Amazon normally doesn't say a damn thing in the middle of talks with another party, but Hatchette's PR antics over the Memorial Day weekend elicited a response.
There three main points in Amazon's statement that are very subtle:
1) Amazon will no longer warehouse Hatchette's books for free. They will order books on a case-by-case basis.
2) Hatchette is only 1.1% of Amazon's business while Amazon is 20% of Hatchette's.
3) Amazon offered to match funds Hatchette puts into a pool for authors harmed by the current negotiations. And supposedly, Amazon made the same offer to Macmillan four years ago,
Hatchette's executives and attorneys don't seem to understand that they cannot force a retailer to carry their product. Also, I'm beginning to wonder if Hatchette's sales from Amazon aren't a lot more than 20%. That's what happens when you're the test case after you're off probation.
[Edit to add: Hatchette has responded. IMHO, fighting this battle in public is not Hatchette's best tactic.]
[2nd edit to add: A Hatchette memo was leaked to Digital Book World. Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath royally fisk the hell out of it.]
This is interesting. And I agree, they can't force a retailer to carry their products. That's not how it works.
ReplyDeleteThey are trying. I do not think they will succeed.
DeleteFor a retailer to be forced to carry something they don't want to carry, is both insane and a scary thing. Then we open up to all kinds of other issues. Be interesting to see how it all goes down.
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