Yesterday, Amazon abruptly stopped selling 5,000 e-book titles on their website. Why?
Because the Independent Publisher’s Group (IPG) refused to grant Amazon steeper discounts on e-book versions of those titles.
A December 2011 article in Publisher’s Weekly included this comment on the growing trend of Amazon’s discount demands:
Although publishers fear seeing their titles disappear from Amazon–for many in the industry the retailer accounts for 20% to 25% of their business–some say the demands the retailer is making are impossible to meet and would nearly wipe out all of their profits there anyway.
This trend has now extended to the IPG, which distributes for many smaller, independent publishers.
Here’s a question for discussion: How long before Amazon dictates discounts for self-published titles? Here’s one possible future: Amazon requires self-published titles to be offered for free, compensating authors with ad revenue and “pools of money”, while consumers buy monthly/yearly Kindle subscriptions to access e-books. Expanding on an idea like, say, a library. They could call it “Preferred”, or “Premium”, or even “Select”.
That’s it! Kindle Select. It’s catchy.
Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. Are you saying Amazon is a business and that it’s acting like a business? I can’t believe it. I was assured by many indies that Amazon is the Holy Vanguard put on this earth to fight the Self-Published Revolution on their behalves. Surely, you’re the deluded one, James.
Dean,
The counter argument, of course, is that the Independent Publisher’s Group isn’t really “independent” enough, or something like that.
What I’ve been seeing all along–and the chain of evidence is there, clear and documented–is that Amazon is methodically trying to control book distribution (both print and electronic). Period. Because online sales and distribution is Amazon’s business model.
And so–how could Amazon not extend that dictating of terms model to self-publishers? I can’t see it as anything less than inevitable that, within a few years, they’ll set self-published works to a price of “free”, and make the Kindle Select concept their standard model.
Hopefully, I’ll be completely wrong.
Pingback: Should Publishers Give Away E-Books? - The Tech Savvy Writer
Pingback: Does Amazon Control Your E-Book Price? - The Tech Savvy Writer
Pingback: Keeping Score - The Tech Savvy Writer