Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Leyor

Amazon is right now helping to both lower the prices of e-books for consumers as well as increasing the availability of books globally.

I really do not believe they are increasing the availability of really good books. I think they are decreasing it. I do not care if the amount of mediocre to bad books are increasing.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

In that particular case Amazon literally couldn't do a thing because Adobe shut down the servers after switching to a different DRM scheme. (Not too different from what Overdrive did to fictionwise.)

Of course they could. They were the sellers and they could have replaced the book for the customer.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by hardcastle

Kindle 1 owners can still read Kindle content is more indicative of a smarter contract on Amazon's part. Changing the DRM scheme very likely means making a new agreement.

Why? I find that highly unlikely and see not logical reason why.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by John F

From the article,


I have problems with "Amazon is ultimately hurting readers". As far as a can tell, so far, Amazon has been good for readers. They "may" hurt readers in the future, but than again, they may not.

As a consumer/reader, a bird in the hand ...

And the little superhero subgenre of fiction is flourishing thanks in large part to Amazon, Smashwords, indie editing services, and kickstarter.

Methinks the legacy publishers have been in a snit these last few years over their loss of a position as gatekeeper even more than over having lost the power to dictate pricing. We see an endless parade of ill conceived accusations against all the newer players in the market.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

In that particular case Amazon literally couldn't do a thing because Adobe shut down the servers after switching to a different DRM scheme. (Not too different from what Overdrive did to fictionwise.)

And yes, they learned a lesson: that they needed to control their entire customer relationship so Adobe couldn't screw their customers again.

Good point.

Anyone who wants to complain about Amazon's "monopoly" and the fact they use a "non-standard" format, need to look into Adobe's DRM ePub monopoly. By going with their own format, Amazon has avoided Adobe DRM control.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tompe

I really do not believe they are increasing the availability of really good books. I think they are decreasing it. I do not care if the amount of mediocre to bad books are increasing.

What I see is more choice. So far most established authors will stick with the status quo, but some are starting to experiment with "direct publishing." Just like some established recording artists are experimenting with direct to public marketing, bypassing the labels.

Meanwhile we're getting a lot of self-published stuff. While most of it may be mediocre, that doesn't mean that all of it is. And if only a few good writers, who wouldn't have made it via the old publishing model, sell good books, then it's worth it to me.

Choice is good. And that's the real problem for the established publishers. They're no longer the "gate keepers." They're losing control.

[Leyor]

Originally Posted by tompe

I really do not believe they are increasing the availability of really good books. I think they are decreasing it. I do not care if the amount of mediocre to bad books are increasing.

I won't profess to like really good books, I love Fantasy and Science-Fiction and read these genres almost exclusively.

Where I am from, the publishers has started cooperating with supermarket chains to sell their books. The result is that mom and pop bookstores are pretty non existent. The chain bookstores try to survive by pushing bestsellers and not stocking books with limited popularity. That means the availability of physical books is very limited.

For e-books, the publishers have tried to establish their own web sales service. They only publish best sellers they are sure will sell, there are a lot of problems with the various services (with some you can only download the book once) and the prices are the same as physical books.

I would be unable to find books by a lot of my favorite authors if it were not for Amazon. So for me, Amazon provides access to authors I would not normally have access to, it also provides a benchmark for other sales services and presses them to provide a certain standard to even be relevant.

Don't get me wrong, I am not in favor of monopolies. But I think the publishing industry is way too comfortable and conservative and when they innovate they don't have the best interest of the authors and consumers at heart. I think it's good they are being challenged by someone doing it right. I wish the music industry was challenged as much.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by tompe

I really do not believe they are increasing the availability of really good books. I think they are decreasing it.

According to the New York Times Really Good Book list, the number (and the availability) of Really Good Books™ is always growing (and entirely objective). Sometimes quickly; sometimes more slowly. But growing nonetheless.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Meanwhile we're getting a lot of self-published stuff. While most of it may be mediocre, that doesn't mean that all of it is. And if only a few good writers, who wouldn't have made it via the old publishing model, sell good books, then it's worth it to me.

Well, if you can find these books...

Also, what people forget always is that a publisher develops a writer and makes him better. If this process is eliminated without something to replace it with we are going to miss out on some good books.

There might be more books to choose from but I am finding it harder to find really good books in the genres I read (SF, Fantasy and crime).

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by tompe

There might be more books to choose from but I am finding it harder to find really good books in the genres I read (SF, Fantasy and crime).

Do you read any books from other genres to rule out the possibility that your tastes in books have simply changed?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Do you read any books from other genres to rule out the possibility that your tastes in books have simply changed?

Not so many. I still find good books but it seems to me that it was easier to find them. Might be that I have read all book by the authors I really like and when I discovered them I had all their back catalog to read.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Amazon sold ebooks before mobipocket/Kindle. I believe they were PDFs. People who hadn't downloaded/updated their purchases by a certain point got burnt. Just like people have been burnt by DRM time and time again by numerous vendors.

PDFs and LITs. Amazon's actions are what made me choose to go with the Palm Digital Media (old Peanut Press, newer eReader.com) format.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The market doesn't lack for challengers. HC just started selling ebooks direct, Hachette is planning a store and not doubt so does the rest if the cartel. They coordibate those things. On the one hand the mouthpieces claim Amazon is the only buyer for ebooks while at tghe same time the challengers pop up weekly.

Companies are certainly trying new things. However, Amazon and Google still have MFN in their contracts. This means that no matter what HC, Hachette, B&N, Kobo, Apple or any new entry does, Amazon (and potentially Google) will always win out. Contractual law guarantees it.

I like the subscription concept, in theory, but Scribd and Oyster still find sustainability elusive.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, if you can find these books...

Also, what people forget always is that a publisher develops a writer and makes him better. If this process is eliminated without something to replace it with we are going to miss out on some good books.

There might be more books to choose from but I am finding it harder to find really good books in the genres I read (SF, Fantasy and crime).

I've been finding harder it and harder to find really good SF and Fantasy books for close to 40 years now. In my opinion, the major publishers haven't been doing that good of a job of grooming their writers. There seems to be more a tendency to keep pushing the "established" writers long after their stuff has become stale. Kind of like movie studios pushing sequel after sequel or making a movie out of every lame TV show that ever existed.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tompe

Of course they could. They were the sellers and they could have replaced the book for the customer.

How?
Adobe shut down the authentication servers for the pdfs.
At most, Amazon could have given them a free pbook but they no longer had the right (or means) to distribute pdfs.