Buzz - Book Wars (opinions)
by John Wolf
Sounds like the publishing business is about to be filled with guys named Vinnie. Amazon is acting like one. It will soon start pushing their self-publishing branch, BookSurge, in earnst. They are ready to strongarm other self-publishing interests out of their way. Amazon should just sell other people's books not become the ogre of the industry. This new competition with a shove will be met by people going to other sites to buy books. But it will probably have a negative impact on Infinity. I believe they operate on a narrow margin already, filled in part by conference participation and other peripheral business adventures. I'm surprised they don't run writing competitions. There are several companies that pad their incomes with that scam, I mean legitimate effort to honor authors.
I've had people try to go on Amazon recently and write a review for my books and were thwarted. These guys are playing for keeps. They want it all and they want it now. They can't keep buying chunks of the industry and expensive digital printing equipment and not act on their investments - they would go broke, so we are in for a knock-down drag-out war within self-publishing (assuming it's possible to break Amazon).
Check out the Amazon's story here.
Here's the gist: Independent publishers who choose not to print their books through BookSurge will be charged $29.95 per year plus 55% of the list price of each book to sell their titles through Amazon by enrolling in the Advantage program. Some advantage.
Now is the time for Infinity based authors to promote author advocates like NothingBinding.com and AuthorNation.com as the way to buy our books. It should be the platform and the point of sales. If the public is attracted to it, we win, if not, Amazon not only gets all our business, but we are forced to swallow a 55% dig in profits and lower royalties and be tapped like a maple tree in Vermont to be on their site. If this approach to intellectual proper sales continue, 100% of all books will be from hand picked authors by traditional publishers - and Amazon.
The largest of the self-publishing houses have already sold out to the New York based firms. I would expect if they gain control of the majority of independent publishing, they will push pricing up accordingly.
Of course, China, Taiwan, and Korea are the next threat to the independent author. If they get a hold of your book, it will be pirated and the author will see none of the profits or royalties. I have already heard of agents soliciting self-published authors to print in China and advertise how expansive your book will become - yeah, everyone will have a copy, but the author won't see a dime.
For the individual author that wants more bang for their book it still boils down to marketing and sales, starting local and expanding ever outward, be a one-person unstoppable force. When people ask where they can find your book, refer to the publisher and ignore Amazon. They are not really acting like your friend. They are becoming like all the greedy middlemen in history. They take advantage of the individual that can't standup against the big corporate block that owns the distribution. Until they buy off the Internet, that is your only hope, so use it.
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This is an amazing topic. I thought Al Quada was a slippery group. Amazon has gone nuts. It's bound to get explosive before the dust settles. There are even Civil Liberty issues here, since Amazon has singled out books, among all the other products they peddle, to oppress. If Amazon does back down, they will have wasted a lot of money and aren't going to be happy with that.
Of course, what this also points out is how many new authors there are desperate to sling money into publishing. This is like all new expanding markets. The MBAs run the costs up to the stars. I remember when I got interested in archery, photography, tennis, skiing, hobby electronics, model trains, etc., you name it. All these popular areas were over merchandised until no one could afford to participate except the very rich or foolish. I remember when a Tad Davis tennis racket was $10. Now you can't touch one under $200 and that's considered junk or dangerous to your wrists. Forgets ski outfits or pro-golf, that thousands. It's also amusing to think that books will become so rare in an electronic world that they are cherished and cost thousands of dollars to own.
There are several articles on the Internet that talk about Amazon's actions and also mention the crazy mismatch in prices between Europe and America. I did a search for my books about a week ago and found that Orphan Records was going for $83 in Germany. Of course, no one is going to pay that, so the books don't sell.
Instead of Amazon hammering authors for quick profits, they should spend their time and money promoting sales for authors - video spots, interviews, set up book signings. They would make a lot more money on the sales volume of these books and avoids a lot of sunk costs of weapons of mass media. What they are going to do is restrict the market just like the Big Box Book Stores with their oppressive attitude about all books having to only come from Ingram. This huge 55% cut from the list price could be made less by buying direct from publishers like Infinity. The author could make more and the seller. All these middlemen would be circumvented.
What could happen if the stars align correctly is authors will have access to the public to sell their books like rock bands are doing in the music business - they use the Internet and sell one unit at a time as a download. Readers will have to buy a reading device like an iPod - it would be called iRead. People like Amazon would still be in the picture as the promoter and a download distributor. If Amazon doesn't figure this out soon, Google will!
Thanks to Shirley Parker for bringing this issue to my attention.
Response from Tom Gregory - Infinity Pulishing
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John Wolf keeps the kennels clean at the Fox&Quill Hunting Club |
