Borders/Waldenbooks will no longer have PA book signings

Woah. I'd just assumed that they could get books for stores through Ingram.

If Amazon is doing this to hurt PA, it isn't going to work. It's the authors who will suffer, people who gave their all for their book, and who now have lost one of the very few outside venues for it.

"A curse on both your houses!"

And the old African proverb: "When the elephants fight, the grass is trampled."

It has nothing to do with getting back at PA. It's purely economic. It's not even just a grab for more business for booksurge. Every time someone buys multiple products to get the $25 free shipping, and one of those items is a non-BS POD book, Amazon has to pay to ship the POD and pay again to ship the other stuff. If it was all in-house, they'd only have to pay once.

The latter is what they're using as the reason for this move. And yes, all that extra shipping does have an impact. But it's a pretty good guess that it's not the only reason.

And since they're keeping the listings of POD books up on their site (the only change being the elimination of the buy button to get the product through Amazon and therefore qualify for the free shipping) it's going to be tough to convince a court that they are denying these publishers and authors sales.

-- Joanna

Joanna, I think you hit the nail directly on the head.

Joanna_S said:

And since they're keeping the listings of POD books up on their site (the only change being the elimination of the buy button to get the product through Amazon and therefore qualify for the free shipping) it's going to be tough to convince a court that they are denying these publishers and authors sales.

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My apologies for the stupid question, but why would Amazon have to provide specific publishers and authors with an opportunity for sales?

not to dash the initial posting, but I don't really find this plausible... the Amazon event has only been a few days old and this is happening?

I suspect, frankly, that the "tour" was cancelled due to the bad rep that PA has and the person involved was told that it was because of the Amazon thing. Books are ordered through Ingram's; Amazon isn't even part of the equation. Heck, I see self-pubs all the time at my local Borders that I'm sure ain't up on Amazon.com!

it's like when the PAMB encourages authors to buy their own books and resell them because of the "problems" in getting stores to order the books, even if they are "returnable".

this just doesn't make sense.

Hummertime said:

My apologies for the stupid question, but why would Amazon have to provide specific publishers and authors with an opportunity for sales?

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Not a stupid question. I was shortcutting. There've been a lot of anti-trust and strong-arm rumblings and I'm guessing that by keeping the books available (just not for free shipping) Amazon will beat any lawsuits that come their way. As I said, just a guess.

-- Joanna

Khazarkhum said:

If Amazon is doing this to hurt PA, it isn't going to work.

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Amazon is doing it to help Amazon's bottom line.

Amazon is big, and well structured. I would imagine that any move of this type was evaluated by their legal department prior to them making the first step.

I could be wrong, but until now hasn't the biggest printer and distributor of POD books been LSI/Ingrams? It seems to me that Amazon could argue they are offering an alternative to LSI/Ingrams for publishers, booksellers and authors to reach the public and sell books. That's not monopoly; that's fair trade.

SouthernWriter1978 said:

Sheryl might be right.

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upon rereading the note (where IS that on the PAMB, btw?) I notice mention of PA bashers as well - I still think that the "tour" was cancelled and the author is blaming the Amazon situation for her publisher's bad rep.

only because I can't see anything happening that quickly - not even in the online world!

They've owned BS for three years. They're not offering just an 'alternative', but they're saying use our services if you want to sell direct from our site. Otherwise we won't sell it directly, and you'll have to rely on third party vendors to make sure the books are available for sale.

I get that it's helping Amazon, but it's going to hurt the publishers and consequently, the authors.

SouthernWriter1978 said:

Page Four, last comment of the page is the comment you look for Sheryl

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got it.

still doesn't make sense, tho - why would the bookstores be refusing to purchase the books?

they don't order them from AMAZON.

they order them from Ingram's or B&T who then processes the orders.

I think the writer is a little... confused. Or misinformed. Or both.