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I support authors - I think we all do.
I also very much dislike bullies; and in this situation it is Amazon that is being the bully. Macmillan gave Amazon options (neither to Amazon's liking) and 60 days warning. That was plenty of time for Amazon to try to suggest alternatives or at least make a counter-offer. Instead they opted for the nuclear option and removed everything Macmillan sells - paper and electronic alike.
This was Amazon's action and this hurt readers and this hurt authors. Books have vanished from peoples' wish lists. People who just discovered authors like Robert Jordan can't buy the next book in the series from Amazon.
Macmillan's pricing scheme and model may be all wrong, I don't know. What I do know is Amazon's response has permanently tarnished them in my eyes and that behavior means I can't consider them the good guys.
Agree with him or not, but John Sargent of Macmillan has come forward and said "this is what we are doing and why." We know where Macmillan stands and the decision-makers there are willing to stand up and put their name behind their position. They even took out a full page ad to make sure their official stance was available.
What did we get from Amazon? A forum post from the "Amazon Kindle team." Not one person has come forward on Amazon's behalf and made a public statement in their own name.
It's that more than the price issue that really made my decision for me.
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