<div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576383" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false"><span style="background-color:rgb(241, 241, 241); line-height:1.4em">Originally Posted by </span><strong style="background-color:rgb(241, 241, 241); font-style:normal; line-height:1.4em">Suddenly Newton</strong><span style="background-color:rgb(241, 241, 241); line-height:1.4em"> </span><a href="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576383" style="background-color: rgb(241, 241, 241); line-height: 1.4em;"><img alt="View Post" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" /></a><div class="quote-block">Antitrust laws unfortunately don't prosecute monopolies that result from natural market forces (i.e., one competitor beating the rest) as opposed to monopolies formed by conspiracies between competitors.</div></div><p> </p><p>Amazon has illegally conspired to “beat” the rest. Does that count?</p>
How? And if so have you made a formal complaint about their illegal practices to the correct agencies?
Why all the hate for amazon? Do you all want to continue paying stupid prices for your digital books that cost almost nothing to disturbute. E-books should be much much cheaper than printed versions, at least half the price, likely more.
Amazon are fighting here to lower the prices where publishers are trying to protect there huge margins that they simply do not deserve in the new digital world.
Why all the hate for amazon? Do you all want to continue paying stupid prices for your digital books that cost almost nothing to disturbute. E-books should be much much cheaper than printed versions, at least half the price, likely more.
Amazon are fighting here to lower the prices where publishers are trying to protect there huge margins that they simply do not deserve in the new digital world.
What's wrong with protecting huge margins? Are they not allowed to make money?
"Nearly 1000"? No. I just downloaded the letter at authorsunited.net, dumped it into a text editor and had it count the number of names. 908. Try "slightly more than 900".
This isn't good vs. evil. This is two large corporations hashing out terms.
My own take on it is that Amazon has finally gotten tired of being repeatedly beat up in public by Hachette and its establishment trad pub trad media allies and has decided to stop turning the other cheek and start hitting back. Ever notice how bullies start claiming foul when their victims finally get fed up and start defending themselves?
Amazon: "It's also important to understand that e-books are highly price-elastic. This means that when the price goes up, customers buy much less. We've quantified the price elasticity of e-books from repeated measurements across many titles. For every copy an e-book would sell at $14.99, it would sell 1.74 copies if priced at $9.99. So, for example, if customers would buy 100,000 copies of a particular e-book at $14.99, then customers would buy 174,000 copies of that same e-book at $9.99. Total revenue at $14.99 would be $1,499,000. Total revenue at $9.99 is $1,738,000."
This math only works in a world where Amazon has a monopoly on the printed book market.
Why all the hate for amazon? Do you all want to continue paying stupid prices for your digital books that cost almost nothing to disturbute. E-books should be much much cheaper than printed versions, at least half the price, likely more.
Amazon are fighting here to lower the prices where publishers are trying to protect there huge margins that they simply do not deserve in the new digital world.
Wow, you're either an Amazon shill or totally clueless.What makes you think that the value of a book is derived primarily from its manufacturing and distribution costs? How much would you pay for a book, printed or digital, that contained nothing but crap? The content is the most valuable part. If Amazon is successful in putting publishers out of business, they will truly be able to dictate book prices which will not leave much of an incentive for the best writers out there.
<div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576484" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false">Quote:<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>Smarky</strong> <a href="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576484"><img alt="View Post" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" /></a><br /><br />Why all the hate for amazon? Do you all want to continue paying stupid prices for your digital books that cost almost nothing to disturbute. E-books should be much much cheaper than printed versions, at least half the price, likely more.<br /><br />Amazon are fighting here to lower the prices where publishers are trying to protect there huge margins that they simply do not deserve in the new digital world.</div></div><p> </p><p>Wow, you're either an Amazon shill or totally clueless.What makes you think that the value of a book is derived primarily from its manufacturing and distribution costs? How much would you pay for a book, printed or digital, that contained nothing but crap? The content is the most valuable part. If Amazon is successful in putting publishers out of business, they will truly be able to dictate book prices which will not leave much of an incentive for the best writers out there.</p>
Of course the content is the most valuable part. That's why the publishers want the control to set the the price.
