There have been rampant rumors in the publishing industry in recent months about Barnes and Noble and its policies to not stock books by Amazon authors. Amazon owns several imprints so presumably this ban on their books by the largest brick and mortar bookseller includes books published under the following Amazon imprints: Createspace, AmazonEncore, Amazon NY, Thomas & Mercer, Montlake Romance, Amazon Crossing, and 47North.
A new report confirms that Barnes and Noble is taking a stand against Amazon and ordering local stores to stop carrying titles, even those by well known authors.
What This Means for Authors
While it may seem that B&N is throwing a tantrum, it looks to me like they are standing up against a big bully. Amazon’s KDP Select program requires authors to limit their ebook distribution to Amazon only, forcing authors to eliminate distribution to Barnes and Noble Nook readers (plus iPad and other e-readers). I’ve said before that I will not personally participate in the KDP Select program for this very reason. I don’t think it’s fair for Amazon to require exclusivity. It’s not fair to readers or to authors who may want to acquire and distribute books elsewhere, and it’s a blatant attempt by Amazon to further dominate the ebook market.
Most of us in publishing have a love-hate relationship with Amazon. We are glad they sell our books, but they have also put a lot of small publishers and book retailers out of business. I understand that the world evolves and the business landscape changes, but Amazon could do a better job of playing nicely in the sandbox. Amazon’s own clients–its authors and those who have paid to publish with Createspace–are hurt by this battle with B&N, but my guess is that Amazon won’t back down.
I’ll be watching for updates on this matter and will keep you posted with new developments. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box below.
Amazon does not have to play nicely in the sand box. They are the biggest player and have the greatest chance of still being in business in five years. As for Barnes & Noble, I believe it is time to short BKS. They are living in a previous decade. Their products are easily available online without the brick and mortar overhead. They may not be in business in five years.
Well I personally think it would be a shame if the brick and mortar stores disappeared entirely. I also think that Amazon and B&N could find ways to work together instead of operating as arch enemies. This kind of thing happens in the technology sector all the time and the companies that come out on top (Apple and Microsoft, for example), find ways to co-exist.
Thanks for the article and I agree with your comments.
It would be good if B&N explained their stand so the market new their thinking. What you have described is ugly for the consumer in terms of choice and for authors. The big guys (Amazon) try to dominate a place in the market and then eventually lose their way as competitors work out alternatives. Unfortunately while all this takes time to play out the consumer is the loser.
Thanks for your feedback, Andrew!
It’s an interesting move. So my two cents.
cent 1 – Amazon didn’t put anyone out of business, the consumer did by not shopping there.
cent 2 – I don’t see Amazon acting as the arch enemies here. B&N is certainly acting badly, but Amazon is just going on with business just the way the always do.
For KDP Select, I think it would be unfair for Amazon to say KDP Select or nothing, but they offer it as an option.
In my experience, POD’s have never been returnable and, at least since 2008, bookstores (including B&N) haven’t shelved them. You can order my book through them and pay up front, but they don’t have them in the store.
I’ve heard quite a few booksellers speak at various RWA events, and they say that print books stay on the shelves in a bookstore for only a specific period of time. Then, those that haven’t sold are stripped of their covers and returned to the publisher. It’s the publisher who takes the loss.
I’ve managed to get some book signings arranged by buying any leftover books a bookstore orders for the event, but not all of them are willing to do this.
It’s not true that POD books can’t be shelved at B&N. I know many authors whose books have been carried by various stores. However, for major bookstore distribution, your books do have to be returnable. The publishing industry is like no other because retailers can return books at any time and expect a full refund. And aside from that, the stores can and will pull books from shelves if they aren’t selling, regardless of where they were published.
I recently wrote about a well-known writer in my city who has ditched his publisher in favor of Thomas & Mercer. The local bookstores have already stated they will not carry the new book although they love him and what he has done for the literary arts in our city. He has stated his reasons for the switch come down to the bottom line. I wonder if he is having second thoughts about his decision in light of B&N’s stance. I believe that since all writers want their work read by as many people as possible, exclusivity among book sellers is not a great idea. My hope is that the future will bring less acrimony and more book sales across the board.
