If you’re a traditionally published author, a self-published author, a hybrid author, an aspiring author, a publisher, or anything else connected to the business, this blogpost by Hugh Howey is a must-read.
Particularly if you’ve jumped aboard the “Bash Amazon” wagon without really understanding what’s at stake or what the issues are (You know who you are), please read this.
I’ve been keeping up with all the comments and opinions, and I have to say this is the one the most well-reasoned and well-researched I’ve seen.
To give you a taste, here’s how it begins:
So no more need to speculate over what this kerfuffle is about. Hachette is strong-arming Amazon and harming its authors because they want to dictate price to a retailer, something not done practically anywhere else in the goods market. It’s something US publishers don’t even do to brick and mortar booksellers. It’s just something they want to be able to do to Amazon.
The biggest problem with Hachette’s strategy is that Hachette knows absolutely nothing about retail pricing. That’s not their job. It’s not their area of expertise. They don’t sell enough product direct to consumers to understand what price will maximize their earnings. Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Apple have that data, not Hachette.
Read the whole article, then tell me what you think.