Can't Shake the Devil's Hand and Say You're Only Kidding

This week, we received a copy of a new book from an author who was interested in coming in to sign. The problem is that the book is from the new Amazon mystery imprint. They're making an agressive move into publishing and have lined up a list of new and known authors. The authors are understandably eager and excited and they have a hard time understanding when they run into our brick wall of NO. We start with my original message of explaination, then his reply and my return message. In the interest of everyone getting a better understanding of the issues and our point, here is the exchange ~ JB

Tuesday, June 21, 10:30 AM To: The Author

Sorry to say that we cannot offer you a signing. We cannot do anything to support, help or benefit Amazon. They're the enemy of independent bookshops and aiding them in any way - mainly ordering their books and selling them and promoting them - would be suicide. Things are tough enough without cutting our own throats. - JB Dickey, owner

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 5:49 PM To: staff@seattlemystery.com

Dear JB, I understand your concerns. But please know that the opposite is happening nationwide. Amazon is reaching out to independents everywhere and offering to send hundreds of thousands of Amazon emails promoting an individual bookstore. Happily sending Amazon customers to independents. The results have been spectacular. Hundreds have been showing up at these events. It is a tremendous show of support for the independents.

I know it seems counter-intuitive. Amazon is easy to demonize. But I've seen the result of their work with independents. And it is impressive. They wouldn't be putting in this kind of effort if they were out to cut your throat. My little book tour is not about to make or break Amazon. I truly believe that Amazon wants both the independents and the online stores to thrive. If I didn't believe that I would not have signed with them.

And as an author with a bestselling book from a conventional NY publisher, I can attest to the new life Amazon is breathing into books. Whereas an event might bring in the same ten or twelve people, now we are seeing many times that amount. New customers who then tell others about the event and about the bookstores. It has been great for everyone, especially the bookstores.

I know your mind is set, and I do not expect my email to change it. But I do want you to know that my experience with Amazon as an author has been second to none. They are incredibly supportive and responsive and beyond author-friendly. They flew me to NY for a book signing at BEA, something unheard of for a first-time author in my genre. And the list goes on.

If I can do anything to help your bookstore please let me know. And if you want to talk more about this or anything else book-related please call me at 555-555-1212. The author I am touring with is an English professor at University State X, and I know he feels as strongly as I do about the survival of the independents.

Sincerely, The Author

6/22/11, 10:56 AM To: The Author

What you say is all well and good but you're looking at it from your perspective.

From my perspective, this is a huge corporation that has not only taken massive amounts of sales away from me over the years but also sales reps (which means the attention of publishers) and has waged a price war with the NYC publishers over their e-books. Remember when they removed ALL St. Martin's titles from their site in retaliation for St. Martin's insisting that they no longer undercut the price structure for e-books that the others were observing? Remember, too, that Amazon is the company that reached into the private devices of individuals and deleted e-books (one of our very good/long time customers is a computer worker and had downloaded a technical book from Amazon and make copious notes in her reader - Amazon deleted the 'book' and she lost all of her notes/ and then they also deleted - what was it, 1984? - from people's e-readers). And let's not forget that they appeared to buckle to outside pressure to remove gay and lesbian fiction and, when caught, blamed technical problems, not mendacity. I cannot tolerate censorship of any kind or by anyone. If these people are not intentionally evil, they come damn close to it by their actions and policies.

You want me to buy books from them? Pay them money to continue their efforts and to have books in my joint that clearly say "Amazon", to give them free advertisement as well?

If they're like NYC publishers, they'd demand that I open an account with them. That means giving them my personal info (this shop is a sole-proprietorship), tax numbers and bank accounts and, probably, the account information from three other businesses (either publishers and/or wholesalers) as references. Sorry - not a chance in hell I'd give all of that to Amazon. I do not trust them.

Even if I were to consider it, I haven't heard enough about their policies: what is the discount structure? are returns allowed and in what time frame? are they selling the same book at a discount that I can't/won't match or are they selling the books at the same price as I would?

