's going to want that so they'll be forced to do something about it.
 

Friendly Frog

Snarkenfaugister
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
4,098
Reaction score
4,943
Location
Belgium
Much will depend on the deal, if there is going to be one at all. Right now Johnson is trying to restart negociations with the EU treathening a hard break come the deadline in October if the EU doesn't renegociate. That would mean NO transport of people and goods across the UK border. No books, no people, no nothing. I am pretty sure he's not that stupid. Actual starvation lies that way.

Eventually there will be trade and distribution of books across the border, because both sides can't afford not to. But when and how is anyone's guess at the moment.

In any case, I wouldn't be planning any cross-border book lauch in October. Because even if there is a deal by then, many things are going to need weeks to settle and be worked out in practise. Books and packages may be lingering at customs for god knows how long, or may cost an arm and a leg all of a sudden.

So right now the only certainty we have is absolute uncertainty. Things may change tomorrow or the day after that, and then back again, and maybe three or fours times across and back before the deadline is over. And god help us all if they're going to extend the whole process again if they can't make October. Which is as likely as any other scenario.
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,642
Reaction score
14,865
Location
Massachusetts
I am pretty sure he's not that stupid.

If two years of Trump have taught me anything, it’s not to underestimate just how stupid a leader can be. Unlike intelligence, stupidity in the Age of Trump seems to be an inexhaustible resource.

If Boris Johnson truly is “the UK’s Trump”, I wouldn’t bet anything I couldn’t afford to lose on any course being “too stupid to happen”?
 

Snitchcat

Dragon-kitty.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
6,344
Reaction score
975
Location
o,0
If Boris Johnson truly is “the UK’s Trump”, I wouldn’t bet anything I couldn’t afford to lose on any course being “too stupid to happen”?

Johnson is useless. He's incompetent, IMO.

But back to topic: BREXIT may likely be delayed another year. But no, reading preferences won't be affected, though launching a book "internationally" might be iffy. OTOH, physical barriers aside, there's always the digital launch -- perhaps not as big a draw nor as exciting, but it gets round borders and the BREXIT uncertainty. Or there might be a localised POD option in there somewhere?

Just thoughts.
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,642
Reaction score
14,865
Location
Massachusetts
But no, reading preferences won't be affected

I wonder, though, about e-books? Will it prove more difficult to buy e-books due to where the publishers are vs the buyers? Or even the readers of books already purchased -- if you as a UK buyer own a Kindle edition published in France, will you still have the rights to read that copy?
 

Snitchcat

Dragon-kitty.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
6,344
Reaction score
975
Location
o,0
I wonder, though, about e-books? Will it prove more difficult to buy e-books due to where the publishers are vs the buyers? Or even the readers of books already purchased -- if you as a UK buyer own a Kindle edition published in France, will you still have the rights to read that copy?

A speculative response: I imagine that copyright may not be on the table in the BREXIT deal / renegotiation. If copyright is there, that's only a minefield of galactic proportions amongst the minefields of all the points that need to be addressed. Would hope copyright would be affected, though. Although, if it is, I wonder how the governmental reading rights would be handled then...
 
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
16
Reaction score
1
I think the bad news will be for British authors, not for Continental authors... Are there more than 20 continental (living ones) authors published and read in the UK?

How many British authors (mostly professors) are there published and translated in the other 26 countries of EU?

Make the calculation now who is going to lose from Brexit (I refer here only matters of book-selling... if and only if Brexit will affect book sales).
 
Last edited:

stephenf

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
1,199
Reaction score
335
The problems with Brexit will mostly be for exporters from the UK . The EU may impose hops to jump through and extra costs . The EU will not make it more difficult for their exporters. I am a registered shipper , with the UK . I pay all taxes and duties , online before the goods leave the county of origin . It is rubber stamped through customs and delivered to me . I can't see why that would change. There is no global copyright protection now. But most countries do conform to conventions. That will not change. It is not the case that it might be hard to buy e-Books . But it might be that the author will not receive royalties. This happens now . The BBC can bloc u-tube from showing it's copyrighted marital in the UK , but Americans can see for free .
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,642
Reaction score
14,865
Location
Massachusetts
It is not the case that it might be hard to buy e-Books . But it might be that the author will not receive royalties. This happens now . The BBC can bloc u-tube from showing it's copyrighted marital in the UK , but Americans can see for free .

As far as I can tell, it's not guaranteed that if I move to another country, I still have the right to access the Kindle library I bought in the original country? (Would like to be wrong on this. Caveat: I don't believe there's any problem reading downloaded books in another country, but I'm talking about downloading them after a move.)

In the case of Brexit, I'd worry that this might be treated as a move w/r/t books purchased from EU publishers?