The publishers are not paragons of virtue, they are wedded to the old business model that protects there profit margin and keeps authors, the content creators, in their back pockets. The future is staring at them and they can see their relavence is going to diminish but they will fight tooth and nail to protect it.
Wether it's Amazon, Apple or another company that disrupts them it's going to happen.
The publishers are not paragons of virtue, they are wedded to the old business model that protects there profit margin and keeps authors, the content creators, in their back pockets. The future is staring at them and they can see their relavence is going to diminish but they will fight tooth and nail to protect it.
Wether it's Amazon, Apple or another company that disrupts them it's going to happen.
Which do you think would be better for writers and readers in the long term, a book market controlled by hundreds of book publishers competing with each other while looking out for their own interests, or one controlled entirely by Amazon?
<div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576588" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false">Quote:<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>singularity</strong> <a href="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576588"><img alt="View Post" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" /></a><br /><br /><br />Of course the content is the most valuable part. That's why the publishers want the control to set the the price.<br /><br />[URL] http://brennaaubrey.net/2013/12/08/in-which-i-explain-why-i-turned-down-a-three-book-new-york-print-deal-to-self-publish/[/URL]<br /><br />The publishers are not paragons of virtue, they are wedded to the old business model that protects there profit margin and keeps authors, the content creators, in their back pockets. The future is staring at them and they can see their relavence is going to diminish but they will fight tooth and nail to protect it.<br />Wether it's Amazon, Apple or another company that disrupts them it's going to happen.</div></div><p><br />Which do you think would be better for writers and readers in the long term, a book market controlled by hundreds of book publishers competing with each other while looking out for their own interests, or one controlled entirely by Amazon?</p>
It depends, like the music industry the publishers are use to having one sided contracts where the content creators make the least.
Apple showed the music industry that once you lose the distribution in the digital age your never going to get it back and the power shifts(in my opinion this also explains the beats purchase, Apple getting their hands on the digital streaming system)
It depends, like the music industry the publishers are use to having one sided contracts where the content creators make the least.
Apple showed the music industry that once you lose the distribution in the digital age your never going to get it back and the power shifts(in my opinion this also explains the beats purchase, Apple getting their hands on the digital streaming system)
I'm not questioning whether book publishers are greedy or whether they're destined for well earned irrelevance. Just saying it would be terrible for this power to shift to single company, and especially for that company to be Amazon. With Amazon in charge, both consumers and writers will be screwed in the long run. Amazon is just entering a phase where people start to realize they could become the Walmart of the internet, with all the associated negative connotations.
Apple is the only company I know of with both the ability to lead such a disruption and the virtue to do it in a way that balances the needs of both writers and consumers. (ducks for impending barrage of fanboy accusations) Unfortunately our laughable justice system has sided with Amazon in a brilliant display of judicial myopia.
<div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576594" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false">Quote:<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>singularity</strong> <a href="/t/181749/authors-to-rebuke-amazon-over-hachette-dispute-with-full-page-nyt-ad/40#post_2576594"><img alt="View Post" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" /></a><br /><br /><br />It depends, like the music industry the publishers are use to having one sided contracts where the content creators make the least.<br />Apple showed the music industry that once you lose the distribution in the digital age your never going to get it back and the power shifts(in my opinion this also explains the beats purchase, Apple getting their hands on the digital streaming system)</div></div><p> </p><p>I'm not questioning whether book publishers are headed for irrelevance or whether they deserve it. Just saying it would be terrible for this power to shift to single company, and especially for that company to be Amazon. Apple is the only company I know of with both the ability to lead such a disruption and the virtue to do what's right for writers and consumers alike. (ducks for impending barrage of fanboy accusations)</p>
oi fanboy!! Lol
Yes it would be dangerous for one company to be the sole supplier. But I'm not going to feel sorry for an industry that ensures only the very very successful actually make near the money they could.
As for wether Apple having the "virtue" maybe now but as the saying goes "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely ".
