Ask the Critic: Availability of UK editions in the U.S.

Carol W. Penney writes:

Why do we in the U.S. have to wait months or years for U.K. or Canadian books?  We can order, for example, the latest Rankin or Stephen Booth from the U.K. or the latest Peter Robinson from Canada, but why can't we obtain them locally?  Is it illegal for Amazon U.S. to get a supply of these books for us?  I prefer to have them "untranslated", as I like a British book to sound British.

Excellent question! As for the first part, the UK publishers are separate from the US publishers, so they purchase publication rights for their respective territories separately. (For example, a book might sell to one publisher in the U.S. and a different publisher in the UK.)

As a result, the timing of releases -- and, in fact, whether or not a book is released at all -- is a business decision that they make individually, based on the mysterious ways of the publishing industry. (In other words, there's not necessarily any rhyme or reason to it.)

As for the second matter, U.S. bookstores do sell UK editions of books. You're not likely to find any UK editions at the local B&N, but mystery bookstores, for example, often carry a few, and they're available online. The problem is, they are expensive. (Presumably because of the cost of freight and the question of returnability.)

For example, Amazon will sell you a copy of the British edition of Meg Gardiner's much-acclaimed China Lake, which is not currently available from a U.S. publisher. However, even though it's a paperback, it still costs $25.

That's why these stores often won't carry UK editions once the American versions are available. There isn't a large enough market to justify the expense. So for those books, you probably need to order directly from a foreign bookstore, like Amazon UK.

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Comments

[Greg]

I agree that it's best to read the thing as the author published it in its original, U.K. voice.

[Steven T.]

I'd just like to point out that The Book Depository is an absolutely PHENOMENAL bookseller that will ship UK editions to the US for free.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/homepage.php

Simply can't recommend them highly enough.

[David J. Montgomery]

Please note that the endorsement in the comment above doesn't come from me. I don't know anything about the store in question.