Friday, July 1, 2011

Support Amazon and kill the independent bookshop?...

Most of you will no doubt have bought books on amazon. Some of you may recognise that they have had a major impact on the demise of many independent bookshops. You may care or you may not and simply prefer the convenience of buying via the internet. I personally have mixed views seeing both the strengths and threat of amazon and indeed many other book web sites. According to Sheppards, the book trade bible, though one Seattle based bookseller had no doubts in their minds whatsoever. Bit strong but they do have a point:

J.B. Dickey, the owner of Seattle Mystery Bookshop, has refused to host a signing or stock books from Amazon’s new Thomas & Mercer mystery imprint.
Dickey published his entire email exchange with a writer about this topic (the author’s name has been deleted). Entitled “You Can’t Shake the Devil’s Hand and Say You’re Only Kidding,” his post should inspire some debate among independent booksellers. What do you think?
Here’s an excerpt: “Sorry to say that we cannot offer you a signing. We cannot do anything to support, help or benefit Amazon. They’re the enemy of independent bookshops and aiding them in any way – mainly ordering their books and selling them and promoting them – would be suicide. Things are tough enough without cutting our own throats.”

2 comments:

sebfox said...

I admire him for making a stand against an entity that he sees as being his "enemy", but I do think he's being a little hasty. Having read his email it seems to me that he hasn't even given the matter any thought whatsoever. By his own admission, J.B Dickey knows nothing about Amazon's policy as regards pricing..return of stock etc. Surely it would have been wise to have considered it with them first, read the terms, and then decided.
It just seems as if he's letting his dislike and mistrust of Amazon rule his brain.

sebfox said...

I would be interested to know what YOU would choose if you received a similar offer, or deal from Amazon?