Malcolm Turnbull's book A Bigger Picture 'a bestseller' days after launch
This article is more than 8 months old
Sales figures comes as publisher Hardie Grant furious at Morrison government for not taking copyright seriously
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s new book A Bigger Picture sold almost 45,000 copies in four days, said its publisher.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s new book A Bigger Picture sold almost 45,000 copies in four days, said its publisher. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Josh Taylor and Malcolm Farr
Thu 23 Apr 2020 17.39 AEST
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The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s memoir, A Bigger Picture, has already been branded a bestseller by his publisher as a furious book industry demands Scott Morison reaffirm his commitment to copyright protection after its pirating by a prime ministerial adviser.
The book has dominated the non-coronavirus news for the last week with Turnbull’s account of his life, and his time in politics up to the point of what he calls the 2018 coup that saw him removed from the office of prime minister.
A spokeswoman for the publisher of the memoir, Hardie Grant, said the initial print run of 45,000 copies had almost exhausted in just four days, and the publisher was in the process of doing a second run of 15,000 copies, and a third run of another 15,000 copies on top of that. It was selling well across independent retailers, bigger retailers including Kmart and Big W, as well as in digital sales, where it is top of the charts on Apple Books.
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Jo Lewin, head of trade product for Booktopia, told Guardian Australia the company had sold 3,387 copies over the past few days, and was trying to get more stock in already.
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“We’re rushing to get more stock into our warehouse now,” she said.
The sales figures come as publishers express their anger at the Coalition, claiming ministers trivialised the unauthorised digital distribution of the book by Morrison staffer Nico Louw before its official release Monday.
A letter by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) sent to the prime minister on Thursday, and provided to Turnbull’s publisher Hardie Grant, underlines the financial harm from copyright breaches.
It turns the prime minister’s own comments on copyright back on him.
“You were unequivocal less than a year ago, when you said in the context of Chinese policy practices: ‘Intellectual property theft cannot be justified’,” reads the letter.
“We are writing to ask you urgently to make an equally emphatic statement that you and your government will uphold the private property rights of Australian publishers and authors.”
In a striking contrast, the education minister tweeted a photo of himself deep into a book with the words, “It’s World Book and Copyright Day so to celebrate I’m reading the Hafey Years by Elliot Cartledge What are you reading?”
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Hardie Grant wants to know the reading material of the 59 people Louw told the company he had sent copies of the Turnbull book.
The company asked them to respond by 10pm Wednesday to explain whether they deleted the Louw message or sent it on to others, and if so to whom.
The Hardie Grant chief executive, Sandy Grant, has declined to name the 59 recipients but told Guardian Australia on Thursday some had replied themselves while others had asked their lawyers to respond.
It is now believed the number of potential freeloading readers was around 20 times the original mailout.
“It is likely that members of your party, including members of your government and their staff, have created and distributed well over 1,000 copies of the book without either payment or permission,” said the letter signed by Australian Publishers Association president Lee Walker.
“Although the treasurer announced in the same week that ‘ ... it’s only fair that those that generate content get paid for it … ’, ministers in your government have reportedly treated this unauthorised copying as trivial.
“These actions have caused immediate harm to one Australian publisher. The muted response by your government now risks long-term damage to every copyright owner in Australia.”
In an email to the APA board and Hardie Grant, the association’s chief executive Michael Gordon-Smith described the government response to the issue as “tepid”.
The letter said the Turnbull book had been “printed in Australia and published by an Australian company forced by that (coronavirus) lockdown to make people redundant and to cut hours and salaries by 25%”.
“We seek your urgent confirmation that you will not condone or trivialise the appropriation of the property rights of Australian publishers and authors, and will take action to demonstrate that you will not tolerate it by individuals in your party, your government or your office.”
A copy was sent to communications minister Paul Fletcher.
A number of retailers have now slashed the asking price of the book, down from $55 to $29 at Kmart and Big W, but is out of stock in a number of city stores in Sydney and Melbourne, according to those store’s websites. Some stores in the west of Sydney still have stock, according to the sites.
The price on the Kindle store dropped from $17 on the date of launch down to $9.99, while the price on Apple’s bookstore remains $19.99.
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Political memoirs are often not big sellers in Australia, and Turnbull’s memoir appears to be gaining ground on the lifetime sales of other political memoirs.
