When thinking about ordering books most consumers can’t help but think of Amazon as their first choice. The ‘everything-store' makes it easy for customers to order books and other things by only having to click a few buttons. The website is easy to use, trustworthy, shipping is often free, or at least quite cheap, and delivery times are usually very quick. For this reason, holding a good relationship with Amazon is very important for publishers, as a large amount of their publications are being distributed through the online-retailer’s website.
In May “Hachette refused to give Amazon pricing control over its e-books, which would have seen most of their digital titles discounted to less than $10 a book” (Ellis-Petersen, 2014).
This lead to Amazon “delaying delivery of the publisher’s books, preventing pre-orders and removing discounts” (Cheshire, 2014). Amazon marked many Hachette titles as out-of-stock, displayed extra long estimated delivery times for their books, and also prevented their customers from pre-ordering Hachette publications. Hachette is one of the five biggest publishers in the world (‘The Big 5’), which made the dispute with Amazon highly discussed in the media.
In May “Hachette refused to give Amazon pricing control over its e-books, which would have seen most of their digital titles discounted to less than $10 a book” (Ellis-Petersen, 2014).
This lead to Amazon “delaying delivery of the publisher’s books, preventing pre-orders and removing discounts” (Cheshire, 2014). Amazon marked many Hachette titles as out-of-stock, displayed extra long estimated delivery times for their books, and also prevented their customers from pre-ordering Hachette publications. Hachette is one of the five biggest publishers in the world (‘The Big 5’), which made the dispute with Amazon highly discussed in the media.
On the publishers website Hachette made several statements about the conflict with the online-retailer (Hachettebookgroup.com, 2014).
They stated that “Amazon has limited its customers' ability to buy more than 5,000 Hachette titles” and reminded consumers that there are other online retail channels where they can order Hachette publications, such as “barnesandnoble.com, powells.com, booksamillion.com, walmart.com, target.com, overstock.com, and in thousands of great chain and independent bookstores across the country” (Hachettebookgroup.com, 2014).
This month they finally resolved their dispute, right in time for the very important Christmas season. The agreement was made in Hachette's favour, giving the publisher the control over its own e-book pricing (Streitfeld, 2014). However, both the publisher and the online retailer suffered from the conflict, as sales dropped due to the fact that they made it difficult for consumers to purchase certain publications (Streitfeld, 2014). Furthermore, the conflict has left Amazon with a reputation of being a “bully” (Streitfeld, 2014) amongst authors, publishers and consumers.
The power game between Amazon and Hachette teaches us, that publishers should in no way be afraid of Amazon. As much as it is important for the distribution of their books, sometimes it helps to raise your voice against a giant like Amazon and not to put up with everything they decide, because Amazon needs the publishers as much as they need Amazon. At least the large publishers have the power to do so, for the smaller, less influential ones, however, this may be more difficult.
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They stated that “Amazon has limited its customers' ability to buy more than 5,000 Hachette titles” and reminded consumers that there are other online retail channels where they can order Hachette publications, such as “barnesandnoble.com, powells.com, booksamillion.com, walmart.com, target.com, overstock.com, and in thousands of great chain and independent bookstores across the country” (Hachettebookgroup.com, 2014).
This month they finally resolved their dispute, right in time for the very important Christmas season. The agreement was made in Hachette's favour, giving the publisher the control over its own e-book pricing (Streitfeld, 2014). However, both the publisher and the online retailer suffered from the conflict, as sales dropped due to the fact that they made it difficult for consumers to purchase certain publications (Streitfeld, 2014). Furthermore, the conflict has left Amazon with a reputation of being a “bully” (Streitfeld, 2014) amongst authors, publishers and consumers.
The power game between Amazon and Hachette teaches us, that publishers should in no way be afraid of Amazon. As much as it is important for the distribution of their books, sometimes it helps to raise your voice against a giant like Amazon and not to put up with everything they decide, because Amazon needs the publishers as much as they need Amazon. At least the large publishers have the power to do so, for the smaller, less influential ones, however, this may be more difficult.