It depends, like the music industry the publishers are use to having one sided contracts where the content creators make the least.
Apple showed the music industry that once you lose the distribution in the digital age your never going to get it back and the power shifts(in my opinion this also explains the beats purchase, Apple getting their hands on the digital streaming system)
I'm not questioning whether book publishers are headed for irrelevance or whether they deserve it. Just saying it would be terrible for this power to shift to single company, and especially for that company to be Amazon. With Amazon in charge, both consumers and writers will be screwed in the long run.
Apple is the only company I know of with both the ability to lead such a disruption and the virtue to do what's right for writers and consumers alike. (ducks for impending barrage of fanboy accusations)
I agree.
The best solution would be for Apple to shut down Amazon's digital bookshop, or for Amazon to go bankrupt; with luck, one of these will happen in the next five years.
God, you Apple fanbois are ridiculous! You need to get your news from other sources besides Apple fanboi sites.
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2014
Amazon-Hachette: The Sounds of Silence - A Guest Post by William Ockham
Everybody's talking about Amazon's latest move in the Amazon-Hachette kerfuffle and the reactions have been pretty predictable. Lots of confirmation bias going around. While the public broadsides, grand offers, and nasty anonymous leaks are full of sound and fury, I'm fond of looking for the truth in the silence. What the companies aren't saying is as important to understanding the situation as what they are saying. I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but neither side has denied any of the specific factual claims the other has made. In fact, if we read between the lines, we can cut through the noise and see what's really happening. I have learned* the best way to do that is to make a timeline. Our brains have a tendency to remember the order in which we learned a set of facts and it has a hard to reassembling the chronological order of how things actually happened. We should be continually re-evaluating our understanding of this situation based on new information.
[Edited. See original article for timeline]
What does the timeline tell us?
1. Hachette did not negotiate in good faith before the end of the contract.
They didn't negotiate at all. Amazon and Hachette agree on this crucial point. The first Hachette offer was in April. Amazon says the original contract ran out in March and Hachette hasn't denied it. In my view, the party that makes no attempt to negotiate during the term of the original contract is the instigator of the stand-off.
2. Hachette knew for months that their authors were being harmed and they did nothing.
Sullivan noticed that the usual Amazon discounts on his titles were gone on February 7. He saw the inventory issues on March 9. He let Hachette know about both issues. At that point Hachette had let their contract expire without so much as a counter-offer.
3. We can't know for sure, but it looks like Sullivan was the catalyst for the issues becoming public.
Look closely at the timeline.
4. Hachette was able to pull off a complex, multi-million dollar acquisition of a smaller publisher, but unwilling to fund either of Amazon's offers to help the affected authors.
The publishing half of Perseus was estimated to have revenues in the $100 million range. That's a pretty big deal in the publishing world.
5. Since the dispute became public, Hachette has essentially abandoned the negotiations in favor of a concerted public relations campaign.
Hachette's last offer was in May around the time the affair became public. Amazon sent them another offer on June 5. Hachette has orchestrated a high-profile publicity campaign with big name authors, a popular TV host, and the publishing industry press taking up Hachette's cause. Hachette has even enlisted the New York Times to play stenographer for them.
6. Hachette has a powerful incentive to drag this out.
To achieve its goal, Hachette needs to delay the final agreement until late 2014 or early 2015. That is the earliest time they will be able to conclude an agreement with Amazon that restricts Amazon's ability to discount ebooks. Moreover, developments in Apple's ongoing appeal could substantially impact Hachette's negotiating position. An Apple loss or settlement would make reaching an agency deal (with no discounting) almost impossible because Amazon is not going to agree to let Apple underprice them on ebooks.
*I learned to make timelines like this from Marcy Wheeler, who is so smart Barry Eisler named a character in his John Rain series after her.
Joe sez: All great points and conclusions, William.
