The Bookseller is reporting on reactions from BookExpo America to Amazon’s choice of former TimeWarner CEO turned agent Laurence Kirshbaum to head up its publishing division. Independent booksellers were fairly optimistic, some suspecting Amazon might even offer them better deals than chain bookstores due to potential pushback from chains who see Amazon as their chief competitor. Publishers were more worried, however, fearing that the Amazon move could reduce competition.

Agent Richard Curtis, who also runs E-Reads, said:

"However, because of Amazon’s dominant retail position, their wealth and leverage could have a dampening effect on competition. B&N’s publishing has had that effect: as an agent, I’ll call a publisher and pitch a non-fiction project. ‘We’d love to do it,’ they’ll tell me, and then add, ‘but we know Sterling [Barnes & Noble’s publishing subsidiary] will undercut on price for the same kind of book."

And Amazon seems poised to go after the biggest names in frontlist fiction. We saw some of that already, when it placed a hefty bid on self-publishing star Amanda Hocking’s 4-book offer. There is some worry from the IPDF panel that some major publishers might not be around for very much longer.

We are in for interesting times, to be sure, but even as the publishing industry changes, there will still be demand for books in some form. Sooner or later, things will reach another equilibrium, but it’s anybody’s guess what that will look like or when it will happen.

15 COMMENTS

  1. Additional competition could reduce competition. What a compelling argument.

    Let’s be honest. The cartel is being broken and they don’t like it. Surprise, someone will react to what the consumer wants, give it to them and make money. Companies that refuse to do so will go out of business.

  2. @Bob –It isn’t that “any” additional ciompetition can reduce competition but that competition from Amazon can reduce it. And this I think is true. Amazon won’t be competing for authors and manuscripts using just money from its publishing units; it will use Amazon money regardless of source. None of the medium to large publishers will have such bankrolls available.

    If we start losing medium to large publishers as a result, we will eventually see more books exclusive to Amazon and higher book pricing. There is no such thing as a benevolent monopoly except in fiction. Ultimately we could see fewer publishers giving authors fewer publishing choices, ebooks that are published solely for the Amazon platform giving consumers no option in hardware, and higher consumer costs because of the desire to increase quarterly dividends and the lack of need to conquer market. Amazon is the consumer’s friend today but there is no guarantee it will be the consumer’s friend whjen it owns the market and all the channels of creation and distribution.

  3. “Amazon is the consumer’s friend today but there is no guarantee it will be the consumer’s friend when it owns the market and all the channels of creation and distribution.”

    Well the future will take care of itself, but I’d rather have the consumer’s friend whatever divination I may have about the future, than the consumer’s (and authors for that matter) enemy that the big publishers are today

  4. @Richard – The only ones raising prices are the Cartel, not Amazon. Doesn’t bother me, though, I haven’t bought one of their books in over a year. I’d rather deal with Amazon than the Agency 6 anyway.

  5. If you are concerned about huge corporations dominating the market, it’s ok to be concerned about Amazon – Amazon revenue =34$ billion. But old players are not really small shops either – Bertelsmann AG revenue = 15€ billion (21$ billion).

  6. Let’s see now, Amazon-the-publisher has a catalog of, what, a couple dozen books?
    No NYT bestsellers yet, minimal market share, and no backlist.
    And “publishers” are worried?
    Sounds more like scaremongering than any rational assessment of the impact of the move.
    Of course, they might have noticed the fact that Amazon seems to be acting as if their job is to sell publishing services to agents and authors instead of expecting the content owners to market themselves to the godlike, all-knowing, publishing houses.
    I suspect what they really fear is Amazon-the-publisher’s willingness to sing for their supper and actually *earn* their royalty.

  7. Bah. If you want to compete, compete. If Amazon misdoing something that’s working for them, nothing stopping anybody else from innovating too. Customers don’t really care who the “publisher” is, do they? It’s not like people will or won’t buy the new Stephen King based on loyalty to who is publishing it. Stephen King is the brand name for that purchase, not Random House or Amazon or whomever.

  8. I’m more worried about the conflict of interest issue mentioned above – If I’m looking for a non-Amazon-published author, will the recommendations give preference to Amazon-published books?

    i’m also finding it a strange direction for Amazon to go in – B&N is going more and stronger digtial, and Amazon is looking at traditional publishing. It seems a retrograde move to be making.

