Adios, Amazon
Posted in Uncategorized on January 30th, 2010 by adminTags: amazon, indie bookstores, macmillan
Late on Friday, my book, along with thousands of titles by Macmillan authors, vanished from Amazon. MacMillan titles (Macmillan umbrellas my publisher, Henry Holt, along with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Picador, and multiple other imprints) are now available only through third party sellers, and none of our books are available on the Kindle. This whole mess apparently boils down to a debate about the pricing on Kindle books; Macmillan wants Amazon to charge more, because the 9.99 price point apparently boils down to a loss, so Amazon told them to go f*ck themselves.
Capitalism! Always fun for authors, who typically don’t see a damn dime after their advance.
I’ve blogged before about not being a fan of the Kindle (too expensive for most people, not open source, annoyingly named), have no interest whatsoever in the Nook (seriously, with that name it should come bundled with a cat), and being in the ever-shrinking group of my friends who do not own a smart phone, ebooks just never crossed my radar. I don’t have anything against them in theory, since they’re just another manner of disseminating information, but my own book fell into some sort of contractual loophole when Holt tried to design an interactive ebook version of it for iPhones/iPod touches, which somehow never quite happened. I mean, as far as I know the design happened, but the ebook didn’t. The problem with the Kindle is that it binds you to Amazon as long as you have the device, much like iPhones bind you to AT&T, whose coverage, from what I hear, is pathetic. I guess I’m just not into binding, if that’s not TMI.
I suppose this mess just underscores the same thing I’ve been saying all along. Support independent booksellers. Powell’s has signed copies of my book, IndieBound can track down a copy anywhere in the US, and if you’re lucky to live within range of a brick and mortar store, all the better. Lots of libraries have it in stock. And if your local library doesn’t have it, email me and we’ll work something out.
Edited to add: Following in the path of these other MacMillan authors, I’m removing Amazon links from my site for the time being. I’m not sure anyone who wanted to buy a book about independent culture would do so from Amazon anyway, but if you’re gonna act like a big bully, well, you can suck it.
It is so crazy nuts how much of a slave everyone is to Amazon. It’s just so freaking convenient and cheap. But I guess it’s like the food industry - artificially depressed food prices are screwing farmers and consumers in the end. But I will always go dutifully to my favorite local independent bookstores and put a pile of money on a pile of (invariably, used) books that I need/want/can’t live without for some reason or another. And unfortunately that means the authors still won’t get any money for those purchases. But at least the bookstores will somehow stay alive.
I’d much rather that someone bought my book used and kept their local store going than have them buy it on a Kindle and line the pockets of Amazon any further. The issue here is now much this shows that Amazon (and to a certain extent, MacMillan) does not give a shit about writers. Our books could be rice cookers or Game Boys for all they’re concerned — just another product, and the Kindle is ultimately just another method for delivering that product.
I hope MacMillan is successful in bypassing Amazon, just to break the deathgrip that Amazon has on the market and show other publishers that they can do it too. But I suspect that this is just some sort of shot across the bow, and the two sides will come to a settlement and business will simply go on as before.
Yes, I think this is really two monsters staring each other down over Tokyo. Ultimately, we’ll go back to the status quo, ie Amazon struggling to maintain its monopoly against the iPad and all the other digital devices, and writers like me staring up at Gamera and Godzilla and wondering if we can get out before the city collapses.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by e-Books Store, danielnester and Billy Hot Chocolate, kaya oakes. kaya oakes said: RT @DanielNester @kayaoakes offers her view of the whole Amazon/MacMillan clustereff. Her book is worth buying, btw http://bit.ly/d8CJb5 [...]