AustLit

'In some ways little has changed. Our book market is still small compared with the United Kingdom and the United States, but large when compared with New Zealand, South Africa or Ireland. Australians are still enthusiastic book buyers, and support a wide range of retail booksellers. But in very relevant ways publishing has changed a great deal. We are all more businesslike these days, because we have to be. I suspect that all of us are better at reading a profit and loss statement than we were in the 1970s, and many of us can even fumble our way around a balance sheet. We have better tools and better information, but all the spreadsheets in the world won't help predict the next bestseller (or the next flop).' (Introduction 89)