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The Book Publishing Wars... Amazon/Booksurge vs Everyone Else
Amazon's Buy Button
If you are a writer or someone interested in publishing, either through a vanity press or a print-on-demand publishing house, this is something which might be of interest to you. It certainly is, to me.
Amazon, a company that is nearly synonymous with online books sales, has recently decided to pull the trigger on a business strategy, which has writers and publishing houses getting twisted in private places. Their own POD(Print on Demand) fulfillment printing service, BookSurge. The issue at hand?
This quote from Writer's Weekly best describes the situation:
Reports have been trickling in from the POD underground that Amazon/BookSurge representatives have been approaching some Lightning Source customers, first by email introduction and then by phone (nobody at BookSurge seems to want to put anything in writing). When Lightning Source customers speak with the BookSurge representative, the reports say, they are basically told they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off."
- Writers Weekly
Yes, it is somewhat problematic, when you consider that it takes quite a bit of time and effort to convert books. That Amazon's BookSurge might cost more and present less options than other POD(s). There is also the issue of this being a monopolistic move, which some industry groups may not be too happy about.
In either case, it is definitely something that has many small/mid-sized publishing houses in a stir, and the larger publishing houses, quietly considering their legal options: read more »
