MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Publishers Weekly: Will the Agency Model Survive?

fjtorres · 05-20-2014, 07:43 AM

One problem with that Forbes article: the 2010 fight between Amazon and MacMillan isn't a proper antecedent to the new cat fight because back in 2010 neither MacMillan nor Amazon were actually negotiating. MacMillan was actually delivering a ultimatum backed the rest of the conspirators and Amazon was grandstanding before their customers (and, as it turned out, the Feds) to make it plain and clear they wanted nothing to do with the price fix conspiracy. (Of which they were fully informed thanks to RH turning informer back in Oct 2009.) Which is where the whole "price set by the publisher" tag came in.

So, unless Hachette has another collusion deal in their back pocket--doubtful--2010 offers no guidance for 2014. Or 2015.

I know the folks in Manhattan publishing like to pretend the conspiracy never happened but the ruling alone has 180 pages worth of insider details, all retroactively made public. We know exactly who said what to whom and when. And the 2010 fight was just posturing on both sides, not a real fight.

05-20-2014, 07:43 AM	#55
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	One problem with that Forbes article: the 2010 fight between Amazon and MacMillan isn't a proper antecedent to the new cat fight because back in 2010 neither MacMillan nor Amazon were actually negotiating. MacMillan was actually delivering a ultimatum backed the rest of the conspirators and Amazon was grandstanding before their customers (and, as it turned out, the Feds) to make it plain and clear they wanted nothing to do with the price fix conspiracy. (Of which they were fully informed thanks to RH turning informer back in Oct 2009.) Which is where the whole "price set by the publisher" tag came in. So, unless Hachette has another collusion deal in their back pocket--doubtful--2010 offers no guidance for 2014. Or 2015. I know the folks in Manhattan publishing like to pretend the conspiracy never happened but the ruling alone has 180 pages worth of insider details, all retroactively made public. We know exactly who said what to whom and when. And the 2010 fight was just posturing on both sides, not a real fight.