According to data from Neilsen Bookscan provided to the Australian in 2017, former prime minister John Howard’s 2010 memoir Lazarus Rising had sold just over 103,000 copies in seven years, while former prime minister Julia Gillard’s memoir My Story had sold 72,000 copies in three years.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott’s 2009 book, Battlelines, had sold close to 14,000 copies.
Official Bookscan data on the last week of sales of Turnbull’s memoir will be released next week.
The sales figures come despite a large number of bookshops closing their doors amid the coronavirus pandemic, with many booksellers, large and small, resorting to sending books in the mail or hand-delivering in their local area.
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Helmut Krause
A good description of a narcissist
Reviewed in the United States on 20 April 2020Verified Purchase
Funny that in the editorial description of the book it never mentions once the number of people Turnbull destroyed on the way to the top starting with the sitting MP in Wentworth.
This is just the moaning of a man suffering from relevancy deprivation syndrome. It is a real pity that he has seen fit to tarnish his record (whatever it was worth) with demeaning revelations of backbiting and confidence revealing gossip tidbits.
It just does diminish the man and history will record such.
This is just the moaning of a man suffering from relevancy deprivation syndrome. It is a real pity that he has seen fit to tarnish his record (whatever it was worth) with demeaning revelations of backbiting and confidence revealing gossip tidbits.
It just does diminish the man and history will record such.
Anthony
a look at some Australian politics
Reviewed in the United States on 11 May 2020Verified Purchase
Long and detailed. It's an autobiography so that the author comes off smelling like roses. Or so he seems to think. It is in fact to a large extant whining and petulant. He is right about everything, every single little thing and his opponents are not just wrong but immoral tricksters. All of them. Yeah sure. He probably shouldn't have mentioned being caught shuffling money off to Caymen Island tax havens. He is quick to assert that it was not illegal (and strictly speaking that's true) But he just couldn't let it go. I did nothing wrong. Nothing wrong. Yeah right. I didn't know that he started his career as a lawyer for alleged criminals and a functionary for super predatory organizations such as Goldman Sachs. But yeah.
Of course what interests all of is the toppling of the prime ministers. In just a few years Australia watched four sitting prime ministers get knifed in the back by their colleagues and thrown out. In this country the people elect their parliamentary representatives. Then they elect, by party, the prime minister. And they can change their mind at any time. Turnbull was the knifer in one of these cases and the 'knifee' in a later one. He gives a good thorough account. Of course all of the the others were vicious, purely political and completely unprincipled. Only his knifing was righteous and just. Yeah sure. Given who he took out (Tony Abbott) I will at least agree it was necessary.
When they finally in turn tossed him to the curb he retired. Job well done. Yeah right.
He does deserve credit for taking a principled stand on allowing Same Sex Marriage and on acting on Climate Change one of the very few members of our ultra conservative (so called liberal) party to do so. Of course that's part of the reason that they tossed him overboard. So not all conservative ultra-rich nobs are completely blinkered, just most of them.
Overall a good enough book. Lots of detail. Very thorough. Worth a read. But don't necessarily believe what he's telling you. All politicians lie to some extant. You have to gauge just how much.
Of course what interests all of is the toppling of the prime ministers. In just a few years Australia watched four sitting prime ministers get knifed in the back by their colleagues and thrown out. In this country the people elect their parliamentary representatives. Then they elect, by party, the prime minister. And they can change their mind at any time. Turnbull was the knifer in one of these cases and the 'knifee' in a later one. He gives a good thorough account. Of course all of the the others were vicious, purely political and completely unprincipled. Only his knifing was righteous and just. Yeah sure. Given who he took out (Tony Abbott) I will at least agree it was necessary.
When they finally in turn tossed him to the curb he retired. Job well done. Yeah right.
He does deserve credit for taking a principled stand on allowing Same Sex Marriage and on acting on Climate Change one of the very few members of our ultra conservative (so called liberal) party to do so. Of course that's part of the reason that they tossed him overboard. So not all conservative ultra-rich nobs are completely blinkered, just most of them.
Overall a good enough book. Lots of detail. Very thorough. Worth a read. But don't necessarily believe what he's telling you. All politicians lie to some extant. You have to gauge just how much.
Michael Galvin
A good read
Reviewed in the United States on 24 April 2020Verified Purchase
I hope Tony Abbott reads this book. He will realise that Turnbull is also a far better writer than he is. This is an entertaining read from beginning to end.
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