Guess we'll all find out. :Shrug:
 

stephenf

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
1,199
Reaction score
335
As far as I can tell, it's not guaranteed that if I move to another country, I still have the right to access the Kindle library I bought in the original country? (Would like to be wrong on this. Caveat: I don't believe there's any problem reading downloaded books in another country, but I'm talking about downloading them after a move.)

In the case of Brexit, I'd worry that this might be treated as a move w/r/t books purchased from EU publishers?

Guess we'll all find out. :Shrug:
This is not something I have actual done. But I understand Amazon will let your registered device access your account anywhere. Also, I believe it is possible to transfer your account to a new account , in a different country .
 

Iain2

Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Hi All and thanks…

On Facebook recently, I was obliged to click a ‘like’ concerning a post that underlined the fact that Switzerland does not have any ‘hard borders;’ (?4 I believe?) as such, why should Ireland have one ?
As such, the present situation is simply a pretentious and blatantly argumentative Bruxelles attitude trying to get their own back.

I belong to that UK generation that missed my New Zealand butter when the UK became part of the EU…, and I’m sure if I Google the situation, I’d find many other similar examples. The USA has promised a ‘1st status’ market between the two countries. (despite obliging the UK to accept genetically modified products which is not a problem, for as long as the product is then marked as a ‘health-risk’ before being sold) That would more than double the EU imports, please Trump and put Denmark and Flanders out of the bacon-pig market…, not to forget fishing and border controls for all the Bruxelles’ MPs.

I’m inclined to agree with Stephenf ! It will take some time but I’m sure that the UK will become another Switzerland but with a better and more honest business centre for investments.
However, the German difficulties for the time being will obviously be blamed on Brexit, but I’m sure that even a no-deal Brexit will create a simple ‘book-hiccup’ for a few months, before the pretentious MPs in Bruxelles find themselves queuing up at N°10.

Lol…, at least, I hope so !
 

Friendly Frog

Snarkenfaugister
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
4,098
Reaction score
4,943
Location
Belgium
If two years of Trump have taught me anything, it’s not to underestimate just how stupid a leader can be. Unlike intelligence, stupidity in the Age of Trump seems to be an inexhaustible resource.

If Boris Johnson truly is “the UK’s Trump”, I wouldn’t bet anything I couldn’t afford to lose on any course being “too stupid to happen”?
Yes, but Johnson hadn't struck me as that particular kind of stupid (then again, malice or incompetence can look frightfully like one another sometimes) It just seems as if he has decided that to have a political carreer he wants, a non-EU UK is the way to go, never mind what it is going to cost the UK in the process.

Call me old-fashioned but I like to believe that some politicians look for the benefit of the nation they represent, not their own political carreer, or at least not so obviously and blatantly go against the best interest of that entire nation.

That said, I never understood why the Brits didn't run Farage and Johnson out of town (not that we'd want them) in tar and feathers because of their gross misleading of the public during the referendum. 300 millions for the NHS a year, was it? How that's looking these days?

I wonder, though, about e-books? Will it prove more difficult to buy e-books due to where the publishers are vs the buyers? Or even the readers of books already purchased -- if you as a UK buyer own a Kindle edition published in France, will you still have the rights to read that copy?
Makes me kind of wonder whether these days there is something is the e-book license when you buy it, that details what to do in case of seccession of your nation out of the EU. I suspect most publishers have neglected that scenario when they started selling ebooks...

A speculative response: I imagine that copyright may not be on the table in the BREXIT deal / renegotiation. If copyright is there, that's only a minefield of galactic proportions amongst the minefields of all the points that need to be addressed. Would hope copyright would be affected, though. Although, if it is, I wonder how the governmental reading rights would be handled then...
Copyright is internationally sorted, isn't it? Berne Convention? I think it actually predates the EU, but I reckon EU regulation may have expanded it since then. If the UK has ratified the Convention, that much shouldn't change even in the hard Brexit.

I think the bad news will be for British authors, not for Continental authors... Are there more than 20 continental (living ones) authors published and read in the UK?

How many British authors (mostly professors) are there published and translated in the other 26 countries of EU?

Make the calculation now who is going to lose from Brexit (I refer here only matters of book-selling... if and only if Brexit will affect book sales).
The UK still has a ready-made market in the USA. I know the English market is fairly present in Belgium but I haven't got a clue how much the EU as a whole represents as a market for UK books. Although I wonder whether the UK will get much useful in ways of new trade treaties with Trump. He doesn't seem to understand negociations and feels like every treaty needs to have a loser and it ain't going to be him if he can help it...

That said, the EU-based writers that get translated in English also can have the USA as primary market.

In the case of Brexit, I'd worry that this might be treated as a move w/r/t books purchased from EU publishers?

