The e-book Battle: Amazon pulls Macmillan titles
A few days ago I covered the news that author Douglas Preston and his new book Impact were unfortunately being put through the ringer because fans of his work were angry his new title was not available in e-book format, yet the hardcover was. The hardcover published in January and the e-book was being delayed until May. Those who commented on Amazon were outspoken opponents and supporters, some accusing the publishers of his book of being greedy and some supporting the Preston. They wanted the e-book at the same moment the hardcover was available. The problem, of course, and the reason for the delay between the releases, is that publishers were seeing their hardcover sales cannibalized by e-book sales. At $9.99 for an e-book versus an average $30 price point for a hardcover, it’s clear where there were substantial potential losses for publishers. A higher cost for e-books seemed one of the plausible solutions to the problem.
There is news today that this has now boiled over, as Amazon has ceased the sale of all Macmillan titles on its web site. Macmillan, being one of the six largest publishers in the U.S., was unhappy with the $9.99 price for e-books set by Amazon. An agreement on the price apparently could not be met and in response, Amazon not only pulled all Macmillan e-book titles, but hardcover and paperback as well. Needless to say, this includes a huge number of books, and more than a few top selling new titles, such as Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, winner of this year’s Man Booker Prize.
The implications of this removal from Amazon are many. It will hurt Macmillan in the immediate future, since they will lose a powerful selling venue. There are always others (local bookstore), but Amazon’s selling volume is massive. But it should also strike fear in Amazon. The release of Apple’s iPad and the announcement that the device will have an iBooks selling platform effectively ends Amazon’s strangle hold on e-book sales for its Kindle and related e-reading devices. Five publishers, including Macmillan, have already signed on to sell books on iBooks. The price of these books will be between $8 and $15, and one can assume newer titles will be tagged at $15. So where does this leave Amazon? Although, for now, Macmillan’s titles are not available on Amazon, the release of the iPad seems to have given publishers a little backbone at the bargaining table.
via Amazon pulls Macmillan titles in first e-book skirmish | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times.
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I am delighted by this development. Amazon is so sure they have won, but as you point out, their selection is drastically reduced. People will go to other site to buy it, or heaven forfend, go to an actual bookstore to buy a real ink and paper book!
Go iPad, go iBook. Go to hell Amazon for allowing this 1 star voting to happen and not raising a finger to stop it. Amazon is arrogant, B&N is better, but Apple is going to corner the market.
This certainly does make things more interesting, doesn’t it? This is essentially capitalism at its best. A market in flux, a new player in the game, and the whole scenario shifts.
In response to another comment. See in context »I could not agree with you more. The failure of Amazon to control their website is enough to stop me going there again. I go to Abebooks or Alibris if I want a book. Why bother with Amazon that can’t decide is it a bookstore? Or major appliances?
In response to another comment. See in context »Nick! MacMillan won!
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] The e-book Battle: Amazon pulls Macmillan titles – Nick Obourn – The Culture Spoke R… [...]
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[...] makers and ebook sellers, this selling price has been a contentious subject. Macmillan and Amazon got into a row over Amazon’s ebook pricing at $9.99, a cost the publisher–and other publishers–said is too low to turn a profit. [...]