Amazon not playing fair
Shame on Jeff Bezos for this bit of
crappy business dealings:
Will Amazon Hurt Small Pagan Publishers?
In the past few days news has emerged that Internet book-selling giant Amazon.com has been pressuring small publishing houses who use print-on-demand services like Lightning Source (owned by Ingram), Lulu, and PublishAmerica to switch to Amazon's own in-house POD service or have their "buy" button removed.
"Reports have been trickling in from the POD underground that Amazon/BookSurge representatives have been approaching some Lightning Source customers, first by email introduction and then by phone (nobody at BookSurge seems to want to put anything in writing). When Lightning Source customers speak with the BookSurge representative, the reports say, they are basically told they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off." The book information would remain on Amazon, and people could still order the book from resellers (companies that list new and used books in Amazon's Marketplace section), but customers would not be able to buy the book from Amazon directly, nor qualify for the coveted "free shipping" that Amazon offers."
And of course, the Amazon POD service is more expensive and as it is limited to only Amazon, it has fewer options for distribution through other channels. If Amazon continues with this foolishness, it will hurt not only Amazon but the writing community. It is a lose / lose scenario...
You might consider switching to
Powell's for online book ordering. One of the Pacific Northwest's treasures.
Posted by DaveH at March 29, 2008 8:53 PM