Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Battle of the Booksellers

Yesterday, Amazon.com started selling Robert Kuttner’s Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency. Doesn’t sound much like news worth of an article in the Wall Street Journal, does it?

Ah, but what I haven’t mentioned is that Chelsea Green Publishing who is putting the book out gave Amazon exclusive right to sell the book for two weeks.
A spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble later said she couldn't recall another example where a major title wasn't available to all booksellers at the same time.
Barnes & Noble had originally ordered 10,000 copies. They’ve cut their order and will only sell it online.
Bookshop Santa Cruz, a leading independent bookstore based in Santa Cruz, Calif., said it considered Chelsea Green's decision "a slap in the face."
Looks like things are heating up between Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

15 comments:

  1. That works out for Amazon, but not so well for BN. I've heard that even major publishers are cutting back on what they send to bookstores because of the horrible returns system that is rumored to be under reconstruction.

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  2. B&N and Amazon are both mega-sellers. And Amazon has been swinging its club for a while now. We'll see if B&N is big enough to punch back.

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  3. And I read Amazon just took over Shelfari. What's next?

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  4. It's been interesting following Chelsea Green at Twitter... happens to be one of my favorite publishers. I would love to be one of their authors, living next door to them, copyediting for them, planning blog book tours for their stable... need I say more? LOL. Not sure how I feel about this amazon arrangement though. They also are tweeting as ObamaChallenge from DNC where they're giving away books. It's been fun following them and reading the play-by-play. Even more fun that they follow back and DM'd a thank you about http://quickest.blogbooktourguide.ever.com ... love folks with good manners!

    Dani

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  5. Dani, you don't have to live next door to plan blog tours! Start Tweeting that.

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  6. I would rather support B&N than Amazon any day... but I'm sick of megacorporations taking over everything.

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  7. The megastores are taking over and the Independents are closing.

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  8. Must tweet louder... but I DO want to live next door to them, too. LOL. Vermont calls to me!

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  9. Strange, it's the independents that take chances on authors, and they have the most to lose!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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  10. Strange, it's the independents that take chances on authors, and they have the most to lose!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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  11. Author's Guild long ago asked its authors to support B&N rather than Amazon because they feared what the monogoth (my word) had in mind for writers. It turns out they were right. Though my books are available on Amazon, I link all my sites to B&N for the purchase of my books.

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  12. From what I've seen over the years, the Writers Guild looks out for its members and you can count on them to be ahead of the curve.

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  13. Sign of the times. Mega-structure, mega-business. No room for mom&pop stores on the corner anymore.

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  14. Sign of the times. Mega-structure, mega-business. No room for mom&pop stores on the corner anymore.

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  15. We see that in all kinds of business, don't we, Marvin.

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