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Amazon & Used Books II: Bezos Strikes Back
theodp writes: "Last week's call for authors to de-link Amazon from their sites has reportedly prompted Jeff Bezos to fire off a letter to all Amazon Marketplace sellers, asking them to help out by sending e-mail on Amazon's behalf in response to the Guild's call for Amazon to stop placing prominent used book ads on each title's main web entry and soliciting new books purchasers to resell their books through Amazon shortly after purchase.
Bezos wants everyone to be 'super-clear' that Amazon.com is supportive of and good for authors, indicating that Amazon's steep discounting of new titles and royalty-less sales of used books are two examples of how Amazon helps the book industry and
authors. Good to see Jeff's found a new cause, since it looks like he's done with up patent reform."
A call to get rid of libraries as they damage sales? Actions like this are going to make the changes which are going to come for copyright law all the more popular with regular joes.
The more you know, the less you understand.
I also know a few authors and as far as they are generally concerned they prefer to see books in print sell befor used copies, if it's out of print then they're usually more supportive of the used book market, as they'd like people to read and become acquainted with their works. It's a two edged sword, and I'd prefer not to think of anyone as being greedy, in particular authors as many don't make en entire living by it.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The Author's Guild had their chance when the first-ever used bookstore opened however many decades/centuries/millenia ago. Just because Amazon.com can sell used books on a much larger scale than Mom&Pop Used Book Store doesn't change the fundamental issues about selling used books.
I say to the authors, "Too bad." This whole supposed scandal just reeks of the same Napster fiasco odors, where the proposed solutions just don't fix the underlying issues. Publishers, authors, record labels, musicians, etc., just need to think harder about how to live in this modern world. If they can't deal with it, they should just become Amish or find some 3rd world country that is stuck in 1400AD and move there.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
Goodness, not even the Sonny Boner-o Copyright Act is going to protect the owners of THAT work!
If the Author's Guild can't get enough money off of first hand books, the problem is the publishers not paying enough royalties.
Eventually, Amazon and Half.com are going to really hurt the publishing industry too.
Then so is the small mom&pop used book store on the corner. In fact it seems more than a few used books I've bought from Amazon or Half have come from those same type of little stores.
You could make the argument that eBay is killing every industry, because anything bought there is one more thing that wasn't bought new.
From this viewpoint what's the difference between Half and a library book sale? Or eBay and a big flea market? Should we go after the garage sales and hamfests next?
When a book is first sold as a new book, the author gets his/her due royalty. This situation is just like when GM sells a car, when Britney sells a CD, or some home-builder sells a home. What would happen if I bought a house and when I sold it again I had to add more commission for the home builder even though I had paid him/her the first time. So, Amazon should be able to sell as many used books as they want. This Writers Guild is holding a baseless position.
Offering customers a lower-priced option causes them to visit our site more frequently,
I don't doubt it, Jeff.
which in turn leads to higher sales of new books
Does it? Or does it simply lead to higher sales of used books?
while encouraging customers to try
authors and genres they may not have otherwise tried.
Absolutely.. too bad used books give no indication to the publishers that these authors and genres deserve a second book contract.
I've got no problem with Amazon selling used books. More power to'em. But when a book published in April 2002 already has a used book link offer up *right beside* the new book.. that strikes me as hurting the author and the publisher.
At least have the courtesy to separate them out for a few months so that publishers can have a more accurate indication of what's selling well and what's not.
That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze
... I've discovered by picking up used copies of their books. I'm more willing to risk $0.50 - $4.00 on a used book by someone I'm not familiar with than $7.00 - $25.00 on a new book by same. And when I discover someone whose work I really like this way, I go out and buy everything I can from them new -- because I know that's the best way to ensure they keep writing.
I'd also talk about the number of bands whose work I discovered via Napster, and whose CD's I then bought new, but that's a dead horse.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
I buy books at a store in my town that has a huge selection of publishers' overstock, which allows me to buy books at a fraction of their cover price. If it was not for this, I could not buy as many books as I do. I also buy many used books that are out of print, which I could otherwise not obtain.
I think I am helping the publishing industry by spending many dollars at local bookstores, which allows them to stay in business and order more new books.
By buying at locally-owned stores instead of chains, I help the booksellers who are more willing to special-order or search out hard-to-find stuff for me, which also helps keep publishing healthy and diversified.
And, by buying lots of small press titles, at the reduced publishers' overstock prices, I get books that I could normally not afford (university press books are often 2 or 3 times the price of a large publisher title). Presumably I am helping smaller publishers more than hurting them, because my purchase is one book that won't get returned to them for credit.
Finally, saving money on used and overstock books means that I can occasionally get that $100 reprint of, say, Kepler's 'Harmony of the World,' which helps the small publisher who struggled to produce such an esoteric but historically important and fascinating book.
Having worked in the publishing industry, I know that the cover price is vastly inflated, and most publishers know that they are going to end up dumping lots of books near or at cost as overstock. Maybe the publishers need to find a better balance in their pricing schemes.
I don't feel I can criticize this amazon habit unless I am willing to change all of my own buying habits. This would mean a change in my reading habits (like buying less, and getting more from libraries), and would actually bring less of my money to publishers, bookstores, and authors. Also, I'd have to stop buying used records and CDs, used cars, used houses, used clothing. God, I just wouldn't be the same person!
There's plenty of proof that used books help the publishing industry. The idea that there should be no aftermarket for books is far more ludicrious.
