And this is another reason why I will never go totally to eBooks. Like any
other kind of tech, it puts you at the mercy of the content provider. If I want
a book from a publisher that's got beef with another company, i can still
easily go to a bookstore, or (gasp!) the library and get a hard copy. But if
I'm getting everything through digital distribution and there's a problem, the
provider can block my access, or even erase content already on my reader. I do
not like that concept.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@gmail.com>
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 12:20:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [scifinoir2] Amazon Removes Macmillan Books
Amazon Removes Macmillan Books
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By BRAD STONE and MOTOKO RICH
Published: January 30, 2010
Amazon.com has pulled books from Macmillan, one of the largest publishers in
the United States, in a dispute over the pricing on e-books on the site.
The publisher’s books can be purchased only from third parties on Amazon.com .
A person in the industry with knowledge of the dispute, which has been brewing
for a year, said Amazon was expressing its strong disagreement by temporarily
removing Macmillan books. The person did not want to be quoted by name because
of the sensitivity of the matter.
Macmillan, like other publishers, has asked Amazon to raise the price of
e-books to around $15 from $9.99.
Macmillan is one of the publishers signed on to offer books to Apple, as part
of its new iBookstore on the iPad tablet unveiled earlier this week.
Macmillan’s imprints include Farrar, Straus & Giroux, St. Martins Press and
Henry Holt. Popular books, including “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, “Wolf
Hall” by Hilary Mantel , “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides and “Finger Lickin’
Fifteen” by Janet Evanovich , could be purchased only from third-party sellers
on Friday night.
Apple will allow publishers more leeway to set their own prices for e-books.
Although the prices will be tethered to print book prices by a formula that
will generally yield prices between $12.99 and $14.99 for most fiction and
general nonfiction, that is significantly higher than $9.99 discount that
Amazon offers on its Kindle .
Publishers have been concerned that such pricing devalues books. Tensions
between publishers and Amazon have been rising as publishers have withheld
select e-book editions for several months after the release of hardcover
versions of books.
It is not clear yet if publishers can withhold books from Amazon while giving
them to other parties like Apple. Antitrust lawyers said it could raise legal
issues.
Macmillan and its imprints have not yet returned requests for comment. Amazon
refused comment.
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