I don't doubt that they're doing good things for you authors. It is fully within their interest to do so. First of all, they're launching a mystery/crime imprint and want to do all they can to promote it and its authors. Secondly, they want you to promote it and talk about it and to have more authors want to sign with them and to make more and more sales. I would bet that the intent is to take more and more business away from the major publishers who are very good at letting sales slip through their fingers.

Neither of us will change our minds. I'm the owner of the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan. You are working for Mr. Potter. And Mr. Potter is always buying.

No one else may share my views. We're all doggedly independent. It might be that I'm extra-sensitive about Amazon since they started here. If it works for others and you, great. But it is not for me.  ~ JB

Update, June 29th:  Folks - if you're interested in following this debate, please read the blog posts that followed to see our answers to many of the questions raised by commentators. What you've just read is but the tip of the iceberg around which independents must navigate ~JB

the morning of June 23: On Dave's Thoughts

the afternoon of June 23: Point/CounterPoint

June 24: the Return of Point/CounterPoint

June 29: Spawn of Point/CounterPoint

July 3: Point/CounterPoint vs. Mothra

July 10: Point/Counterpoint: a story problem

Aug 8: Point/Counterpoint: It Isn't Just Us

Comments

[J. R. Tomlin]

"Amazon may be terrific for readers and authors but it is no friend to independent bookstores. Why should they be scorned when they choose to not support Amazon's business?"

The POINT of bookstores is to serve their customers and if they have forgotten that, they deserve to go out of business.

I dont think they all have. I still go to Powell's -- on occasion. But a vendetta against Amazon is truly cutting off your nose to spite your face.

You can't offer your customers the books they want you hurt YOURSELF, not your customer who goes to Amazon or Amazon who probably profits from your ire.

EBooks and online shopping are not going away. Either you learn to deal with it and still make a profit or you go the way of the dinosaur.

[Just another commentator]

Hmm, when you really think about it physical book stores use a fairly insane business model and have always been bad deal for publishers (and authors). What other part of industry only offers shelf space? Publishers have to shoulder the entire initial financial burden of publishing/marketing/distributing a book. So from a publisher point of view selling on Amazon greatly cuts these costs (and risk), especially if they POD. So basically because physical book stores have never shouldered any of the financial burden they have cut their own throats. If they want to survive a new business model is sorely needed, but perhaps it is too late for them anyway.

[Christopher Brayshaw]

I own a (healthy) independent bookstore in Vancouver, Canada, and I have some points:

1. Heather, above, says "I've yet to see [an independent bookstore] that charges anything below cover price unless they are remainders." Heather isn't looking very hard. We do 20% off ALL new books, except short-discount university press titles. Powells, Elliott Bay, Bellingham's Village Books, etc. often do 20-30% off bestsellers and books that their buyers want to promote. The idea that independents always charge full price for everything is demonstrably false.

2. The idea that e-book revenues are like print book revenues is also demonstrably false. Ebook revenues, via Google Books, or other similar venues, are like selling magazines and newspapers: very slim margin. 100 physical book sales versus 100 ebook sales = major loss of revenue. "But you can make it up on volume." Sure, if you're selling potatoes or toilet paper or other mass-commodity items. I'd argue that books are not a mass commodity item, despite publishers' and more recently book superstores' attempts to transition them to mass-commodity status. Recall that Barnes & Noble/Borders/Chapters/Indigo "superstore" is a fairly recent arrival, and one that may not have much in the way of legs.

