Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
I don't know if there is a current dispute between Amazon and Hachette over agency, or if that part is resolved. Either way, in the United States, agency is about eBooks, whereas the lack of discounting has more been on the paperback side.
The authors are complaining about a pattern where readers are more or less subtly discouraged from buying Hachette books, such as by saying that shipping will take 3-5 weeks, or even longer, and with implausibly frequent estimate shifting when wholesalers actually get special orders out in a far shorter time. |
Big Deal. People who order paper books online can easily go the the Barnes & Noble site if they feel Amazon isn't discounting the paper book enough. Or simply go to the Barnes & Noble store and save the shipping. And Amazon isn't delaying passing the book requests on to Hachette. After that it is up to Hachette to get the book to the customer. If they are quick the customer will simply get a nice surprise when it comes earlier than was predicted.
As for the letter, one wonders just how much pressure Hachette is putting on their authors to sign it. One understands the big authors who are getting a sweet deal from Hachette. They want to keep the status quo as their interests align with Hachettes'. Midlist authors who get really small advances, no promotion and no hardback release should really be on Amazon's side as it would benefit them a lot more.