Simon Owen, over at Bloggasm (no, not the same thing as Bookgasm), recently sent me a link to his blog post on the Amazon/Macmillan debate. He had a chance to speak with a few Tor authors (a science-fiction and fantasy publisher that is part of Macmillan), and the article was pretty interesting. Great to get a different perspective on the ongoing discussions as well.
In relation to Tor authors, and other science-fiction and fantasy authors published by Macmillan, the Science Fiction Writers of America (SWFA) are removing any links to Amazon from their site, instead sending customers to Indiebound, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's. You can read the SWFA release, with their reasoning behind this decision, here.
In other Amazon/Macmillan news:
Today's Shelf Awareness reported that Michael Tucker, head of Books, Inc and president of the American Booksellers Association, got a standing ovation at his speech at the Winter Institute when he said, "And special thanks and a show of support to the Macmillan companies in the face of bullying tactics by one of our largest competitors." The largest competitor to independent bookstores, obviously, is Amazon.
This could be an unexpected upswing in this argument; as Amazon loses favor, will people return to their local bookstores? Jason Scalzi at Whatever Blog will - and he has good reasons. Or will the Amazon discount overcome? Or has the discount model driven customers away from books at retail price in any location? Regardless, independents are standing behind Macmillan.
And lastly (sorry to ramble, but this stuff is important!) -- it looks like the News Group (which owns HarperCollins) will soon be entering its own debate with Amazon, according to this Reuters report. Has Macmillan paved a path for publishers? (No alliteration intended)
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