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'From "competitive" to "ludicrous" pricing'

23 January 2006

'I think book retailing passed a tipping point this Christmas, from 'competitive' to 'ludicrous' pricing. That tipping point was when bestsellers were sold at less than half price. Sweet David Baldacci - how's that going to help book retailing? It looks like we don't value what we're selling and makes it appear we're ripping people off when we sell a book at full price. Book retailing must feel it's made a bit of an arse of itself at an office Christmas party: it can't quite remember what it did, there was a lot of drink, things got a bit messy and maybe it owes someone an apology. Not sure who though. Maybe another lap of the track and we'll have got it all out of our system. Happy New Year.'

Nigel Jones of Ottakar's in Publishing News