There have been a lot of sort-of timid posts and articles about Amazon's initiative to force self-published authors to use its Booksurge service. This is not one of them. So here are seven really good reasons to boycott Amazon:
1. Amazon is being anti-competition and anti-free market. Look, I'm a free market kind of guy, and you could certainly argue that in the name of capitalism Amazon has the right to do whatever it wants. But the fact is, Amazon is about to do major damage to the self-publishing movement. It has put itself in the position to basically be able to put lots of authors and small publishing companies out of business. There's nothing free market about that.
2. Amazon is being un-American and anti-free speech. If Amazon is allowed to force publishers to use its service to sell books, how long will it be before Amazon begins trying to control the content of those books?
3. Ultimately, monopolies are bad for consumers. If Amazon is allowed to continue at its present pace, eventually it will be impossible to compete against. When there is only one game in town, the owner of that game gets to make all the rules.
4. Self-published books are going to be more expensive. Publishers using the Booksurge service will now have to pay Booksurge its fee AS WELL AS a very large percentage of the sales price to Amazon. To stay afloat, self-publishers are going to have to charge more.
5. Amazon has poor customer service policies, such as forcing consumers to pay shipping costs for defective merchandise returned to market sellers. Or putting resellers' accounts "under review" and not making payment on merchandise sold for weeks, even after merchandise has been shipped and approved by customers. To learn more, check out this site: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/amazon.html
6. Amazon doesn't need your money. The company's sales for the fourth quarter of 2007 totaled $5.7 billion. It's time to spread the wealth around a bit.
7. There are other alternatives. Amazon isn't the only place to buy books and other merchandise. I just bought $80 worth of books from barnesandnobel.com and got a great price on each one. There are also hundreds, if not thousands, of other sites where you can buy books, music and electronics.
Your life will not be made any more difficult by not using Amazon.com, so why not shop elsewhere and help us make a statement that we will not be bullied by giant corporations attempting to become monopolies?
5 comments:
"Spread the wealth around?" When was the last time a major American corporation took that tact?
YouWriteOn.com, the UK's leading website for new writers, supports you and has called for an Amazon Boycott in the UK. Our boycott has been reported in our national publishing press here and we have added details of AmazonTroopSurge.com to our site, on which we list simple suggestions for how to take action, and how to boycott Amazon.
Thank you on behalf of writers and readers everywhere for the actions you have taken on Amazon's policy decisions.
We consider that Amazon's decisions are effectively a two-pronged assault on the publishing industry and writers and readers. Reports indicate that they are effectively attempting to monopolise the POD industry, and monopolies are never to the benefit of individuals. This will inevitably lead to less choice, less opportunities, and less royalties for POD and mainstream writers. At the same time, reports of their heavy-handed attempts to stifle competition over book prices impacts on reader choice and writers royalties. This is a red flag to the mainstream publishing industry that needs to be countered now. We have many American members and wanted to add our voice of support to your campaign.
Edward Smith, Manager, YouWriteOn.com
Thank you for posting what I have been thinking since this was brought to my attention. Amazon is on the path to controlling the American (and possibly international)press, determining what can be printed and what can be written. Sounds like North Korea to me. No thanks Amazon, I'm taking my business elsewhere. For good.
Just a note to let you know we at Jigsaw Press support boycotting Amazon. None of our family members and friends will ever spend another thin dime there.
The editor and staff of Jigsaw Press
www.jigsawpress.com
I would hope that other POD presses can combine forces to create an alt distribution source.
On a side note, economics aside, Amazon's Booksurge print quality is notoriously bad. It's reputation amongst artists, whose work is in part dependent upon how good it looks in print, are genuinely uniform in not liking the print quality or quality control of Booksurge.
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