Barnes & Noble Stores Will Not Stock Books Published By Amazon

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I can understand the annoyance of the customer - but Amazon IS trying to kill off B&N. They have to do something - especially since Amazon is drawing the hard line in the sand.

Exclusive contracts are bad business, IMHO.

This.

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I am very much against the Amazon Publishing branch, so take this post with bias, but I agree with B&N's decision.

The Amazon Publishing agreement is essentially an exclusivity agreement as far as e-Books go: only Amazon can publish the e-Book. So B&N is basically taking the lead in saying that the agreement is also an exclusivity agreement as far as B&M stores go: Amazon Publishing will be limited to Amazon's B&M outlets. (Which essentially don't exist.)

Since the real reason for going Amazon Publishing was largely for paper copies (because if you just want to publish your e-Book you can do that on your own at Amazon and other places), B&N's decision sort of nips that in the bud.

To be honest, I hope other companies follow suit, as I am VERY nervous about Amazon using their Publishing arm to create exclusivity for their Selling arm, and gods know we don't trust bust in this country anymore because that would make our Business Overlords have Frowny Faces.

Agreed. A lot of the same people on this forum who like to rail about the eeeeeeevils of big corporations seem perfectly happy with Amazon turning into a massive behemoth with a hand in EVERY step of the process. I am an unabashed Capitalist but I disagree with monopolies (as any REAL capitalist does) even when it someone with great customer service like Amazon.

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

This isn't about B&N trying to draw you into their stores. You weren't going to buy the book from B&N anyway, because you buy e-Books and B&N has been blocked from that by the Kindle exclusivity deal. People like you are not affected by this announcement. People like you were affected by the preceding "Amazon will not let B&N sell e-Book versions" announcement.

This is a move to signal to the AUTHORS that Amazon Publishing is not in their best interests. B&N is saying, "OK, so you're fine with being exclusive to the Kindle? Then you also get to be okay with not going into a bookstore and seeing your book on the shelf. How is that better for you than going through CreateSpace* and NOT signing the exclusivity agreement, again?"

* Amazon Encore and CreateSpace are not the same thing. Just in case there are people here who don't realize that.

If being the next Twilight or Hunger Games is dependent on b&m displays, then authors signing up for Amazon publishing are now effectively going to have to abandon that dream when they sign up. Many will choose to, and that's their right, but B&N should not be compelled to help Amazon put them out of business.

As an indie author, this affects me. (And others. But my point is that B&N is talking to authors here, not consumers.) And I am tentatively in favor of the decision.

Excellent post.