Interesting situation. B&N recently spearheaded legislation to force Amazon to charge sales taxes, supposedly to even the playing field. It won’t. People don’t buy at Amazon to avoid sales taxes. We buy at Amazon because 1.) we can actually do better research on A’s web site than speaking with a minimum wage clerk who knows nothing about books 2.) the inventory is astronomical 3.) the price is far better 4.) and we can get it faster than B&N can deliver.
And now A is fighting back (without using lawmakers to get even) with the perfectly legitimate strategy of exclusivity. Then B&N fights back (ligitimately, this time) by banning A’s books and A has a new problem.
This is business.
We are a custom publisher and have sold books to B&N and Amazon for over two decades. Most of our titles are authorized for “shelving” in B&N and many are stocked in the stores because they launch with an intelligent, well-crafted, and well-funded marketing plan. We never use POD because B&N views POD as a gutless testing-of-the-waters. My guess is that this move of B&N’s is partly due to their attitude about POD and their most recent skirmish with Amazon was an opportunity to strike out at a dominant competitor.
I think anyone who has published through any of Amazon’s POD venues should not do it again. Seriously, publishing requires far more than a computer, a check book, and hope.
“While it may seem that B&N is throwing a tantrum, it looks to me like they are standing up against a big bully.”
Maybe you don’t remember, or maybe you weren’t involved in publishing at the time, but B&N was the company that swept across the land like a black cloud, searching for independent stores that were succeeding, then opening their own stores next door and undercutting them on prices and forcing them out of business. The entire reason independent stores are in such bad shape right now is because of B&N and Borders predatory business practices. They were handed the Devil label long before Amazon was, and they actually deserved it.
All Amazon did was find a better, more convenient way to serve the customer in the modern age. They’ve shown creativity, ingenuity, and intelligence, and they’ve changed book selling and publishing for the better if you’re an author or a reader.
Several months ago, B&N said it would not stock any books in their stores that weren’t available on the NOOK. This was their way of saying they wouldn’t stock Amazon Published books. So, Amazon went out an made a deal with Ingram to distribute their titles, making them available on the NOOK. When B&N saw this, they turned around and said, “Well, ok but we’re still not going to stock these titles.”
Amazon is not the one being difficult. Amazon is not looking to destroy publishing and drive bookstores out of business. They offer massive discounts to Independent stores, and they’ve bent over backwards to please B&N. And the thing is, they don’t need to do any of it. They don’t need bookstores. Their books sell tens to hundreds of thousands of copies. They have the biggest distribution network for books in the world, while B&N is closing stores every day. Last time I checked, I believe there were around 700 B&N stores left in the country, and most of what those stores sell are coffee table books, magazines, and toys for kids. Their fiction section is shrinking every day.
I apologize for the long note, but when people talk about Amazon being bad for the industry, it makes my head spin. The industry has been bad for a long time. Amazon is the knight in shining armor. The problem is, people are so used to things being one way that change can be painful. I get it, and I do realize Amazon didn’t get to be a multi billion dollar company by being sweet and giving away free kittens with each book, but they have done more to help authors and readers than B&N, Borders, or any of the big publishers have done in decades.
I do remember when B&N opened up stores that threatened the independents. At the time I owned an independent bookstore and I welcomed the challenge. I have always believed that competition is a good thing–it forces businesses to work harder and smarter and focus on the customer in order to stay competitive. Amazon doesn’t owe anything to anyone, but the company has taken a bulldozer approach with many of its policies and hasn’t made a lot of friends along the way. As a consumer, I have always loved shopping with Amazon. But as an independent publisher and author, my love/hate relationship remains.
I don’t agree with the one reviewer who said Amazon has more ebooks available. Fact is B&N has over 3 million available for readers. Amazon has maybe 2 million. I think it hurts authors a lot more to take all their work down at other sites and be exclusive through Amazon. One author I enjoy recently signed with Amazon’s new house Montlake and took all her work down on B&N and everywhere else she used to write (this includes fanfiction she did). I have a Nook and can easily purchase her title through Amazon and just convert it to a format the Nook handle, I just don’t want to. I feel cheated as a reader by that policy.
I don’t believe B&N will go out of business at all. The company has been around since 1875, starting out as a publishing company before the brick and mortar stores came in for actual bookstores. They’re finding ways to stay with the times. Good businesses find ways to acclimate to the changing technologies, and they’re doing just that.
At some point I plan to try publishing my own work, including self publishing, but I don’t feel that I could go with Amazon because of their exclusivity policy.