Amazon doesn't care, Writers and Consumers Beware

David Streitfeld’s article in today’s New York Times entitled, “Writers Feel an Amazon-Hachette Spat” uncovers the repulsive negotiating tactics Amazon has utilized against the New York publishing company Hachette Book Group.

“Among Amazon’s tactics against Hachette, some of which it has been employing for months, are charging more for its books and suggesting that readers might enjoy instead a book from another author. If customers for some reason persist and buy a Hachette book anyway, Amazon is saying it will take weeks to deliver it.”

These tactics have affected a wide variety of writers from famed non-fiction writer Malcolm Gladwell, to science fiction writer Michael J. Sullivan, to author Marla Heller whose diet book was in Amazon’s top 300 at the beginning of the spat between the two companies; the book is now in the top 3000. Streitfeld says, “The Authors Guild said it had received about 15 complaints Friday from Hachette authors involving more than 150 titles.”

The tactics used by Amazon are not just repulsive, but clear evidence of the dominance that Amazon has on the market. This ordeal has clearly shown that Amazon won’t hesitate to harm their sellers, or consumers if the result is a benefit in their bottom line. I wonder if Jeff Bezos thought about the harm that such actions would do before his company lashed out at these writers? No matter what the answer is to the question, we have a serious problem on our hands.

That’s not to say that Hachette isn’t being stubborn, or unrealistic in their demands; for all we know the negotiating situation could be completely Hachette’s fault. Even still though, I think the important thing to recognize in this situation is that Amazon has availed themselves as a company that is okay with a bit of collateral damage—as long as their bottom line is sound.

This is something that writers should pay attention to because their potential success could be on the line. Writers spend years of their lives creating a book, and in publishing, timing is of huge importance. Don’t use Walmart-esque tactics against writers and consumers to get your way. Actions like this could could easily doom the sales of a title and undermine a writer’s ability to make a living in an already tenuous literary market.

I suppose the reaction that I have towards this story is born out of a fear for the future. If there is no legal recourse for these writers, then what’s to stop Amazon from doing this again? I suppose pressure from consumers is the only option, but with Amazon’s current market share, I don’t see a consumer backlash coming to fruition.

With as much innovation that Silicon Valley has produced, I wonder if in the end, it will be consumed by the same forces of greed and indifference that have so plagued capitalism. Until I start to see a trend in the opposite direction, I fear that we will have another Wall Street to contend with. But, instead of a expensive Armani suit, it’ll be jeans and a pullover.