Guess we'll all find out. :Shrug:
Eh, good question. Normally ordinary goods like books that are purchased are subjects to the rules of the place and moment of the purchase.

But then ebooks have to be all special with their 'you're not buying an ebook; you're buying a licence to that e-book, one that we can change anytime and to anything we want to.' I guess we'll indeed have to find out. Maybe I need to go and check if I have UK-bought e-books and back them up somewhere safe...

As such, the present situation is simply a pretentious and blatantly argumentative Bruxelles attitude trying to get their own back. [...]
... are you blaming the EU for the fact that Ireland and the UK share a border on the same island?

Okay then!

I know blaming things on Brussels is popular, and I'm not always a fan (hah!), but you know, I believe in blaming Brussels for the things Brussels actually done.

I'm also not sure how much the UK and Switserland compare, but hey, first time for everything.
 

Helix

socially distancing
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
11,695
Reaction score
12,079
Location
Atherton Tablelands
Website
snailseyeview.medium.com
As such, the present situation is simply a pretentious and blatantly argumentative Bruxelles attitude trying to get their own back...not to forget fishing and border controls for all the Bruxelles’ MPs.

Mate, aren't you actually living in Belgium?

It will take some time but I’m sure that the UK will become another Switzerland but with a better and more honest business centre for investments.
However, the German difficulties for the time being will obviously be blamed on Brexit, but I’m sure that even a no-deal Brexit will create a simple ‘book-hiccup’ for a few months, before the pretentious MPs in Bruxelles find themselves queuing up at N°10.

Lol…, at least, I hope so !

Operation Yellowhammer makes interesting reading.
 

Iain2

Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Hi Helix…, yes, and coming up for 50 years.
I honestly believe that over that period, I’ve done much more than what I would have done had I stayed in the UK. I’m certain of that !
However, living in a family full of politicians and to watch exactly how they behave ‘both sides of the door,’ pushes one to pose many questions. Nepotism and living above their means are the first visible signs and everyone knows for a fact that thick envelopes being passed under tables is an issue. (lol…, and this is a very small EU country)

I saw a video some time ago (German) with dozens of Strasburg MPs arriving at work with packed suitcases ready for the weekend. They all clocked-in ! They were then filmed leaving the building well before time and had their secretaries clock them out after hours, allowing them to claim for weekend pay.
Sorry, but ‘dishonest ducks’ in a pond is not just limited to the UK. However, the UK put a stop to it…, or at least is trying.

In the meantime, it’s in the EUs interest that Brexit works for everyone, so perhaps books will make up part of the solution.
 

Friendly Frog

Snarkenfaugister
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
4,098
Reaction score
4,943
Location
Belgium
Mate, aren't you actually living in Belgium?
Heh, you'd be surprised how much EU-critics and Belgium-critics this tiny country can hold.

But then we have so many governments crammed in here that people have so much choice to complain about!

Operation Yellowhammer makes interesting reading.
It makes for frightful reading.

Sorry, but ‘dishonest ducks’ in a pond is not just limited to the UK. However, the UK put a stop to it…, or at least is trying.
I know you're not trying to be funny here but... :roll:Keep dreaming that dream.

I'm not sure if it's in the best interest of the UK to be stuck back into their splendid little isolation with just their politicians...
 

Nadinarte

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 16, 2019
Messages
87
Reaction score
9
Brexit...
What a painful topic it is. :(
Me an my partner are actually considering moving out of the UK if things go berserk! ( ʘ͡ ₒ ʘ͡ )
I actually don't know what would happen to the book industry after Brexit but that's just another thing to worry about.

。。゛(ノ><)ノ
Nadia
 

Iain2

Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Lol… Not just "their politicians"! They also have me… :)
 

Iain2

Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Lol… 'Brexerk'! Don't worry ! I'm thinking of moving back to find some comfort.
However, if you do decide to leave, why not Belgium… Tin Tin, the Smurfs and Lucky Luke are drinking Belgian beer, wearing Antwerp diamonds, eating Belgian chocolate and firing Herstal UK Army SLR rifles.
However, some good advice would be to stay where you are !!!
 

Helix

socially distancing
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
11,695
Reaction score
12,079
Location
Atherton Tablelands
Website
snailseyeview.medium.com
Lol… 'Brexerk'! Don't worry ! I'm thinking of moving back to find some comfort.
However, if you do decide to leave, why not Belgium… Tin Tin, the Smurfs and Lucky Luke are drinking Belgian beer, wearing Antwerp diamonds, eating Belgian chocolate and firing Herstal UK Army SLR rifles.
However, some good advice would be to stay where you are !!!

That's quite the ironic response to Nadia's post.