I doubt Hachette will win what they want from this negotiation. I do hope Hachette wins, however. They can keep their prices as high as they want and my work will continue to be a bargain for readers looking for books that deliver entertainment less expensively. I guess that’s the middle way through some of the tribalism that has sprung up over this dispute. Oh, and subscribe to David Gaughran’s blog if you haven’t already.
A group of bestselling traditionally published authors – including James Patterson, Scott Turow, and Douglas Preston – engaged in an act of breathtaking hypocrisy on Thursday with an open letter calling on Amazon to end its dispute with Hachette.
The letter is incredibly disingenuous. It claims not to take sides, but only calls on Amazon to take action to end the dispute. It also makes a series of ridiculous claims, notably that Amazon has been “boycotting Hachette authors.”
Where do I start?
The Phantom Boycott
First of all, refusing to take pre-orders on Hachette titles is not a “boycott.” Pre-orders are a facility extended to certain publishers – not all publishers. Many small presses don’t have a pre-order facility. Most self-publishers don’t have a pre-order facility.
I don’t know why Amazon has stopped taking Hachette pre-orders, but both sides have stated that negotiations aren’t likely to be resolved any…
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