Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
So why in the world don't these publishers get off the can and create wonderful websites with great coupons (like kobo books does) and build a direct customer relationship? Sure, I get why they didn't in the old days, but old days are old for a reason (and old and gone in this case).
|
If by the old days you mean 2008, the emphasis (paper vs. eBook) is changed, but not the underlying issue. When the publishers undercut Amazon prices, it resulted in, uh, discussions with suppliers:
Amazon furious after publishers undercut its book prices online
Vigorous direct-to-consumer discounting, on major publisher web sites, would hurt independent bookstores more than Amazon, if only because books are an increasingly small part of Amazon revenue. This would further put advance-paying publishers in a hole where they are dependent on the single Amazon account. So the case for building that direct relationship with readers is arguably weaker than it was years ago.
It may be most posters here will not equate what
The Times headline linked above calls fury, evidenced by pulled buy buttons, with whining. But why not?
Why isn't it whining when people here complain about eBooks with typos? Or eBook prices? Or DRM? Where would this place be without such whining?
I'm wondering if it possible to vigorously complain without being seen as whining by those who disagree with the complaint.