3. Here's a real-life experience that a cartoonist friend of ours recently had with Amazon.ca. She published an award-winning memoir with a small Canadian press. Amazon came calling, and requested terms that were below what it cost the publisher to physically produce the book. (ie., the publisher was requested to supply copies to Amazon at terms that would have resulted in a net loss to the publisher for every copy sold). The publisher, quite rightly, shared this math with Amazon. Amazon then suggested that the publisher supply this one title, for which they had identified high demand, at a loss, with the idea that the publisher would receive exposure for the rest of their line on Amazon, which would somehow "make up the difference." No thanks, said the publisher, and Amazon promptly listed our friend's title as "Unavailable to order." We filled orders for months to folks who understood "Unavailable to order" as "Out of print." The Amazon apologists who've commented on this thread need to explain to me how this behavior benefits our author friend, her publisher, readers...in fact, how it benefits anyone who's not Amazon in any size, shape or form.

4. Major publishers bear lots of responsibility for giving away the store to Amazon in the early days (55%+ discounts, 3 or 6 month terms) and are now unable to put the genie back in the bottle. Also, the current catalogs/sales rep/full-price/fully returnable model doesn't work. Here's one example: a publisher's sales rep is compensated for how many copies of a title a bookseller ORDERS, as opposed to eventually sells. Question: if I order 100 copies of a book, and return 99, am I benefiting the publisher? Or am I just making the shipper who moves the books back and forth across the country happy?

Also, just for the record: my business supports 2 locations, eight full-time staff (who receive paid medical, dental, and better than minimum wage) and competes quite handily with Amazon. So, yes, it can be done.

[Anna]

Lelia said, "Amazon may be terrific for readers and authors but it is no friend to independent bookstores. Why should they be scorned when they choose to not support Amazon's business?"

I'm a reader and a writer, not a bookstore. I think some people in this conversation have forgotten who the publishing and book-selling industries are supposed to serve.

As a writer, I'm offended that bookstores are blacklisting authors who, for whatever reasons, are publishing through Amazon. As a reader, I'm even more offended.

Forgive me, but I was not born with a capitalist mindset.

I think it's probable that someday, bookstores will be a thing of the past. But the bookstores that last are going to be the ones that adapt. There are still plenty of book selling opportunities that can't be replicated online. Children's books come to mind as do collectors' editions, graphic novels, coffee table and gift books. In-store events could include book clubs, author signings, and writing workshops. You don't have to sell books and only books. What about notebooks and pens? Coffee cups? Greeting cards? Things that writers and readers love.

That's what the indie bookstore in my town has done and in the last few years, they have actually expanded while other stores in other towns are closing down. I have a Kindle but I still shop at that bookstore (and love it with all my heart). I get my journals there and buy gifts for people. I find killer deals in their used books section.

These stores need to stop competing with Amazon and simply offer a different experience. Any of the ones that don't will sink.

And I hope more bookstores and publishers will stop and remember their place in all these "transactions." There is a storyteller and an audience. Everyone else is, unfortunately, a middle man.

[Ella Schwartz]

This is such a difficult topic. I can completely appreciate both sides.

But rather than try to ban books because of the Amazon, imprint, perhaps fight the fight a different way?

There is absolutely no doubt that the traditional bookstore is in trouble. With ebook readers becoming more popular, the demand for physical books is shrinking. This is a fact. Major book sellers are reporting declining book sales, but ebook sales are growing at lightning pace.

But I have a prediction that may surprise you. It is my belief that while the likes of Borders and Barnes and Noble will suffer a painful demise, the small neighborhood bookshop will rise from the ashes. It is the small bookstore that is poised for a major comeback. Bookstores need a reason to survive, and that reason is a book lover’s need to be part of a bigger community of book lovers – and that is the one service that Amazon cannot provide, but the neighborhood bookshop can!

Any brick and mortar shop wishing to thrive in today’s landscape must reinvent the business model to provide services that are impossible to offer via the Internet, Book clubs, writing circles, and author signings, are just a few examples. A small bookstore in my neighborhood recently opened for business. They are offering book-themed birthday parties (think Fancy Nancy or Harry Potter). What a brilliant idea!

If a bookstore wants to be around in five years they must find that special something to bring customers through their front doors, and that will not be books alone. It is these other services - the human interaction – that will drive customers. I’m rooting for the small bookshop!

