By Bonnie Stanard
In the ongoing disputes between Amazon
and NY publishing houses, whose side am I on? Amazon and Hachette, the most
recent combatants, reached agreement last November, at least for the time
being. Why should I support elitist publishing houses that ignore and belittle
writers like me? Haven’t they had too much power for too long? On the other
hand, is Amazon trying to gain total control over the industry? And since it’s
been pulling punches with Hachette, can it be trusted to treat self-published
writers like me fairly?
When the internet took off, Amazon came
on the scene and did what major booksellers and publishing houses didn’t have
the foresight to do. It sold books on the superhighway and opened up publishing
to any and every writer. In the process, it put major booksellers out of
business (Books A Million, Borders). With brick-and-mortar booksellers on the
decline, publishing houses such as Hachette increasingly depend on Amazon as
retailer.
Half the book trade (more or less
depending on different sources) is now controlled by Amazon. A 2014 survey by
researcher Codex Group found that Amazon controls 67% of the e-book market*.
With statistics like these, I’m getting nervous. How big is too big?
AMAZON’S CLOUT
I’m thankful for Amazon
and the opportunity it has afforded me to self-publish, but in these changing
times, my gratitude is tempered by unease. Unlike Hachette, which has the other
big four publishing houses in its corner, there's no support for me if I have a
dispute with Amazon.
From what I can gather from reports,
the Amazon-Hachette negotiations regarding who has authority to set the price
for e-books went public when amazon.com did things such as refuse pre-orders
for Hachette books and slow their delivery. Amazon’s tactics, meant to pressure
Hachette in the negotiations, affected sales of the publisher’s books.
E-BOOK PRICES
The bad publicity Amazon aroused with
its underhanded tactics may have impacted the negotiations. In simple terms,
Hachette gained the right to set their e-books prices, and the new arrangement
is due to take effect in 2015. Amazon pushed for lower prices while Hachette
sought higher prices to protect its paper sales. Buyers can expect the cost of
some e-books to go up, which won’t make them happy.
THE NETFLIX IDEA
Last August Amazon introduced an innovation in the
distribution of e-books which takes the Netflix model and applies it to
books—in other words, a book-subscription market. It’s the Kindle Unlimited
plan in which customers pay $10 a month to access a library of hundreds of
thousands of books that can be downloaded free. What reader won’t like this?
But does it sound like a good idea for writers dependent on royalties?
Some reporters have called this a
struggle between the future and the past, the West Coast and the East Coast,
the masses and the elite. Whatever it is, it will impact us writers regardless
of whether or not we have a voice in the current fight. And if Amazon puts
major publishing houses out of business, where
will writers get the clout to deal with Amazon?
I have to admit that I have kept my head in the sand with this fight between Amazon and the big publishers. I interact with amazon as a customer, not as a writer getting royalties. Perhaps when I get published, I'll think differently. Thanks for the post!
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