As per your call that the NYT has become Hachette's stenographer, what appears to be a level-headed post in the NYT today gets several things wrong. It mentions Amazon offers 35% e-royalties compared to legacy publishing's 25%, but doesn't mention that's gross, not net. It doesn't mention the letter signed by over 7000 people--authors and readers--supporting Amazon. It assumes this battle is about Amazon taking money from Hachette, but misses the whole point that Hachette wants to control ebook prices. And it ends on a note of paranoia.
There is fear here. It's somewhat odd, considering the record profits publishers are making and boasting about, but when you think about the long run the fear is warranted. Publishers once ruled the roost. They had the key to the gate, and control over price and distribution. Readers and writers were at their mercy.
And now, suddenly, we're not.
Publishers and their pundits (I'm looking at you Mike Shatzkin and Digital Book Word) refuse to believe or even acknowledge the data on www.AuthorEarnings.com, and most of them believe that ebook sales are plateauing. In fact, they are continuing to grow at a rapid pace, because of indies. But no survey or data collection shows how big the self-pub shadow industry is, so the legacy world remains clueless as to many sales they are actually losing.
This is a slippery slope, because more and more authors are figuring it out.
Readers want ebooks, and they want to shop on Amazon. Most writers, even those who cling to their legacy masters with Stockholm Syndrome allegiance, know the royalty difference between what their publishers pays them and what they can get on their own. As bookstores close (hello Barnes & Noble) and the paper midlist becomes unsustainable, even those steadfast legacy authors are going to have to self-publish. Publishing will be relegated to managing backlists (at least until authors begin hiring lawyers) and their major bestsellers, who are eventually going to leave as paper sales become a niche market.
No matter whose side you're on in this current dispute, the future is already written. Hachette and the Big 5 won't be able to sustain their business model; protecting their paper oligopoly. And the mistakes they're making right now are only bringing this future to bear even faster.
Compare that to less than 910 signatures on a paid ad in the New York Times.
"At this moment, one of the largest publishers in the world, Hachette, is battling Amazon for control over book prices. In this war, Hachette is using its authors as emotional ammunition. Hachette wants to control the price of its titles and keep those prices high, while Amazon wants to keep those prices reasonable. You may not realize this, but when Amazon discounts books, authors (and Hachette) still get paid the full amount. Discounted Amazon books do not hurt authors or publishers at all. In fact, discounted Amazon books help authors and publishers sell in higher volume while earning publishers and authors the same per-unit amount."
"Publishers have a long history of abusing their power. They function as an oligopoly rather than as competitors. They have a long track record of overcharging readers and underpaying authors, because they all agree to do so."
"Amazon has a long history of doing just the opposite. Amazon fights for readers by keeping prices low and concentrating on customer service and fast delivery. They make previously hard-to-find books available to readers globally, and they offer a selection unsurpassed in the history of bookselling. They serve rural readers who never had a community bookstore in the first place."
"You may have heard that Amazon is putting bookstores out of business, and this is true. The good news is that the bookstores going out of business were the ones that didn’t feel like bookstores. The big discount stores couldn’t compete with Amazon’s prices and selection, and they are going bankrupt. What you don’t often hear is that small independent bookstores have seen three straight years of steady growth. This is something we celebrate."
"You may have heard that Amazon is making books unavailable. This simply isn’t true. Amazon has turned off pre-order buttons for Hachette’s books, as negotiations have broken down to the point that Amazon may not be able to fulfill those orders once the books in question are released."
"Amazon pays writers nearly six times what publishers pay us. Amazon allows us to retain ownership of our works. Amazon provides us the freedom to express ourselves in more creative ways, adding to the diversity of literature. Unlike the New York “Big Five,” Amazon allows every writer access to their platform. Hachette believes you’ll read whatever Hachette tells you to, and rejects and dismisses many worthy writers. Amazon has built a business based on the belief that you, the reader, can make your own choices about what you want to read."
Compare that to less than 910 signatures on a paid ad in the New York Times.
