My previous post regarding Amazon’s rough treatment of
Hachette Publishing was not the only expression of outrage regarding the mighty
on-line giant. The blogosphere has been abuzz over the incident as small
publishers like myself express trepidation over the potential squeeze plays
retail outlets like Amazon will impose on us in the future that will further
skinny down our profit margins.
Funny thing, as this NY Times follow-up article points out,
Amazon has responded in unprecedented fashion to the brouhaha over its behavior with a detailed response in an apparent attempt to smooth some ruffled
feathers. It asserts that Amazon negotiates terms with thousands of vendors and
some go more smoothly than others and such hardball [my word] tactics seldom need to
be applied.
But any intelligent free market soul knows where this is
going. When you have the kind of market clout that Amazon has, you wield it
with prejudice until you crush all other players and are in a position to dictate terms. Besides, while Amazon has scale, it doesn’t have much in the
way of profits—and after awhile shareholders are no longer satisfied with CEOs
bragging about market share. They
want the bacon!!!
As a minuscule publisher, this is all I can do: Next month
I’ll be releasing my first novel, MEDICUS. And I’ll make it available for
pre-orders at a measly $1.99 through Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, Apple, and
Smashwords. On its official release date, which June 27, its price goes up to
$3.99—and that’s when I’ll post it on Amazon, too. No price break for Amazon!
Check this blog
over the next week for more MEDICUS pre-order information. And save some $$$.
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