Monopoly the Amazon Book Version
Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. Ugh. Look at this:
Here are the things I need to define so that, if you're not up to speed on the lingo, you can get the significance of the story.
Yeah. Seriously.
As the Library Thing Thinglogy Blog put it "Amazon has always had a lot of leverage, but they haven't used it. That's clearly changing."
Damn, dude.
Full Library Thing Blog here. Has lots of relevant links to follow for the whole story.
If you don't have time, just basically know that Amazon is getting evil a la WalMart and it's time to focus on AbeBooks, Alibris, Books a Million et al (see all at Fetchbook.info, a compendium of all online booksellers) before the only bookseller online out there is evil old Amazon.
Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. Ugh. Look at this:
Having bought bought second-tier Print-on-Demand (POD) publisher BookSurge, Amazon is now working to shut down its competition. (Full Blog Entry Here)
Here are the things I need to define so that, if you're not up to speed on the lingo, you can get the significance of the story.
- POD is Print On Demand, usually attributed to vanity presses - but as of lately, that is not the case
- Vanity Presses are traditionally attributed to crappy writers who can't get published by a regular publisher so they publish it themselves (note: Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility at her own cost at a "vanity press"; this leads me to my next point)
- However: in this day of Giant Evil Conglomerate Publishing Houses Whose Bottom Line Means Far More Than the Art of Writing (Especially Niches), POD presses serve many neglected markets, and also allow people far away from the mainstream, but still of interest (like, say, Jane Austen) to be published
- Amazon bought one POD (BookSurge) and is now threatening to remove the "buy buttons" from books not from the POD they now own
Yeah. Seriously.
As the Library Thing Thinglogy Blog put it "Amazon has always had a lot of leverage, but they haven't used it. That's clearly changing."
Damn, dude.
Full Library Thing Blog here. Has lots of relevant links to follow for the whole story.
If you don't have time, just basically know that Amazon is getting evil a la WalMart and it's time to focus on AbeBooks, Alibris, Books a Million et al (see all at Fetchbook.info, a compendium of all online booksellers) before the only bookseller online out there is evil old Amazon.