Posted by Alan Hakim on October 14, 2008 at 16:05:07 user awhakim.
In Reply to: Re: TARBOARD - RIP ? posted by Mike Dennis on October 14, 2008 at 06:36:01:
Incidentally, I think that TARS might perhaps be shooting itself in the foot by restricting purchases from the TARS stall to members only. I've seen a few items there I might like to buy but am not allowed to, so it seems that TARS is forgoing revenue in return for their exclusivity. Of course that might be a deliberate policy rather than an oversight.
The reason that the TARS Stall items are restricted to members is mainly copyright. (Yes, I am sure you could buy anything from it that you could buy in an ordinary shop.) TARS is given a lot of help by the Literary Executors to publish copyright AR material with minimum formality, but on condition that it is for members only.
(And while I am writing - I too would be very sad to see the end of Tarboard. Without it, for example, I should never have heard of Ed, who at my invitation gave a most memorable talk to the TARS Literary Weekend in 2005. I now regard him as a friend, though we still haven't met. Thanks, Ian.)