F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

Hachette v. Amazon

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Take a Look in the Mirror. In fact Take a Picture, So You'll REMEMBER. By http://www.flickr.com/photos/byflickr/ By Byflickr, Rohan Kar(http://www.flickr.com/photos/byflickr/2584948850/) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Take a Look in the Mirror. Take a Picture, So You’ll REMEMBER. By http://www.flickr.com/photos/byflickr/ By flickr, Rohan Kar (http://www.flickr.com/photos/byflickr/2584948850/) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Well, I’m sure this’ll make me extra popular, but I find this annoyance and anger with Amazon amusing.

Really, we’re dumping on Amazon?

Aren’t we also ignoring all the ills of the Traditional Publishing world, with stuff like, oh, yeah: price fixing.

Let me remind you who the “Big Five” were (are), in this little pricing fixing scenario:

Simon & Schuster.

HarperCollins.

Penguin.

Macmillan.

Oh, yeah, and Hachette Book Group.

Hachette.

And, hmmm, let’s see what else does Trad Publishing do that can be taken issue with?

Not helping authors with promotion and marketing.

Less author-friendly contracts (. e.g., sucky terms, grabbing as many of an authors rights as possible, and royalties).

Not including author input on covers.

Making authors feel like we are there only for them, instead of a more teamwork approach.

Not growing authors anymore in favor of a bean counting approach.

Archaic business model.

How they drag their feet in paying authors.

Giving away half your book’s value up front…and the returns, oh. my God, the returns!

In short, there ain’t no saints in this business. This link lays out some other issues. And Bob Mayer’s posts are always elucidating.

All huge companies do what huge companies do, and that is…they do what benefits huge companies. Period. Most times it makes them look “okay,” and they fly under the radar, but periodically, they all do something that gets them in hot water, and they “auger in,” as the flying analogy goes, and crash and burn in the media.

And everyone loves to pick on Amazon. Especially bookstores.

I’m not saying that I agree with what Amazon is doing—I don’t—but to string em up like this is just making for great sound bites and videos. The public has a short memory.

Again, see 2012 price fixing.

 

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Comments

    • Lon! Great to hear from you, again! And thanks for the great link! Interesting after Marty “called” one of the “Anonymous” commenters “out,” that person never responded back. See, there ain’t no saints in this biz. But, yes, interesting perspectives, and all the different “facts” being touted by all the commenters….

      Thanks, and hope you are well! :-]

  2. True… it’s all about the bottom line, thus those who get the traditional perks are those already making them the money. Take a breath. We are in the most ridiculous field there is. We take the most “abuse” and ask for more, we push our ways through the longest unpaid apprenticeship. There is a serious supply/demand issue. And our customers are slowly going away. Hmmm. Why do we do this? Because we’re obsessed and most of us couldn’t stop. I suppose it is a glorified hobby for those of us who haven’t made the money at it that we would have pursuing any other field. We don’t want it to be… but by definition…. And the IRS! Keep your receipts!

    • I’m tellin ya, I’m really amused by it all. All the finger pointin’. Like Lon’s post link talks about, no one HAS to use Amazon…and all the opinions…amazing. I really like Marty’s take, and, apparently, he and I see eye to eye.

      Who’s the Bad Guy/Gal de la semaine prochaine…?

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