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Amazon vs Hachette Miniseries
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Richard, totally agree with you.All the rich authors jumping on this bandwagon (like James Patterson and Stephen King) are just trying to increase their take when I truly believe Amazon is trying to keep prices down.
In what universe is an ebook worth $9 or more? Sure print hardcopy costs money but digital doesn't cost a dime - it's all profit.
What is worse, all these calls from the great and good (read rich and famous) to boycott Amazon are hurting authors.
Absolutely, Lisa. What I find the most ridiculous is how these authors, contracted with Hachette (and I expect we haven't heard the end of this. Other publishers will follow, depending upon how Hachette does) expect the rest of us to jump on their bandwagon and hurt our own sales as well as their own. Cute, little Boycott stickers notwithstanding, I hope most writers see the stupidity in doing this.
People forget Hatchette is a multi-billion conglomerate with an extensive media arm. I guess that shows how well that press division is working :)Personally I hope Hatchette wins, let them keep e-books priced at $9, $10 or heck, let's price an e-book identical to a paperback! It only helps Indies when there is such a price disparity in the market.
Of course if Hatchette authors were serious about taking a stand they would immediately withdraw all their titles from Amazon. Let's hold our breath waiting for that... lol
I'm with Hachette. My debut released last year and my next one is scheduled for July 1. I'm not raking in the dough like King or Patterson or Rawlings. I'm all for free enterprise and I respect your opinions, but this hurts me, too. (And I don't mean hurt like feelings. I mean hurt like no preorder sales.). I just want to do what we all want to do: WRITE!
Abigail wrote: "I mean hurt like no preorder sales."See this is what I don't understand, how does not having pre-orders hurt you?
There are thousands of indie authors (like me!) who survive with no pre-orders, which Amazon only allow for Big 5 books and bestselling indies. Our books are listed on Amazon and people buy them.
Where is the damage in not having a pre-order button? As far as I am aware it only affects your ability to game the system and have all pre-orders counted on release date to go toward possible best seller ranking.
As I see it (I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong) the gist of the argument is that certain legacy publishers are fighting for the right to charge more for ebooks (including an agency fee) while still paying lower royalties to authors than they would get if they were independent. I don't understand how that benefits anyone except for those big name authors who regularly sell in millions. As A.W. says the pre-order ability is something most authors don't actually have. It skews sales rank while enabling legacy publishers to decrease production costs on real books. In other words they make larger profits which they pass on to shareholders rather than their stable of writers. As for pre-orders on ebooks, what is that all about? Is it just a way of generating a "buzz" before release? How does boycotting Amazon help anyone in this? Whether you are legacy published, small press published or independent when Amazon doesn't sell books because of bad publicity you don't get paid.
I'm not sure of the whole deal between the two and honestly I've never heard of Hatchette until this incident came up.
Look, it's business. Big retailers (remember Costco's discount tables?) have always squeezed suppliers hard enough to get the leverage they need to keep margin workable. Besides that easy to forget point, Hachette was one of the publishers who were slapped with the investigation by the DOJ over price fixing. The publishers in question are all multi-billion dollar international media scions who have been very canny in paying the spin doctors to turn the largest retailer of books into everyone's enemy. It doesn't take a sleuth to figure out that this is questionably in their own worst interest, certainly their writers' worst interest.
Amazon is not a charity. They play hardball, but they have done more to sell books and get writers' work out, worldwide, than any book seller in history. There are plenty of essays and postings online that explain this from the writers standpoint, not just those who work for Hachette. Barry Eisler discusses this in detail on his blog, here .
In the recent past, tough negotiations were handled in smoke-filled room over cocktails and the consumer never heard of any of the conflicts' details. They only enjoyed the benefits in the form of broader choices and lower prices. Hatchette's shenanigans may be entertaining, and may even make some of us want to put Colbert's stickers all over our libraries, but in the final count, if Amazon backs down, readers will see prices rise and selection narrow. The actual goals of the Big Five. What do you think?