I tend to stay away from the controversies-of-the day that everybody weighs in on (sorry, no 'trigger warning'-commentary hereabouts), but the Amazon.com/Hachette dispute is hard to avoid.
Apparently folks are surprised and upset that Amazon.com is playing hardball/dirty in negotiating a new arrangement with mega-publisher Hachette, delaying -- or at least really taking their time -- with orders for Hachette-titles (which does seem pretty petty) and making it impossible to pre-order forthcoming Hachette titles (which seems .. well, not really a big deal). For an overview see, for example, Amazon Flexes Its Muscles in Fight Against Publishers, by David Streitfeld and Melissa Eddy in The New York Times.
One can, and should debate these tactics, but what I have a bit of trouble with is the voices of surprise and hand-wringing. So, for example, Farhad Manjoo writes -- also in The New York Times -- that Amazon's Tactics Confirm Its Critics' Worst Suspicions, as if this were something new or unexpected. But Amazon has done this before -- Amazon Removes Macmillan Books The New York Times reported in 2010. In Germany they did the same with Diogenes more than a decade ago -- see, for example, the (German) report in Der Spiegel.
Come on, folks -- this is how they operate. And while they seem to be getting bad PR, annoying writers, and while Manjoo and many others argue: "There are a couple obvious reasons this is a bad strategy", surely they've done the cost/benefit sums -- and are well aware how short consumers' memories are -- and decided it's worth it.
(As I've mentioned many times before, the 'business' that is publishing (or the way publishers go about pretending to be businesses) completely baffles me; the current situation does little to help reassure me that anyone of any competence is involved (unlike Amazon, who, like it or not, know how to play). I'd like to have more sympathy even for a juggernaut like Hachette but find that during the course of these negotiation they apparently haven't even disabled/removed Amazon from their 'Where to buy this book'-reseller pages -- see the one for 'The Silkworm' by Robert Galbraith, one of the books that is currently unavailable for pre-order at Amazon -- which suggests they aren't even serious about asserting their position (but rather are offering a little posturing for show but basically will roll over soon enough). Come on, guys, even if it's just symbolic, put a little effort into at least pretending you're taking some sort of stand .....)
I'm not really sure what people expect, now. We've all helped create the monster, but it's not like we weren't aware of what monstrosities to expect from it. (Again: publishers don't seem to really understand how business works, so when a business acts like ... a business (using its market position and power to exact better terms) they're suddenly shocked ?)
I am not a very good capitalist-consumer, even of books: publishers generously send me most that I ask for, free of charge (much appreciated !); I borrow about fifty books a year from the library, and buy maybe fifty to a hundred more -- but practically all used. Other than the occasional gift-purchase, I haven't paid retail for a book in a long, long time (but when I do pay retail I do so at a local bookstore). The only title I have ever purchased directly from the American Amazon.com was in cashing in a ten-dollar coupon provided by them, well over a decade ago; I have bought two or three other books from Marketplace sellers over the years -- and I do cash in, in books, some of the Amazon-earnings I make as an Amazon-affiliate (getting a commission when readers click on the Amazon links on this site) from the German and French Amazons. (I do make some -- though by now relatively little -- money via the Amazon-click-throughs on the site, so I do have some vested interest in people using Amazon.)
All of which is to say I have no idea how (more normal) consumers will react to the Amazon shenanigans. I suspect memories will be short -- if indeed they even notice. I suspect Amazon will continue to get its way, more or less.
I do hope publishers get a bit more aggressive in their negotiating tactics. Or learn some tactics .....
Apparently folks are surprised and upset that Amazon.com is playing hardball/dirty in negotiating a new arrangement with mega-publisher Hachette, delaying -- or at least really taking their time -- with orders for Hachette-titles (which does seem pretty petty) and making it impossible to pre-order forthcoming Hachette titles (which seems .. well, not really a big deal). For an overview see, for example, Amazon Flexes Its Muscles in Fight Against Publishers, by David Streitfeld and Melissa Eddy in The New York Times.
One can, and should debate these tactics, but what I have a bit of trouble with is the voices of surprise and hand-wringing. So, for example, Farhad Manjoo writes -- also in The New York Times -- that Amazon's Tactics Confirm Its Critics' Worst Suspicions, as if this were something new or unexpected. But Amazon has done this before -- Amazon Removes Macmillan Books The New York Times reported in 2010. In Germany they did the same with Diogenes more than a decade ago -- see, for example, the (German) report in Der Spiegel.
Come on, folks -- this is how they operate. And while they seem to be getting bad PR, annoying writers, and while Manjoo and many others argue: "There are a couple obvious reasons this is a bad strategy", surely they've done the cost/benefit sums -- and are well aware how short consumers' memories are -- and decided it's worth it.
(As I've mentioned many times before, the 'business' that is publishing (or the way publishers go about pretending to be businesses) completely baffles me; the current situation does little to help reassure me that anyone of any competence is involved (unlike Amazon, who, like it or not, know how to play). I'd like to have more sympathy even for a juggernaut like Hachette but find that during the course of these negotiation they apparently haven't even disabled/removed Amazon from their 'Where to buy this book'-reseller pages -- see the one for 'The Silkworm' by Robert Galbraith, one of the books that is currently unavailable for pre-order at Amazon -- which suggests they aren't even serious about asserting their position (but rather are offering a little posturing for show but basically will roll over soon enough). Come on, guys, even if it's just symbolic, put a little effort into at least pretending you're taking some sort of stand .....)
I'm not really sure what people expect, now. We've all helped create the monster, but it's not like we weren't aware of what monstrosities to expect from it. (Again: publishers don't seem to really understand how business works, so when a business acts like ... a business (using its market position and power to exact better terms) they're suddenly shocked ?)
I am not a very good capitalist-consumer, even of books: publishers generously send me most that I ask for, free of charge (much appreciated !); I borrow about fifty books a year from the library, and buy maybe fifty to a hundred more -- but practically all used. Other than the occasional gift-purchase, I haven't paid retail for a book in a long, long time (but when I do pay retail I do so at a local bookstore). The only title I have ever purchased directly from the American Amazon.com was in cashing in a ten-dollar coupon provided by them, well over a decade ago; I have bought two or three other books from Marketplace sellers over the years -- and I do cash in, in books, some of the Amazon-earnings I make as an Amazon-affiliate (getting a commission when readers click on the Amazon links on this site) from the German and French Amazons. (I do make some -- though by now relatively little -- money via the Amazon-click-throughs on the site, so I do have some vested interest in people using Amazon.)
All of which is to say I have no idea how (more normal) consumers will react to the Amazon shenanigans. I suspect memories will be short -- if indeed they even notice. I suspect Amazon will continue to get its way, more or less.
I do hope publishers get a bit more aggressive in their negotiating tactics. Or learn some tactics .....