This still holds true (it's a post from 2014) Skip Prime Day and order from the closest indie bookstore to you - their E-commerce has come on a long way in just over a decade. You can even order from Blackwells in the U.K. They have reasonable prices and the shipping is pretty affordable too.
OK this is a weird title and normally I read the op eds and maybe comment on the side of the indies. This however is a whole different ball game. Hard ball. For those of you who are fans of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series you will know who Goliath are and feel free to skip to the next paragraph. Goliath (in Fforde's books) is the global behemoth that has taken over the UK, they control
everything they run a puppet government, they make TV shows, (in the books they aren't above killing people but hey that's fiction for you) When I think of Amazon, Goliath comes to mind so Fforde was going for a global monopoly a Walmart, or an Amazon or some other tech giant that wants to take over the world! (pause for maniacal laugh)
And we're back with everyone else. I speak as a recovering addict, twenty odd years ago I used Amazon for everything and then we moved to the US and I started working in a bookstore and writing a novel and everything changed. First I had access to the trades, the blogs and newsletters that booksellers and librarians use and I didn't like what I was seeing. Also Amazon moved from being just a supplier to a publisher (Create space) self publishing was exploding and they wanted some of that action. They also publish books under the Thomas and Mercer imprint. And the fact that they don't pay sales tax and bricks and mortar stores do, that turned the tide for me. The thing that made me kick my Amazon habit completely was an article. Amazon uses books as 'loss leaders' it makes no profit whatsoever on books, it actually loses money. It makes money on all the other things you can buy on that site. Then came the e reader, where you 'rent' books from Amazon, yes I did say rent and that is because even though you have purchased the title if Amazon chooses to, they can take it off your e reader without your permission. Don't believe me? hop onto Google and search 'Amazon 1984 kindle' (yes the George Orwell title, pause for irony) oh and while you're there look up the definition of a 'monopsony' because that is what is happening in the publishing world right now. Amazon is now so powerful that it thinks it can dictate terms to publishers to drive down the price of books even more. If Hachette falls, then Penguin Random, and S&S etc aren't going to be far behind. In the short term consumers get cheap books but what happens when there is no competition left? Think about that for a minute. Amazon breakfast cereal, Amazon pants, Amazon furniture, Amazon smart phones (I'm extrapolating from where we are now.)
Now the cynics among you will be saying, 'she's jealous of the competition' nothing could be further from the truth. My passion is books, bookselling is in my DNA, it took me a long time to realize that I am a born book seller. I read voraciously, I get behind authors you've never heard of because I love what they write, their inventiveness. Authors are like rock stars to me, and I get to interact with book lovers like myself every time I go to work ( which has changed to every time I go into the bookstore to drop off an arc or buy books or put my recommend cards in new releases.) Our dining room table is (still) covered in books. Do you know how long it takes to write a book? For some it can take years, each book, each writer is unique in their style of writing, in their plots, in the times and places they write. Their ideas can inspire new authors, change lives, there is no way to put words in a blender and come up with a book, one size is never going to fit all. I ended up writing seven - so far.
Just one last question before I pack up my soap box. Today, how many of you have commented on 'Goodreads', shopped on 'Zappos' bought second hand books from 'Abebooks', used 'IMDb' to look up a movie or tv show, purchased audiobooks from 'Audible.com' used 'Zyna', 'Netflix' ('LoveFilm' in the UK) 'Foursquare' or 'Dropbox'? In our 2025 edition lets add AWS. Then you have wittingly or unwittingly had an Amazon experience today. Do we really want a world where everything comes from or goes through Amazon? Bez-topia? Bor-ing!
Please note that this article has been researched and written by me, my opinions may not match yours but isn't that what debate is all about?
