Publisher Problems With Amazon Continue to Grow - Shame Shame!
The stories of the way Amazon is treating small publishers continue to proliferate. This morning, Angela Hoy’s blog, Amazon BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit Clearinghouse points to the website of Avotaynu Books
There, in an article titled Do Not Buy Avotaynu Books from Amazon.com, the publisher of Jewish Genealogy, details how Amazon changed its terms (yes, it has the right to do that, although as I read it they are making some books much more difficult to get than others, and that’s flat wrong in my not very humble opinion on this subject). Avotaynu rejected the new terms - their right, one would think, but maybe not. At least not the way Amazon behaved.
The online bookstore continued to offer the books in question, but apparently won’t order them from the book distributor. That means they are, as I understand it, accepting money from purchasers then, when and if the buyer queries on the delay, Amazon responds with an email that blames the problem on the supplier. If true, that smacks of taking money under false pretenses, or theft.
And if this is true, Amazon stands to get into serious trouble. At least the post office used to get really angry when mail order sales outfits couldn’t or deliver promised product. I mean, people have been given huge fines and even, I think, sent to jail over issues like this.
What I don’t understand is the seeming power grab behind these moves. Amazon and founder Jeff Bezos have been such innovators and heroes as book selling has moved online. They really made the huge growth in self-publishing possible, and now they’re only getting in its way. Forcing small publishers to use BookSurge to print, and failing to remove books for sale when publishers don’t agree to new terms, breaks faith with both customers and publishers. This is the sort of behavior I’d expect from WalMart.
I say shame on you Amazon; shame on you Jeff Bezos!
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