An LA Novelist Pleads With Amazon

JANET Fitch, a friend whose writing I admire, has written an open letter to Jeff Bezos of Amazon about what the online bookseller is doing to the literary  trade and the the nation’s “intellectual life.” Amazon’s dominance means its decisions matter, she writes: “I’d like this profession of author to remain a possibility for young writers in the future.”

More from the White Oleander/ Paint it Black author:

As a middle-aged woman who has had some luck as a writer, I’d like this profession of author to remain a possibility for young writers in the future — and not become an arena solely for the hobbyist or the well-heeled. What will be lost when working writers no longer can support themselves pursuing their ideas, their art? What will be lost to this country, if these most talented can no longer make a living? I am making this an open letter, because I believe we are at a crossroads, and decisions are being made now which will affect our country permanently.

Here’s the full story.