[Anna L]

OK, so this is off-topic to JB's original post, but I had to address this:

"I read around 150 books a year. Their prices just cannot be beat. I can't afford to pay full cover price for a book at an independent (I've yet to see one that charges anything below cover price unless they are remainders)."

I, too, read voraciously. I buy lots of books--from independent bookstores (usually Seattle Mystery Bookshop). And then if I've exceeded my book-buying budget for the week/month/whatever, I go to this magical place called a library. Where I can read books for free! Amazing!

This way I can still support my local bookstores *and* read everything that I want. No Amazon needed.

[Nialle Sylvan]

Oh my goodness! A bookstore not stocking books from a publisher who offers terms the bookshop doesn't like! That must be a completely new and evil business tactic!

...seriously, folks, the practice of selling things in which you believe and not selling things that do not match your business' model does predate the popularity of [latest teen star]. By a few thousand years, oddly enough. Read up on your publishing gossip from the 19th century and you will find it raddled with such occurrences. People behave based upon their ethical principles; choosing not to behave in a way we think unethical is not new and not representative of a whiny underdog emo attitude. It's business.

And to do business with Amazon when one is a bookstore is like supporting No Child Left Behind if one is a teacher. Both Az and NCLB are designed to level out expectations and penalize (drive out of business or cut funding from, respectively) underperformers. Teachers and booksellers leave. Where does that leave our kids? Our readers? Our authors? Will everyone be treated better once everyone is treated the same? History tells us: no.

Besides, it's a simple truth about retail: If you like what you have, others are more likely to like it. If you have to stock everything because everyone thinks everything should be available everywhere, then you can't give recommendations and are missing the point of being a bookseller.

What is a bookseller? A person whose role in the community is to introduce authors/books to people, to facilitate communication about books, to choose books right for the community that the community might not otherwise find, to be a resource for the curious and the bibliophiliac and the gift-giving and the learning people, to share the love of reading, to encourage children to read - and to make a living doing it. We make choices toward these ends. Some of us fail, sometimes for many reasons, sometimes for unfair reasons (like Amazon's habit of bullying publishers into shirt-losing deals with them (that have to be made up later by overcharging indies), see above). Some of us succeed because some combination of factors - the love of books in our community, the appreciation of patrons, our own savviness and wit in choosing the best titles and being the most resourceful - allow this.

Market issues aside, however, the comparison book:ebook :: horse:car doesn't work. A more accurate comparison would be book:ebook :: cash:credit card. Books can be circulated freely by anyone capable of putting marks on paper and attaching several such papers together and anyone who owns a book. eBooks are not like that. Not everyone can afford an ereader, not every format can be converted by everyone to now and future formats, and ebooks are produced by just a few companies that have the right to change prices, fees, and availability at will, just as credit card companies (without federal regulation) can charge whatever they want for offering the special service they provide. Books and eBooks can and will coexist, just as cash and credit cards do; and just as some retailers choose to operate on a cash basis (because they don't like being hit with all those merchant and swipe fees) and some customers choose cash because they like their merchants and/or because they don't like late fees, over-limit fees, or turning kids loose with credit cards, some bookstores will deal in books and some warehouse widget sellers will deal in ebooks. It isn't the apocalypse of the book. This isn't about luddites and futurites. It's about some people and some other people and finding a balance that gets people who write, people who publish, people who sell, and people who read into positions in which they can do and love what they do and love. It is not time for an elegy for the book; it is time for people to figure out how different media work for them now that there's a new one in the mix.

