AustLit

'The past few months have seen our industry undergo serious changes in terms of book distribution. In August Melbourne-based distributor Dennis Jones & Associates (DJA) ceased trading and entered voluntary liquidation. The human face of this news is that, sadly, Dennis Jones - a man who book-industry professionals refer to with praise and respect - has lost his business of 27 years. For more than 800 small publishers and self-publishers in Australia, DJA provided a vital service: offering those publishers distribution into bricks-and-mortar bookshops when other distributors weren't able to take them on. A lot of stock was left in the warehouse after the liquidation, but the Australian Society of Authors and the Small Press Network stepped in to help publishers pick up the pieces, and the Weekly Book Newsletter has since been filled with agency change announcements from distributors such as Woodslane, NewSouth, TL Distribution, Beribo and Booktopia Publisher Services. (Andrew Wrathall, Editorial introduction)