Independent booksellers join Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and Canadian
chain Indigo in refusing to stock retail giant's own books
The cold war between north American booksellers and Amazon
has hotted up this week, with the booksellers joining together to announce that
they will not be selling any of the titles published by the online retailer.
The opening salvo was fired last week by America's
biggest book chain Barnes & Noble, when it announced that it would not be
stocking Amazon
Publishing's books. The website publishes a large range of titles, with
imprints covering everything from romance to thrillers, and major authors
including Deepak Chopra and self-help guru Timothy Ferriss.
"Our decision is based on Amazon's continued push
for exclusivity with publishers, agents and the authors they represent," said
Jaime Carey, chief merchandising officer, in a statement. "These exclusives
have prohibited us from offering certain ebooks to our customers. Their
actions have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of
customers from having access to content. It's clear to us that Amazon has proven
they would not be a good publishing partner to
Barnes & Noble, as they continue to pull content off the market for their
own self-interest."
Barnes & Noble's 705 stores were quickly joined
by Canada's 247-shop Indigo Books and Music, with vice-president
Janet Eger saying to Canadian press that the retailer would also not be
stocking Amazon's books on the grounds that "Amazon's actions are not in the
long-term interests of the reading public or the publishing and book retailing
industry, globally". The US's second largest bricks and mortar book retailer
Books-A-Million followed suit, entering the fray late last week when it
told Publishers Weekly that its 200 stores would not carry Amazon Publishing's
titles either.
Now the US's independent booksellers have joined the
boycott, with the American
Booksellers Association's e-commerce platform for
independent stores, IndieCommerce, beginning the process of
removing all Amazon titles from its database, according to Publishers
Weekly.
"While Amazon is seeking to distribute its print catalogue through
conventional means, it seems that they are simultaneously pursuing a strategy of
locking in ebook exclusives which other retailers are not allowed to sell.
IndieCommerce believes that this is wrong," wrote director Matt Supko, in an
email to independent booksellers. He also stated that "only publishers' titles
that are made available to retailers for sale in all available formats will be
included in the IndieCommerce inventory database".
The latest clash between Amazon and its
bricks-and-mortar counterparts follows anger
from US booksellers before Christmas, after Amazon.com offered a
discount to customers who looked at items for sale on the high street and then
bought them online. ABA
wrote an open letter to Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos at the time,
calling the promotion "the latest in a series of steps to expand your market at
the expense of cities and towns nationwide, stripping them of their unique
character and the financial wherewithal to pay for essential needs like schools,
fire and police departments, and libraries".
Alison Flood
guardian.co.uk
Wow I had no idea this was going on. The book industry really is becoming a war.
ReplyDeleteWow, it makes sense what the other bookshops are not purchasing/sharing Amazon content. Who would have known there was so much drama going on in the book world.
ReplyDelete