[Wolfgang Pie]

What is this total denial I am seeing with indie bookstores? The technology is here. It isn't just Amazon. It is Smashwords, B&N, etc. Ereaders are selling like hotcakes. Editors and agents are no longer the gatekeepers. Readers are the gatekeepers. And when they can spend less money for more books..duh! That's a no brainer. This is all about economics. I understand your argument and yes, it sucks for you. You live in a a bad time for indie bookstores. A very bad time. The publishing world has turned upside down but the only way for you to survive is to embrace and support novelists and invite them into your store for signings. Otherwise, you're dead. Harsh but true. You can thrive if you invite indie authors to your store and carry their books but you won't. You think you're fighting a war but you aren't. This is just the future, man. That's all. Go with it or die. And that stupid reference to Its a Wonderful Life was just that. Stupid.

[iain]

Yes. What Dave said, back up there on the 23rd June. And Margaret Evans's doltish reply is suitably Luddite. It grieves me that beloved bookstores are threatened in both the cities between which I divide my time - Los Angeles and London (yes, we do read in Los Angeles, but even the rather sorry branch of Borders two convenient blocks from my home has gone out of business). I dread the day I return to London and find that Foyles has gone under. But I have a sense that booksellers largely have themselves to blame; the technological revolution has been some considerable time coming and the book trade - from publishing houses to modestly-sized bookshops - have dragged their collective heels rather than anticipating the rise of e-trade and are now facing the consequences.

[Sophia]

To those going to great lengths to justify your patronage of Amazon: save your breath! Nobody is questioning that it offers a vast array of stock at very low prices and then delivers your purchases to your front door. In fact, you don't even have to leave your house!

Those of us that side with Mr Dickey in this debate, and against Amazon generally, are merely asking you to look ahead a few years. Like any business small or large, Amazon seeks profit and growth at the expense of its competitors, and its ultimate goal must surely be a bookselling monopoly. Now, with its move into publishing, there is a distinct possibility that the time will come when the only place left to buy books is Amazon, and the only books being promoted there are ones published by Amazon.

If this sounds like an appealing state of affairs, by all means let your local bookseller die. But rest assured, Amazon's seductive discounts will be a thing of the past once the competition has been crushed, as will its favourable treatment of its authors...

[Brucejquiller]

The fact that anyone would think a bookstore ought to stage an event to promote an Amazon product is truly astonishing. Amazon has destroyed the book business as we knew it. Although access to the Amazon database/display function may appear at first glance to be a boon for authors, the fact that a website has replaced bookstores for so many readers has spelled the death of browsing. For unknown or "mid-list" authors this is especially damaging.

[Beth D.]

Wolfgang, this has nothing to do with self published "indie" writers. JB is attacking published authors (and thinking he's hurting Amazon) whose books are released by Amazon Publishing, not people who upload their unpublished manuscripts onto the internet.

Big difference.

[Jack]

As a retired New York publisher who decided to open an indpendent bookstore to keep myself out of trouble in my dotage, I find myself taking a more pragmatic view. Amazon built its business on treating books as a loss leader to build its online marketshare. Beneath its consumer-uber-alles exterior lies the beating heart and soul of a monopolist and its relationship to the publishing supply chain of editors, publishers, retailers fundamentally has been predatory in nature. BUT it cannot maintain that worldview as a legitimate publisher. Welcome to our world, Mr. Bezos. Now you are about to enter the great casino that is book publishing, and if you think that your algorithms are going to help you make better editorial acquisition decisions, good luck. You are about to find out that publishing remains more art than science and built the hard way, upon relationships. Failure for your fledgling publishing operation is very much a possibility as you become truly exposed, for the first time, to the serendipity that is book publishing.

So if you want we indies to act as your showcase and handsellers, then you better come calling with your checkbook. That translates into more generous discounts, sweeter credit terms, and promotional allowances (to help us build our own online presence) that we will be able to leverage with our other publishing suppliers.

I look forward to your call.

