Quote:
Originally Posted by FizzyWater
I don't know - maybe I have a hard time understanding the absolute hatred for Amazon in this because I never bought from them. I'd been a loyal Fictionwise buyer for years before Amazon's Kindle came out. |
Yes, me too. I refused to by from Amazon until I knew that I could convert their formats to any format I used on my readers. Plus, Fictionwise had wonderful sales that allowed me to buy ebooks at a typical discount of 15% or more.
I believe the hatred for Amazon is because they are seen as killing the local bookstore with a one-two punch of ebooks and (heavily) discounted pbooks. I think people who are on the publisher's side buy into the mystique of the local bookstore as a haven for literature and literacy. In much of the country, I don't think you can find a bookstore in a town smaller than 10-15 thousand unless it's a college town, and often the people working there are nothing more than minimum wage clerks. In small town America, Amazon's probably a godsend. And you'll note that Jason Boog is a New York City editor, where bookstores are (were) far more common.