Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfCrash
I am sure that there are ways that Publishers can help. They can sell books using the same mechanisms to the different distributors but trumpet how much they like working with this particular business. Authors can be encouraged to send people to specific websites. Agressive facebook, twitter, and other social media campaigns.
It can be done, someone just has to do it.
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Yes, I agree, it can be done. I think publishers can force the matter quite simply. They could refuse to sell both e and p books to Amazon at a discount or even at all. That might not be legal so my second suggestion is probably better.
My second suggestion is that they simply declare that their ebooks cannot be converted to or sold in any format other than ePub using, for example, the B&N-type DRM. Every ebookseller would have to sell only ePub ebooks with only that particular type of DRM. This would be procompetitive. In fact, I suspect that they could get a written waiver from the Department of Justice that permits them to agree to this standard because it would be consumer friendly.
If you take away Amazon's closed eco system, you force Amazon to compete on a more level playing field. Combine that with agency pricing, which is not under investigation (it is the collusion to impose agency pricing that is under investigation), and suddenly the marketplace changes dramatically.