[T Anderson]

Former publisher here. Amazon's policies were not only aggressive but unsustainable. They insisted on the right to sell our books for less than cost. Their accounting was less than satisfactory. Their listings were constantly being changed to incorrect information, and we had to keep fixing them. They tried to bully us into discounts that were way above standard - and we had to bear the cost of shipping. And it is the very anti-combines laws that are supposed to protect consumers that prevented publishers from saying "No - this is unethical and we all agree not to play this game." Have I ever bought books on Amazon? Yes - only if the book I need cannot be found anywhere else. But usually I can find what I need through my local independents (if current) or through Alibris or one of the resale sites. This is not about refusal too change models; most people would agree the former model must change. It is about unethical business practices. Authors cannot expect the respect and support of bookstores or traditional publishers if the authors choose to side with the bully.

[Eurekabooks]

Like many bookstore owners around the country, I recently received a package of review copies of Amazon's mysteries and I promptly threw them away. While I share many of JB's feelings, I won't support AZ as a publisher (e.g. a manufacturer) of books because the company violates the key principles of retailer-manufacturer relations.

Manufacturing and retailing are symbiotic. Manufacturers think up new products but it is the retailers who develop local markets for them and deliver them to the final customer.

All manufacturers COULD sell their products very cheaply to the public (they could sell at wholesale prices and still make a profit). But they don't. Why? Because why would I, as a retailer, support a manufacturer who offers to sell direct to the public at the same price as the mfgr sells to me? I obviously can't compete with that and selling that manufacturer's products undercuts my business - I'm spending $$ to market their product and to create demand for the product and the manufacturer steps in and takes advantage of that product demand that I (and other retailers) have created and steals our customer. No retailer will stand for that.

Other than Amazon books, I challenge anyone to look around where they are sitting and find a single product in their field of vision that can be bought direct from the manufacturer for less than full retail. You won't be able to do it because any manufacturer who did would find themselves without a retail outlet very quickly.

AZ is different because they started in retail. But the idea is the same. AZ is selling their own books online to customers for less than the wholesale price. In fact, if I wanted to order their books, it would be cheaper for me to order from AZ at retail. So no, I will not support Amazon's efforts as a manufacturer to undercut me as a retailer.

Has anyone else noticed that the Kindle, where available in retail stores, is the exact same price as on Amazon. If AZ can sell the Kindle wholesale to Target, why doesn't it sell the Kindle for that same lower wholesale price to its online customers? Simple, there's no way Target would buy from AZ unless the price in the store and direct from the manufacturer were the same.

And presumably, AZ, as a manufacturer, doesn't want its Kindle retailers to sell the Kindle for less (AZ always has to be cheapest, right?). That's why Kindles never go on sale at Target. As a manufacturer, Amazon wants to control the retail price. Just like any other manufacturer.

[BooksAndPals]

As a consumer, I agree with Dave. His story is my story as well.

You raise the spector of censorship accusing Amazon of this. Technically it isn't - censorship is generally defined as being a governmental ban. But I fail to see how what you are doing is any different than what Amazon is doing.

[Jacquelyn Wheeler]

Amazon books just aren't as good. I work for a publisher right now and I have seen the books we print compared to the books they print for us. It's ridiculous. Ours look way better, only cost a couple of dollars more, and the author gets twice as much money from the sale.

[VY]

Here it is in a nutshell:

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/amazon-revealed-it-hates-you-and-it-hates-publishers?partner=homepage_newsletter

Perhaps worst of all, Amazon clearly doesn't care what its customers think (despite thanking them in the blog post) because it acted to axe Macmillan's texts without explaining why or giving any warning. And though it tries to portray itself as championing customer rights, what its actually doing is trying to manipulate an entire industry to working how it wants everything to work, squeezing everybody from authors to other booksellers.

[Michael Herrmann]

The point is, independent bookstores are not trying to save themselves by refusing to carry the Amazon imprints. They're trying to save their industry--specifically, the publishers, and the benefits they provide to readers which Amazon will not.

Amazon has proven time and time again that they want to control every arena they enter 100%. They are a cancer on the industry. We aren't anti-industry when we try to beat the cancer.

