April 23, 2008

Amazon/Booksurge Ultimatum Update By Angela Hoy

Here's what's happened in the last week or so:

* Arriving a bit late to the party, but welcomed nonetheless, the National Writers Union finally issued a statement last week. As expected, like SPAN, the Author's Guild, ASJA, and others, the NWU is publicly condemning Amazon's actions. "The National Writers Union/UAW Local 1981 strongly opposes Amazon's new restriction on the print-on demand market and calls upon Amazon to immediately withdraw this monopolistic intrusion, or face our call for investigations by the Justice Department and Congress."

* Publisher's Weekly reported this week that it appears AuthorHouse/iUniverse is going to tithe to the Amazon/Booksurge God (my analogy, not theirs). WritersWeekly reported the same thing three weeks ago.

* Authors are nervous. One POD author notified us that he decided to stop the publishing process of his new book with his publisher because of the Amazon situation. We, too, have been fielding numerous emails of doubt from authors. Many don't want to use Booksurge but feel they will be forced to do so, in addition to using a printer that has Ingram distribution (considered imperative for bookstore sales). We've also read discussions online that show some authors are holding onto their manuscripts until they know which way this boat is going to turn. Unfortunately, if the government is involved (it is), they might have to wait a long, long, long time. Authors are understandably nervous about using Booksurge because of their reputation. Authors are also upset about paying double setup fees.

* Some authors have threatened to abandon POD publishers who are signing with Amazon/Booksurge because they value their reputations too much to risk having a poorly printed book with their name on it.

* Some authors are saying they will refuse to work with Amazon/Booksurge based strictly on principal. They would rather sell fewer books than be forced to pay more money for something they think is unfair... and that may even be illegal.

* Xlibris finally responded to WritersWeekly's request for information... by saying really nothing at all. Their lack of information is included in this statement, "We apologize that we are unable to comment on the subject below as we are still standing by for the official communication from the higher management and our partners. As of this writing, it is still business as usual with Amazon.com." Why do you think the statements issued by these on-the-fence publishers look so similar? Gosh (snicker), it almost looks like they were written by the same person. Hmmm...

* One POD publisher who was given the ultimatum reported they thought the program might be on hold while another publisher later reported being heavily pressured to immediately sign the contract.

* WritersWeekly has been contacted by numerous small publishers who have already been contacted by Amazon/Booksurge, or who fear they're next on the list, most of whom want to remain under Amazon's radar for as long as they can.

* Numerous authors, publishers and even book buyers have contacted Amazon/Booksurge to voice their anger directly, but are either ignored or receive a canned statement.

OReilly.com reports, "With Amazon's growing power in book sales, it's understandable that publishers may be a bit anxious on learning that in Amazon's 10-k filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company lists among its many competitors not just bookstores but also publishers."

Wish I had good news for you but I don't. So, don't let your guard down. It's not over and it likely won't be over for a long time.

We're posting updates regarding this situation HERE.