Book Wars, Chapter Twelve - Ted Krever: Writing and other forms of torture

I spent last weekend at Love Is Murder, a wonderful mystery/thriller/suspense writer’s conference in Chicago. You’ll probably hear more about it from me once I’ve had a good night’s sleep (or two).

However, one subject that kept coming up was the conflict between Barnes & Noble and Amazon. You’ve seen the articles: Amazon wants to conquer the book world! Monopoly power! B&N won’t sell Amazon’s titles in its stores! Barnes & Noble is the white knight who’ll save the publishing business (three or four years after it was the evil monster running around gobbling up independent bookstores)!

This is a treacherous subject for writers. We all want a vibrant marketplace for books with multiple venues and vendors. And the marketplace is so confusing – one of Amazon’s major strengths this far along was simply that they were the only player with a clear business plan.

So the news today that Amazon is looking into the possibility of opening their own retail stores is fascinating. The stores will reportedly concentrate on Kindles and the books published by Amazon’s own imprints. So all those titles that won’t be sold in your local B&N will have a local retail home – a major relief, I’m sure, to the authors who’ve signed book contracts with Amazon. Or who will be offered one in future.

But if Amazon does more than dip its toes in the water, this would seem to dictate an expansion of the Amazon printing business. If you really expect to drive people to your bookstore, you have to have a decent selection of titles. And doesn’t this move force Amazon to play on almost equal ground – real salespeople, rent, all the expenses the company has avoided thus far?

This could be very good for writers, happily watching powerful retailers duke it out over rival sets of books. Anything that promotes the central role of books and stories in our culture is a blessing, even if the blessing comes draped in a decidedly odd set of clothes.

Comments

Book Wars, Chapter Twelve — 5 Comments

Rhonda Hopkins on February 6, 2012 at 9:08 pm said:

Hi Ted! Thank you for linking to my post. Amazon’s manipulations toward a monopoly is scary for everyone (sellers, readers, writers and publishers). They’ve been a wonderful friend to writers and small publishers the last few years. But I don’t want them to be the one and only. I want B&N to succeed. I just think the way they’re trying to do things right now hurt the consumer more so than Amazon. They need a better plan. Wish I had one that I could give to both of them for a compromise that would work for us all. 🙂

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- ted krever on February 6, 2012 at 9:58 pm said:
  
  Rhonda –
  One of the problems of monopolistic markets (which is our economy, in my opinion) is that businesses can’t compromise. Stockholders and the need for survival require them to take no prisoners, brook no halfway measures. The idea of getting along is anathema. It’s totally foolish and short-sighted but it’s the world big business demands. It’s the lure of control, which screws up our world so many different ways.
  
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Nash Black on February 7, 2012 at 9:19 am said:

Before going into the brick & morter stores, which is a huge investment in non-turn over merchandie before one book is sold Amazon should explore a sounder market. My suggestion is libraries, most of which add to their collections by using subscription purchases. There are several companies around that supply this market either for lease (multiple copies) or purchase.
Operating a bookstore require more than just having books. On page 33 of Writing as a Small Business we did a cost analysis for just such a venture using real 2007 figures from Cincinnati, OH.
Nash Black

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- ted krever on February 7, 2012 at 1:26 pm said:
  
  My suspicion is that Amazon is willing to lose money on stores in order to accomplish their goal, which seems to be gaining dominance over the book business. We’ll see how it all plays out.
  
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Jenny Milchman on February 8, 2012 at 5:45 pm said:

Love your last graf! Well said, Ted, well said. I agree that anything that supports the primacy of books and stories is a good thing. Bringing more players into the bricks and mortar side of things is certainly a personal preference (nay, passion) of mine!

However, I read some wise words a few weeks ago, which said essentially that Amazon may not realize what they’re in for. There’s a reason the big 6 and bookstores operate as they do. These are some of the smartest book folks I’ve ever met–and the problems they’re trying to solve are HARD. Tricky edits. Weary authors. Plot twists that don’t quite work. Distribution, overages, and the almighty “Nobody knows [what sells].” Once Amazon is wading in those waters, they might see that bookselling–and publishing–is different than selling Aloe Vera lotion at the best price. I hope they’re up for it, because I welcome new players. But I wouldn’t underestimate those who have been in the game for longer.

Thanks for the piece!

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