[Del]

If you are only interested in getting the books at the cheapest price go to Amazon. anything beyond (such as signings, expertise, honest recs) go elsewhere while you still can. Amazon vowed to put the indie bookstores out of business and they are doing their damndest to accomplish that.

[Ss Powell]

Dave, I am so sorry. We have seen this before and it was called "Wall Mart". Wall Mart treats its workers with disdain. Then there was the Electric car and GM and Ford beat it off, and then, along came Honda and Toyota.
I am worried that Amazon does not pay very much to the writers. When they kill are the independents, they will pay less. I guess its ebooks for me, ordered from bookstores, hopefully.

[SeaStarr]

I work in acquisitions for a University Press. We're not doing as much with e-books as we were expecting to do a year ago, not because we don't have them, we do, but because the demand hasn't been there. In my market, anyway. I know it's not the same in trade.

With that said, in one of our numerous 'what are we doing with e-books' meetings, as we were trying to sort out how we would sell these e-books, and maintain our copyrights and collect on permissions for all the material that is bound to get hacked as soon as it goes online, our president came right out and said, "I'd be just as happy if we had one customer, and it was Amazon."

Of course, we all gasped, and clutched our Starbucks coffees. "You can't be serious," an older editor said.

"Why not?" Was his reply. "They're not over-ordering and gouging us on returns. They order what they need, and we get paid on time. It's perfect."

The fact is, Amazon, for all my big business woes, is good at what they do. They're unlikely to close and leave accounts owing like some smaller bookstores, and they don't leave us sitting on a pile of unsold merchandise when the Christmas rush is over.

Of course, this mainly refers to print format. And this isn't Seattle Mystery's fault. But it's why Amazon is king. They're effective.

And I hate to say it, but indie bookstores aren't in any position to be shunning book launches, dependent on the publisher, even if it is their biggest competitor/threat. Launches bring in customers. They need those to survive. It's a bit like cutting off the leg to save the foot.

[Jacob]

After reading all these comments, I've decided to never buy from independent stores again. You don't like Amazon, fine, but taking it out on the authors who are the most important part of the entire chain, is unforgivable.

I don't care where a writer publishes as long as I can get the book. Readers, Books Store owners, and publishers should be kissing the ass of every author who graces you with a book.

Learn your place people.

[Jackie]

Reading can be an inexpensive hobby if you do not read like I do - averaging one book per day = 365 or more books per year. I have my library and ran out of room for books! So I bought an e-reader for my fiction. I have not had it very long- about 3 months and already have over 200 books on it. What I can't stand is paying the same price for an ebook and a regular paperback. Plus the paperback is discounted and sometimes even half of the list price! Is the author getting a bigger percentage of the sale price? I doubt it. And the publisher does not do a good job of proofreading/formatting the e-text.

So yes I still prefer the physical book. And I love bookstores. But I get new leads on authors I have not read by reading author and publisher blogs/websites on the internet. It is so easy to click on a link right then and buy the book and have it instantly delivered. I don't have to worry about senior moments when I go to the book store and forget my list!

So I think most of us are correct on this list. Amazon is greedy and helpful both - I am not sure I trust them completely. E-books are wonderful. Regular books are wonderful. The fact is READING is wonderful anyway you do it!!!!!

[Robert]

Amazon is author friendly until they aren't. As an author who has tried for more than a year to convince Amazon they have violated my copyright by refusing to remove unauthorized Kindle editions of my first two novels, I can testify that Amazon can be author-hateful, intransigent, deceitful and dismissive. Is it censorship to refuse to carry an Amazon imprinted title? The argument is specious. Censorship would involve preventing Amazon's ability to publish. Refusing, in a perfectly reasonable act of self-preservation, to aid Amazon with distribution does not even enter the realm of censorship; it merely puts Amazon in the same position as any other publisher: they must make the case for why a retail outlet should carry their product. They have not made that case convincingly. Resisting Amazon is not about resisting technological progress, either. Every tool Amazon offers is available from other sources, without the dubious ethics inseparable from the Amazon brand.