Quote:
Originally Posted by richdlc
I would both agree and disagree with your first statement. According to my US distributer at RZM, the market for German-language only books is decreasing because a lot of buyers are older gentlemen who are dying off. However, my contact at Berlin Zinnfiguren tells me that bi-lingual books would be a good idea....so it's academic really. Personally I think that producing bi-lingual books is a waste of my time and money, and that English language books are what I should focus on.
As for your comment about postage costs and shipping stuff from Germany, you forget that if I, as a UK seller, did that, I would in effect have to register my business in Germany. Either that, or get a third party in Germany to buy and stock my products, then fulfil any orders I take in the UK for EU based customers. I'm afraid there really is no way I can think of to get around the VAT rules, other than move to a European country myself and, as mentioned, register my business there. Which is much easier said than done.
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Rich, I should have emphasized that I mean publishers in continental Europe. And it is not a question of avoiding VAT, it is about the actual shipping cost. Sending from the UK + VAT is often still much cheaper than pure shipping cost from especially Belgium or Holland.
I definitely see bilingual books very awkward if the book has any substantial main text. So English only, please.