Even though I was the first to suggest this idea, ...

2008-04-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

Even though I was the first to suggest this idea, I never thought the Washington State AG would actually take legal action. Politics and business in Seattle is as corrupt as in Chicago. The son of the city's mayor was recently caught in a multi-million dollar scam and no one was particularly surprised.

Contacting the AG was simply putting bit of pressure on the system and generating a bit of news. It was a way to make Bezos pay attention to this. Now we have their attention. Now we need to get tough.

Forget supplying Amazon with five copies and paying an annual fee for the dubious privilege of adding to their profits. That's not a viable option. Anyone who does so is likely to find the ante soon upped.

They have some ten shipping centers, all of which will need to be stocked if their Prime shipping scheme is to work. Do you want the hassle of keep an inventory of five books for each title you have in each of their ten centers?

If you have fifty titles, that's an inventory of of 2500 books that have been printed and paid for without you getting a penny in income, as well as 2500 physical books you have to track, less Amazon ship them but not pay you. That sort of hassle and expense is not what we got into pod for. Besides, from what I hear, Amazon will nickel and dime you to death on this, sending a request for one book on Monday, a request for two different titles on Wednesday etc. Remember, you're soaking the cost of all this. They have no reason to play nice with you. Amazon isn't nice. Live with that.

Besides, legally books are not like most other products. It's quite likely that offering that service to Amazon, but no other bookstore, online or otherwise, is illegal. Want to also get forced to pay and supply B&N or Powell or any bookstore that decides to keep a few of your books in inventory? You will, if you sign with Amazon and one of them takes you to court, that is, after you pay their legal costs. And Amazon is likely to hire high-powered lawyers who will get them off scott-free while you're the criminal. After all, it was your fault for accepting an offer from them that you didn't immediately offer to others. And do you want to have to supply book files in some quirky format to every fly-by-night combo pod/online store that comes along? By law, what you do for one bookseller, you have to do for all.

No, we must take charge of this dispute. Do nothing and we loose. POD publishers need to develop a list of contractural requirements that Amazon/BookSurge must meet before we sign with them. Here's a short list off the top of my head:

!. Since Amazon is doing the printing, selling and shipping, Amazon must take care of all damaged returns and clearly state that on the detail page for the book. That means that for BookSurge books, publishers can clearly state inside the book that Amazon must be contacted for all returns, that the publisher has no responsibility and no liability. I suspect this is something Amazon's upper execs haven't considered.

2. Amazon must offer high-quality return services, as high quality as we might like to offer. Having a 800 number manned by humans, paying postage both ways, and promising to get a new copy to the customer within two weeks. Given the reputed dismal quality of BookSurge, that could get pricey for Amazon.

3. Remember, we're happy with the current arrangement and can find no benefit for ourselves in these changes. Amazon must use carrots rather than sticks. BookSurge must take book files in the same format as Lightning Source and match or better their prices. That'll eliminate the considerable conversion costs. Personally, I'd add another. If Amazon has 5% of the book sales in this country, their prices to put our books on their system must be 5% of LSI. We should not have to pay as much to reach 5% of the market as we pay to reach 95%. Reporters a likely to find that sort of fairness argument compelling.

4. Since BookSurge can't print in the same sizes and formats as Lightning, Amazon must continue to sell all books in those sizes and formats, getting them from Lightning, until BookSurge offers that size and format. It must also sell titles from Lightning in any country BookSurge doesn't print (apparently in the UK).

5. This is the most important. With Amazon in complete control of a book's publication chain, they must open up ALL their books to any pod publisher who asks, immediately, completely, and without charge. Remember, with the current scheme involving Lightning, Ingram, and an independent bookstore, we have multiple checks on what's printed and sold. With Amazon doing it all, they could very easily print 1000 copies, but pay us for only 800. How would we know? We wouldn't. Can we trust Amazon? Of course not! We know they're scum. If they protest, we can reply, "What do you have to hide?"

6. So we know when to invoke #5, they must report to us all sales of our titles weekly, detailing how many books, when they were sold (to the minute), and where they were shipped down to the zip code. That would let pod publisher make test sales or get friends to forward receipts for purchases they make. If a sale doesn't show up on the weekly report, the contract would allow us go into their accounting and tracking system to find out why. Any missed sale would incur a substantial penalty, perhaps 100 times the loss plus all costs.

Will Amazon agree to all that? Almost certainly not. But by refusing, Amazon will demonstrate that this isn't about customer service nor is it about integrity. We take the moral high ground and leave them fuming and sputtering.

I emphasize yet again, if we don't take charge of this dispute, Amazon will stay in charge and slowly wear us down, a little this year, a bit more the next. We need to act, we need to act now, and we need to act together. When BookSurge reps call, we need to be able to say, "Have you agreed to the contract yet?" If they say no, then the conversation is over. Put the onus on them to meet our demands. If we don't this, they what is happening now is only the beginning our our troubles with Amazon.

Appeasement will not work. Every bit of meat we feed to the beast will just make it bigger and make it want more.

Comments on Amazon Troop (Book) Surge: Letter from the Washington State Attorney General

Even though I was the first to suggest this idea, ...