"At this moment, one of the largest publishers in the world, Hachette, is battling Amazon for control over book prices. In this war, Hachette is using its authors as emotional ammunition. Hachette wants to control the price of its titles and keep those prices high, while Amazon wants to keep those prices reasonable. You may not realize this, but when Amazon discounts books, authors (and Hachette) still get paid the full amount. Discounted Amazon books do not hurt authors or publishers at all. In fact, discounted Amazon books help authors and publishers sell in higher volume while earning publishers and authors the same per-unit amount."
"<span style="color:rgb(75,79,79);line-height:1.4em;">Publishers have a long history of abusing their power. They function as an oligopoly rather than as competitors. They have a long track record of overcharging readers and underpaying authors, because they all agree to do so."</span>
<p style="border:0px;color:rgb(75,79,79);margin-bottom:12px;vertical-align:baseline;"><span style="line-height:1.4em;">"Amazon has a long history of doing just the opposite. Amazon fights for readers by keeping prices low and concentrating on customer service and fast delivery. They make previously hard-to-find books available to readers globally, and they offer a selection unsurpassed in the history of bookselling. They serve rural readers who never had a community bookstore in the first place."</span>
</p>
<p style="border:0px;color:rgb(75,79,79);margin-bottom:12px;vertical-align:baseline;">"You may have heard that Amazon is putting bookstores out of business, and this is true. The good news is that the bookstores going out of business were the ones that didn’t feel like bookstores. The big discount stores couldn’t compete with Amazon’s prices and selection, and they are going bankrupt. What you don’t often hear is that small independent bookstores have seen three straight years of steady growth. This is something we celebrate."</p>
<p style="border:0px;color:rgb(75,79,79);margin-bottom:12px;vertical-align:baseline;">"You may have heard that Amazon is making books unavailable. This simply isn’t true. Amazon has turned off pre-order buttons for Hachette’s books, as negotiations have broken down to the point that Amazon may not be able to fulfill those orders once the books in question are released."</p>
<p style="border:0px;color:rgb(75,79,79);margin-bottom:12px;vertical-align:baseline;">"Amazon pays writers nearly <em style="border:0px;color:rgb(75,79,79);margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;">six times</em> what publishers pay us. Amazon allows us to retain ownership of our works. Amazon provides us the freedom to express ourselves in more creative ways, adding to the diversity of literature. Unlike the New York “Big Five,” Amazon allows every writer access to their platform. Hachette believes you’ll read whatever Hachette tells you to, and rejects and dismisses many worthy writers. Amazon has built a business based on the belief that you, the reader, can make your own choices about what you want to read."</p>
Does Amazon pay authors in advance, giving them the financial freedom to focus on their writing?
I generally use the Kindle app for book reading on my iPad and iPhone. I'm all about Apple, but was already using Kindle when iBooks came out. I've thought about switching over over the years, but didn't want to orphan the dozens (hundreds now?) books I already bought...
Guess I'll have to think about it again.
It doesn't need to be a all in or all out proposition. if you have a iPhone or iPad You can use the kindle app for past purchases, just don't buy anything new from amazon. For those who don't have an iPad (and are using a kindle eBook reader), get one (iPad) and make all your future book purchases from someone other than Amazon.
Consider what would happen if Barnes and Noble had to shutter their retail stores?
Remember Borders books? The 20,0000 employee retail bookstore (not quite as efficiently run as B&N) was amazon's first casualty. If B&N goes down Amazon will be able to squeeze publishers into exclusive agreements. That leaves them free to charge what they want to consumers and pay whatever they want to publishers.
Comments
Amazon are fighting here to lower the prices where publishers are trying to protect there huge margins that they simply do not deserve in the new digital world.
Yeah, you know that isn’t the argument.
What's wrong with protecting huge margins? Are they not allowed to make money?
Then contrast that to the more than 8000 (8,049 as of 8/09/2014 1:24PM CST) signatures on the pro-Amazon anti-Hachette letter at http://www.change.org/petitions/hachette-stop-fighting-low-prices-and-fair-wages
This isn't good vs. evil. This is two large corporations hashing out terms.
