Think you’re safe from the Amazon/BookSurge ultimatum because you’re in the United Kingdom? Think again. You might be next!

Amazon has lauched a POD service in the U.K. While they say “We are offering titles that are being produced by other print on demand providers”…they don’t say they’ll continue to do so.

The article also states: “It is unclear whether this move will affect terms negotiations with publishers. North refused to comment adding ‘we are launching something brand new and we hope it will create savings that will benefit everybody’.”

Read the entire article (and don’t miss the reader comments!) here: http://thebookseller.com/news/68379-amazon-uk-launches-pod-service.html

We recently ran across an interesting quote by Jeff Bezos, written 10 years ago when Barnes and Noble tried to buy Ingram Book Group. (The deal was abandoned by Barnes and Noble seven months later under pressure resulting from antitrust concerns of the FTC and independent booksellers.)

Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, immediately took a defiant approach: “To our customers: Worry not … Those who make choices that are genuinely good for customers, authors, and publishers will prevail. Goliath is always in range of a good slingshot … Our long-term strategy has been to diversify our supplier base and to increase our direct purchasing from publishers.”
Source: Barnes & Noble Buys Ingram and Sets Off a Powder Keg

Pot, meet kettle.

PooperScoops weighs in with: Hypocrisy From Amazon’s Glass House