There’s Something About Amazon
There’s Something About Amazon
S. Joaquin Rivera
Broken Sword Publications, LLC.
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla) – The Wall Street Journal as well as numerous other media sources, including Publisher’s Weekly, are reporting that Amazon.com, the on-line retail juggernaut is forcing many Publish On Demand (POD) publishers to use the recently acquired POD service, BookSurge or else.
According to the reports, if a publisher fails to comply with Amazon’s demands to use their service they will lose the ability to sell their books directly on Amazon’s website, leaving Amazon resellers as the only option for consumers to buy their titles.
There is wide speculation on the issue and its validity. BookSurge is not popular with many authors due to its high costs and quality of their products. Various bloggers have initiated petitions in response to Amazon’s bold move but it is unclear where this will leave many publishers and authors who use POD services like LuLu, iUniverse and Lightning Source. The dust has yet to settle but many POD publishers have already had their “Buy” buttons removed.
The news has sent the independent publishing world into a frenzy of speculation and disgust but most mainstream news outlets seem uninterested thus far. Message boards on various writing and publishing Websites are rife with different opinions on the topic but no one seems to know if the decision is final, legal or if it will last for very long.
Many POD authors and publishers turn to Amazon as a book marketplace that has a history of credibility and offers incentives like free shipping. Slowly over the course of the past few years Amazon has broadened its reach into the publishing world by not only acquiring its own manufacturing service but offering other features like Amazon Shorts and Kindle to authors.
The jury is still out on whether or not having a title listed on Amazon is essential to a book’s success. The publishing world has changed drastically in the past few years with virtually anyone being able to publish for a reasonable fee. Publishing is already a cut-throat business and just because you can publish a book doesn’t necessarily mean you can sell it without the right kind of connections. Amazon is well aware of this.
However, as the industry moves forward, amidst the blood and carnage of chain book stores putting mom & pop bookstores out of business, and more people using POD services, Amazon seems intent on trying to bully their way to the top of the online book retail food chain. And so far, they are getting away with it.
Already it seems that many publishers are ready to turn elsewhere to sell their books. Amazon.com is far from the only bookstore on the web and while it may have 15-percent of the online book market its competitors are not far behind. Who is to say that the others will not follow suit? It wouldn’t be a shock if Barnes & Noble or any of the other major book retailers purchased their own manufacturing company and pulled the same kind of stunt.
© S. Joaquin Rivera, Broken Sword Publications, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Tags: Amazon.com, BookSurge, independent publishers, Monopoly, P.O.D.
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