The Golden Pencil: The Freelance Writer’s Resource

What Should We Do About Amazon?

by Anne Wayman on April 29th, 2008

I’m feeling conflicted about Amazon right now. I remember when the online bookstore was scrappy and innovative. In fact, one year they sent me a travel mug as a thanks, and another time they sent me something like 10 postage stamps.

We’re along way from when folks predicted founder Jeff Bezos would flat out fail. In those early ‘net days I waited each quarter hoping Amazon would come closer to making a profit so they wouldn’t disappear. I loved it when my first self-published book got listed on Amazon. And I’ve enjoyed small profits from the e-tailer ever since.

The now giant Amazon is now, in my opinion, if not threatening the POD model of publishing, at least acting like a great big bully. They want a monopoly - there’s not other term for it.

So I’m wondering what we authors, POD publishers and interested consumers should do.

Matt Tully said: This could be a golden opportunity for Barnes and Noble to announce they’ll sell PODs by anyone and everyone to stage a nice little marketing coup of their own. He then said he’d make that suggestion to BN - I assume he has.

So, should we all bombard BN with that suggestion? Is there something else we can do?

Write well and often,

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