My own take on it is that Amazon has finally gotten tired of being repeatedly beat up in public by Hachette and its establishment trad pub trad media allies and has decided to stop turning the other cheek and start hitting back. Ever notice how bullies start claiming foul when their victims finally get fed up and start defending themselves?
Hmm. Is Amazon the only place you can buy books?
It wasn't, until Amazon put most brick and mortar bookstores out of business.
Originally Posted by Maestro64
Amazon: "It's also important to understand that e-books are highly price-elastic. This means that when the price goes up, customers buy much less. We've quantified the price elasticity of e-books from repeated measurements across many titles. For every copy an e-book would sell at $14.99, it would sell 1.74 copies if priced at $9.99. So, for example, if customers would buy 100,000 copies of a particular e-book at $14.99, then customers would buy 174,000 copies of that same e-book at $9.99. Total revenue at $14.99 would be $1,499,000. Total revenue at $9.99 is $1,738,000."
This math only works in a world where Amazon has a monopoly on the printed book market.
Why all the hate for amazon? Do you all want to continue paying stupid prices for your digital books that cost almost nothing to disturbute. E-books should be much much cheaper than printed versions, at least half the price, likely more.
Amazon are fighting here to lower the prices where publishers are trying to protect there huge margins that they simply do not deserve in the new digital world.
Wow, you're either an Amazon shill or totally clueless.What makes you think that the value of a book is derived primarily from its manufacturing and distribution costs? How much would you pay for a book, printed or digital, that contained nothing but crap? The content is the most valuable part. If Amazon is successful in putting publishers out of business, they will truly be able to dictate book prices which will not leave much of an incentive for the best writers out there.
Not exactly a match made in heaven, but I sure do hope that this takes off, and gives publishers and authors alike some ammo against Amazon.
http://nytimes.com/2014/08/07/business/media/google-and-barnes-noble-unite-to-take-on-amazon.html?referrer=
I'd like to believe otherwise, but I don't think this will go anywhere.
[URL] http://brennaaubrey.net/2013/12/08/in-which-i-explain-why-i-turned-down-a-three-book-new-york-print-deal-to-self-publish/[/URL]
The publishers are not paragons of virtue, they are wedded to the old business model that protects there profit margin and keeps authors, the content creators, in their back pockets. The future is staring at them and they can see their relavence is going to diminish but they will fight tooth and nail to protect it.
Wether it's Amazon, Apple or another company that disrupts them it's going to happen.
Of course the content is the most valuable part. That's why the publishers want the control to set the the price.
[URL] http://brennaaubrey.net/2013/12/08/in-which-i-explain-why-i-turned-down-a-three-book-new-york-print-deal-to-self-publish/[/URL]
The publishers are not paragons of virtue, they are wedded to the old business model that protects there profit margin and keeps authors, the content creators, in their back pockets. The future is staring at them and they can see their relavence is going to diminish but they will fight tooth and nail to protect it.
Wether it's Amazon, Apple or another company that disrupts them it's going to happen.
Which do you think would be better for writers and readers in the long term, a book market controlled by hundreds of book publishers competing with each other while looking out for their own interests, or one controlled entirely by Amazon?
Stop being a bozo.
Yours,
Customers
Apple showed the music industry that once you lose the distribution in the digital age your never going to get it back and the power shifts(in my opinion this also explains the beats purchase, Apple getting their hands on the digital streaming system)
It depends, like the music industry the publishers are use to having one sided contracts where the content creators make the least.
Apple showed the music industry that once you lose the distribution in the digital age your never going to get it back and the power shifts(in my opinion this also explains the beats purchase, Apple getting their hands on the digital streaming system)
I'm not questioning whether book publishers are greedy or whether they're destined for well earned irrelevance. Just saying it would be terrible for this power to shift to single company, and especially for that company to be Amazon. With Amazon in charge, both consumers and writers will be screwed in the long run. Amazon is just entering a phase where people start to realize they could become the Walmart of the internet, with all the associated negative connotations.