  9. Journey back with me to the year 1890 in Haystack, Vermont. We’re at the local train station, or rather one of the two train stations in this small town. One’s owned by the little Haystack and Flatrock Rail. The other by the giant Amalgamated Rail. We’re at the latter.

    Reporter: “Why are you at this rail station rather than the one down the street? Don’t you buy local.”

    Hezekiah Stone: “It’s cheaper. Why that greedy H&F Rail wants to charge me $2 for a ticket to Flatrock. Amalgamated is only $1. I like the way they do business.”

    Reporter: “Don’t you worry about what will happen to prices if H&R goes out of business and Amalgamated is the only railroad in town?”

    Hezekiah Stone: “Naw. I trust them. It’s the greedy people at H&R that I don’t like. They charge too much. I hope they go bankrupt. Amalgamated gets all my business.”

    We move forward to Haystack, Vermont in the year 1895. The town is now only served by one railroad, the giant Amalgamated. Our reporter sees a very dejected man sitting at the station waiting for the next train.

    Reporter: “Hello, I couldn’t help but notice that you don’t seem very happy. Is there a reason?”

    Man: “Yes, it’s that blankety blank blank railroad, Amalgamated. In my business I have to go to Flatrock at least three times a week. Why I can remember when a ticket cost $1. Now it’s $5. They’re so greedy, I hope they go out of business, although there’s little chance of that. If you want to leave Haystack on anything but the back of a horse, you have to take one of their trains. I hate them.”

    Reporter: “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. By the way, what’s your name?”

    Man: “Hezekiah Stone. Say, didn’t you talk to me at this very station about four or five years ago?”

    Reporter: “Yes, I think we did. I think we did.”

    Nuff said.

  10. “Well the future will take care of itself, but I’d rather have the consumer’s friend whatever divination I may have about the future, than the consumer’s (and authors for that matter) enemy that the big publishers are today”

    Yep.. it’s like the pot calling the kettle may be black someday 😛

  11. After running bookstores for 10 years one thing I know for certain. Amazon will own the book business outright before it is all over. Amazon, before the Kindle had the lion share of book sales and since the debut of the e-book and the Kindle has embarrassed the brick & mortar retailers at their own game.
    Amazon out strategized all of them and even Barnes & Noble the biggest and smuggest of them all wonders how they will ever catch up. Riggio’s, sorry you can’t. The Comic Book Nook, that’s I call the color version of the Nook because I figure comics are the only books in color, the Nook while it has produced some decent results just cannot compete in Amazon’s world.
    Now it seems Amazon will take the bite out of the Publishing world cutting even deeper into physical store profits and unfortunately I foresee even the almighty B&N, who has steam rolled and closed so many smaller book stores, soon closing their doors if they don’t change big box books store model sooner instead of later…..
    The Book Nook @ Facebook.com

  12. As a small publisher who must in some fashion rely on Amazon for some of my sales, I think that Amazon cannot create the monopoly everyone is fearful of because the Attorney General of one state or another will bring anti-trust charges against it before that ever happens. However, since Amazon is too busy discounting prices below my costs I have been considering not posting anymore books there. The fact is that many bookstores are closing because of Amazon’s aggressive dominance of the retailing market through its undercutting publishers and suppliers. I have now read of one book which was posted there to sell and forward the proceeds to charities helping with the Japan earthquake, only to see Amazon drop the price to zero. With no revenues coming in, the book’s purpose was subsumed in favor of it’s marketability as a “bonus item” to boost Amazon’s Kindle sales. This is both unjust and a prime example why publishers are doubtful of Amazon’s core values. For an independent publisher like me it’s just like playing Russian roulette. So Amazon’s attempt to become a publisher will place it in direct competition with me for shoppers, and will be hurtful to my business.

  13. “I have now read of one book which was posted there to sell and forward the proceeds to charities helping with the Japan earthquake, only to see Amazon drop the price to zero. With no revenues coming in, the book’s purpose was subsumed in favor of it’s marketability as a “bonus item” to boost Amazon’s Kindle sales.”

    That book was made free by the publisher, it’s also free elsewhere…

    http://www.quakebook.org/2011/05/digital-quakebook-goes-free-buy-print-copy-in-bookstores/

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