The world is changing, Make your books available on line for a reasonable price. Cut out the publishers and book stores.

Personally I would use the library more if it were located in a more convenient place - - - in Jerusalem at least, the only library that I know is a long walk from the nearest bus stop. I buy at used-book shops because of the convenience of their locations.

If the authors don't want their books discounted they could just stipulate that in their contract, or make their royalties non-dependent on sale price. As it is they expect the government to act as their business managers!

I am a writer and I have to agree with what you are saying. The government needs to get out of our lives, and if we do not like the contracts we are getting from the book stores we should not sign with them. However book stores are dinosaurs and soon even the Week of the Book will be a thing of the past (as we know it) as more people buy ebook readers. I love mine. I hope you all get one soon.

Israeli book publishing doesn't operate as it did in the past anymore, or like it does in most places across the world. Our local book chains went a step further beyond taking over the market as smaller bookstores often died out. The largest chain, Steimatzky, merged with one of the largest publishers - Keter Publishing. Their merged company is now Keter Books. Steimatzky is also in charge of the circulation of many smaller publishing houses, such as Keshet, Ivrit, Kibbutz Meuhad, and a few others. On the other end you have Steimatzky's sole surviving major competitor, Tzomet Sfarim. But here's the rub - Modan Publishing, another of the biggest publishers in Israel, is part a business partnership with Tzomet Sfarim, which basically means that they share the management of the book store network with the previous members of the partnership. When people say that authors should stipulate this and that in their contracts, that's all well and good - except the publisher can then tell them to go and take a hike. There are next to no alternatives, and since the major publishers also hold the major bookstores, they control the distribution as well - meaning it would take a very brave writer to protest his existing contract. Personally, I think book costs should be lower, but that the writer's royalties should be higher than they are now. But I don't see that happening in our current, hyper-consolidated book market.

last year, but I never touched a book. I have an Amazon Kindle and download from the internet. No stores, no searching for an interesting book and I download a lot of public domain books for free. I have over 700 in my Kindle now. There are plenty of new books for under $4.00.

ignore their greedy leftist quntholes

I buy lots of books.I am shocked that the writers earn so little.