Apple is the only company I know of with both the ability to lead such a disruption and the virtue to do it in a way that balances the needs of both writers and consumers. (ducks for impending barrage of fanboy accusations) Unfortunately our laughable justice system has sided with Amazon in a brilliant display of judicial myopia.
Yes it would be dangerous for one company to be the sole supplier. But I'm not going to feel sorry for an industry that ensures only the very very successful actually make near the money they could.
As for wether Apple having the "virtue" maybe now but as the saying goes "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely ".
I agree.
The best solution would be for Apple to shut down Amazon's digital bookshop, or for Amazon to go bankrupt; with luck, one of these will happen in the next five years.
God, you Apple fanbois are ridiculous! You need to get your news from other sources besides Apple fanboi sites.
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2014
Amazon-Hachette: The Sounds of Silence - A Guest Post by William Ockham
The publishing half of Perseus was estimated to have revenues in the $100 million range. That's a pretty big deal in the publishing world.
Petition with over 8,150 signatures, and counting, lambasting Hachette and the publishing industry.
https://www.change.org/petitions/hachette-stop-fighting-low-prices-and-fair-wages
Compare that to less than 910 signatures on a paid ad in the New York Times.
"At this moment, one of the largest publishers in the world, Hachette, is battling Amazon for control over book prices. In this war, Hachette is using its authors as emotional ammunition. Hachette wants to control the price of its titles and keep those prices high, while Amazon wants to keep those prices reasonable. You may not realize this, but when Amazon discounts books, authors (and Hachette) still get paid the full amount. Discounted Amazon books do not hurt authors or publishers at all. In fact, discounted Amazon books help authors and publishers sell in higher volume while earning publishers and authors the same per-unit amount."
"Publishers have a long history of abusing their power. They function as an oligopoly rather than as competitors. They have a long track record of overcharging readers and underpaying authors, because they all agree to do so."
"Amazon has a long history of doing just the opposite. Amazon fights for readers by keeping prices low and concentrating on customer service and fast delivery. They make previously hard-to-find books available to readers globally, and they offer a selection unsurpassed in the history of bookselling. They serve rural readers who never had a community bookstore in the first place."
"You may have heard that Amazon is putting bookstores out of business, and this is true. The good news is that the bookstores going out of business were the ones that didn’t feel like bookstores. The big discount stores couldn’t compete with Amazon’s prices and selection, and they are going bankrupt. What you don’t often hear is that small independent bookstores have seen three straight years of steady growth. This is something we celebrate."
"You may have heard that Amazon is making books unavailable. This simply isn’t true. Amazon has turned off pre-order buttons for Hachette’s books, as negotiations have broken down to the point that Amazon may not be able to fulfill those orders once the books in question are released."
"Amazon pays writers nearly six times what publishers pay us. Amazon allows us to retain ownership of our works. Amazon provides us the freedom to express ourselves in more creative ways, adding to the diversity of literature. Unlike the New York “Big Five,” Amazon allows every writer access to their platform. Hachette believes you’ll read whatever Hachette tells you to, and rejects and dismisses many worthy writers. Amazon has built a business based on the belief that you, the reader, can make your own choices about what you want to read."
Does Amazon pay authors in advance, giving them the financial freedom to focus on their writing?
I generally use the Kindle app for book reading on my iPad and iPhone. I'm all about Apple, but was already using Kindle when iBooks came out. I've thought about switching over over the years, but didn't want to orphan the dozens (hundreds now?) books I already bought...
Guess I'll have to think about it again.
It doesn't need to be a all in or all out proposition. if you have a iPhone or iPad You can use the kindle app for past purchases, just don't buy anything new from amazon. For those who don't have an iPad (and are using a kindle eBook reader), get one (iPad) and make all your future book purchases from someone other than Amazon.
Consider what would happen if Barnes and Noble had to shutter their retail stores?
Remember Borders books? The 20,0000 employee retail bookstore (not quite as efficiently run as B&N) was amazon's first casualty. If B&N goes down Amazon will be able to squeeze publishers into exclusive agreements. That leaves them free to charge what they want to consumers and pay whatever they want to publishers.