In truth, the ones that are most hurt by used books are authors who either have a niche market or are so small-potatoes they only get one press run. But how much they get hurt is open to discussion; if people find a used book and find they like it, they're far more likely to buy the next one by that author new. If they don't, they recycle the book back into the used market. An author can build a pretty good following through the used market, sometimes enough to get larger print runs of new books and reprints of older books.
What the publishing industry is doing harkens back to the Garth Brooks' boycott of used record stores. To try to curtain the aftermarket on anything is just plain silly. If this logic were to pervade, one's choices would be to either hang onto a book or bin it, and throwing out all those trees is very ecologically unsound. Imagine 10 or 11 Fresh Kills full of the contents of Powell's.
If these publishers were smart, they'd come up with a simple and easy to work with system that would allow for one person to buy personal-use rights to a book and compensate both the publisher and the author, then allow for that person to transfer those rights to another person temporarily or permanently. Or, maybe they can have a group of people pool their money and buy these same rights, then house these books in a centrally located public building with a method of allowing these people who have paid to borrow these books once or multiple times. I think these are great ideas, and I'm sure the publishers will get right on it....
By selling used books, Amazon.com is also helping to save the environment. If you are not going to use a book any more, pass it on (or sell in this case) to the next person. Don't go kill a tree just to make a brand new copy. The content isn't different.
These authors are making themselves look like real jerks in the public light. They will only get the bad PR, and Amazon will get the good.
Dear Sir,
I heard about your recent campaign against Amazon.com and found this section on your web site:
Amazon's practice does damage to the publishing industry, decreasing royalty payments to authors and profits to publishers. In time, as we pointed out to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos when it first began this practice over a year ago, the financial loss to the industry could affect the quality and diversity of literature made available through booksellers. If profits suffer, publishers will cut their investments in new works, and authors facing reduced advances and royalties will have to find other ways to earn income.
Whatever your arguments and reasons for it are, in essence, your campaign is an effort to prevent trade with used goods and - if this principle would be applied to other categories, like cars, it would cause an extreme wastage of irreplaceable natural resources.
Transposing your attempted action into car sales, the appropriate response
would be:
"Selling used cars harms manufacturers and therefore should be prohibited - right? Sure - get real!"
That this type of campaigning comes from an organizations like yours is disappointing
and puts you in the same bin as the mind set which brought the DMCA, CBDTPA and patent idiocy going on these days, like Amazon's One-Click affair.
Couldn't the individuals standing behind the actions get less greedy, money oriented and come to their senses to see what is behind this behavior, see the consequences and become sensible?
I see very low chances for this.
Sincerely,
I've been waiting for the last installment Brian Herberts Prequel Trilogy to Dune. House Corrino. But I was clear I wasn't going to cough up the $25.00 for the hardcover given the quality of the first 2. They were entertaining but not something i'd read twice. But I've been waiting for the paperback version forever. So once this story came out, I clicked on over to Amazon and got the hardcover used for $6.00, the price of the paperback. So i got to spend the amount I wanted to (demand) for the not new version (supply). Nevermind the painless recycling.
Now Brian Herbert didn't see a dime, but neither did Corning when i bought those used dishes from the salvation army. And I'm ok with that.
Perhaps the quality of writing will go up, if there is more access to used books. Or perhaps they need to provide some other incentive to justify me spending $25.00
But the authors guild would have me believe that if there was a manual on how to make dishes, I shouldn't be able to buy that used. bah!
Hmm.. the used books vs. used cars is a poor analogy. Car manufacturers/dealers do make money on used/new car purchases. I would bet they make most of their money from replacement parts and repairs at the dealer. The auto industry will make money throughout the life of a car.
A book on the other hand the profit is made when the book is originally purchased. Not many people would go back to the publisher to repair a binding , torn page or remove that coffee stain.
I just bought a Weber grill on Amazon. I noticed that I could have also bought the grill used via the button that Amazon provides right next to the button to buy it from Amazon .
I wonder if the Grillmakers Guild is going to go after Amazon for allowing rascals such as myself to buy used grills on Amazon instead of purchasing them new.
For what it is worth, I bought the new grill.
mbbac
It's true. I worked for a PR firm that handled a writer. We actually went so far as to hire TV extras to come to book signings and buy copies of the book. We'd walk around the mall offering people $5 over the price of the book to go in, buy one and bring it back signed.
The plan worked, he got to #4 on the LA Times best seller list and the quote for film rights to the book went through the ceiling. I felt dirty and got out of the PR game.
Let us extend this wonderful logic a bit further. Invariably allowing the resale of used items "takes" away from those who would have profited has the item been bought new. So therefore why not just set an outright ban on the selling of used items ? I mean the loss for BOOKS is negligible, but how about something bigger ? Say.. HOUSES and CARS?? Just think how many architects, laborers, carpenters, etc.. lose business every time someone is allowed to resell their home ?
So let me propose we offer one way of unloading your home, as to "preserve" the interest of all the hardworking American plumbers and carpenters: if you don't want it, you can burn it or blow it up. But you can't give it away or sell it.
So much for property rights, you fucking retards.
Hmm, also I guess, I *want* my books to be new - don't most people in the working world? Sure we buy used cars, but how many of us can afford brand-spanking-new cars? (and if we could afford them with our disposable income, don't you think we'd all be driving new cars too?)
Students and the poor/unemployed have got just as much of a right to read as the rest of us (and your point above is what made me think of this - at the end of term are students going to keep all the books they don't need and buy brand new books for the next term?), it also strikes me that the used books are being displayed before the new books because maybe they get a lot less interest in the used stuff they sell and are *forcing* us to notice they "do 2nd hand stuff" every time we want to buy something.
Have authors actually noticed a significant drop in sales? Or is this really just some crazy crusade?