The commentary and news articles are starting to roll in…
Commentary:
The Law Of The Publishing Jungle, FonerBooks.com
Amazon Accused of Anti-Trust Violations “Tied” to Print-On-Demand Terms, O’Reilly Radar
Amazon defendant in class action lawsuit brought by BookLocker, Valleywag
Amazon is Getting Sued, Mental Health for Writers
BookLocker Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon.com, Easy Author Websites
Amazon Booksurge AntiTrust Lawsuit, The Pen And The Spindle
News Articles:
Maine publisher sues Amazon.com, cites antitrust laws, Associated Press
POD Publisher Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon, toc.oreilly.com
Bangor publisher suing Amazon in anti-trust case, Bangor Daily News
BookLocker Files Class Action Suit Against Amazon, Publishers Lunch
Class action suit filed against Amazon over POD bullying – with BookLocker as the primary plaintiff, Teleread.org
POD publisher files Amazon class action, TheBookseller.com
Amazon tyranny challenged in court, Indiebookman.com
Amazon faces class action suit over print on demand demands – printers miffed, The Red Ferret Journal
Antitrust Class Action Claims Amazon Abuses Market Power To Squash Print-On-Demand Rivals, Courthouse News Service
POD publisher files suit against Amazon in epic battle over on-demand contract, Printweek.com
Booklocker.com v Amazon.com, Mediabistro
I have just posted a comment on Mental Health for Writers in response to a Booksurge promo for writers. My warning is writers publishing through affiliates of Amazon Booksurge WATCH YOUR TITLES.
The rot has gone further than you know.
I struggled to sort out my title rights for my new book when I migrated it from an affiliate to the Booklocker. I was already with the company when it became an affiliate and changed its price structure, also loading its shipping to authors to the point where I could not longer afford to continue processing my book.
The affiliate initially blocked the title migration by saying that it would ‘retire’ not ‘remove’ the title from its system.
Subsequently, I have been told by the affiliate that it would close my account, apparently also now a contested issue for writers. I was told that the company would ‘remove’ my existing title A Woman’s Book Of Allegory, not ‘retire’ it.
This means that the affiliate agreed to take the title out of its system. This means that the title should not appear either on the affiliate’s website or on Amazon.com.
May I suggest that you enter the title into your Amazon search. You will discover that while I have decided to no longer publish A Woman’s Book of Allegory just to retain my writer’s rights, Amazon is still advertising it as ‘out of stock’ and promises to notify readers when it is in stock. This means that interested readers are led to believe that the book is still in circulation when it is not.
The implications for writers wanting to migrate their high-end sales books to mainstream publishers are myriad. Readers associate content with titles and Amazon has first dibs on telling its customers that the title is out of stock even if it is being published elsewhere or is, in my case, off the market.
The underlying game plan is far wider and more dangerous to writers and the publishing industry than stated in the antitrust lawsuit.
http://forensicphotoshop.blogspot.com/2008/02/book-publishing.html
I have struggled to get my title out vs. the Amazon goliath. When I looked at Booksurge, they told me that I couldn’t do my book in full colour, being that it’s over 100 pages. My book is about colour and light adjustments – how could I not do it in colour?
Best of luck to you. I’d love to see you win this one.
I’m published with PublishAmerica, a POD publisher. They’re refusing to walk to the beat of Amazon’s drum, which I am exceptionally proud of, but Amazon is just asking for it! I hope you win, Amazon is in desperate need of a taking down.