- 425 words
Bibliography
BBC News, (2014). Amazon and Hachette Settle Dispute. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30044531; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Cheshire, T. (2014). Burying The Hachette? Amazon Climbs Down. [online] Sky News. Available at: http://news.sky.com/story/1373454/burying-the-hachette-amazon-climbs-down; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Ellis-Petersen, H. (2014). Amazon and Publisher Hachette End Dispute Over Online Book Sales. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/13/amazon-hachette-end-dispute-ebooks; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Gillette, F. (2014). Hachette Looks Like the Winner as Its War With Amazon Ends. [online] Businessweek.com. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-13/hachette-looks-like-the-winner-as-war-with-amazon-ends; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Hachettebookgroup.com, (2014). Hachette Book Group has Made the Following Public Statements About its Recent Issues with Amazon. [online] Available at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/news/; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
PublishersWeekly.com, (2014). Amazon Versus Hachette: The Whole Story. [online] Available at: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/63304-amazon-versus-hachette-the-whole-story.html; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
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Stenovec, T. (2014). Amazon Probably Didn't Get What It Wanted In The Hachette Deal. [online] The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/14/amazon-hachette-deal_n_6159414.html [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/14/amazon-hachette-deal_n_6159414.html
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Trachtenberg, J. and Bensinger, G. (2014). Amazon, Hachette End Publishing Dispute. [online] WSJ. Available at: http://online.wsj.com/articles/amazon-hachette-end-publishing-dispute-1415898013; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Weise, E. (2014). Amazon-Hachette: The War of the Button. [online] Usatoday.com. Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/11/13/amazon-hachette-preorder-publishing/18995643/; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
BBC News, (2014). Amazon and Hachette Settle Dispute. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30044531; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Cheshire, T. (2014). Burying The Hachette? Amazon Climbs Down. [online] Sky News. Available at: http://news.sky.com/story/1373454/burying-the-hachette-amazon-climbs-down; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Ellis-Petersen, H. (2014). Amazon and Publisher Hachette End Dispute Over Online Book Sales. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/13/amazon-hachette-end-dispute-ebooks; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Gillette, F. (2014). Hachette Looks Like the Winner as Its War With Amazon Ends. [online] Businessweek.com. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-13/hachette-looks-like-the-winner-as-war-with-amazon-ends; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Hachettebookgroup.com, (2014). Hachette Book Group has Made the Following Public Statements About its Recent Issues with Amazon. [online] Available at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/news/; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
PublishersWeekly.com, (2014). Amazon Versus Hachette: The Whole Story. [online] Available at: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/63304-amazon-versus-hachette-the-whole-story.html; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Stenovec, T. (2014). The Amazon and Hachette Feud Is Over, For Now. [online] The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/13/amazon-hachette-agreement_n_6152562.html; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Stenovec, T. (2014). Amazon Probably Didn't Get What It Wanted In The Hachette Deal. [online] The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/14/amazon-hachette-deal_n_6159414.html [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/14/amazon-hachette-deal_n_6159414.html
Streitfeld, D. (2014). Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/technology/amazon-hachette-ebook-dispute.html; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Tam, D. (2014). Amazon and Hachette Settle Bitter E-book Dispute. [online] CNET. Available at: http://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-and-hachette-settle-bitter-e-book-dispute/; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
The Economist, (2014). Frozen conflict. [online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21632802-deal-between-two-firms-unlikely-end-dispute-over-prices-and-profits-e-books-frozen; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Trachtenberg, J. and Bensinger, G. (2014). Amazon, Hachette End Publishing Dispute. [online] WSJ. Available at: http://online.wsj.com/articles/amazon-hachette-end-publishing-dispute-1415898013; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Weise, E. (2014). Amazon-Hachette: The War of the Button. [online] Usatoday.com. Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/11/13/amazon-hachette-preorder-publishing/18995643/; [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].