The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

War of the Words: Amazon vs. Hachette

June 7, 2014

Once again, Amazon model of e-reader books and higher margins has escalated into Walmart-like bullying against vendors who won’t play their way—namely, continually lowering their prices until said vendor goes out of business, at which point Amazon/Walmart buys up the broken pieces or moves on to another target. With no stake in any brick and mortar locations, just warehouses they don’t want to pay increasing rent, employee wages and benefits on and rising shipping costs, Amazon has made a practice out of squeezing publishers when their contracts renew for reduced prices—some of which are passed on to customers but most of which go to higher margins for the company. Their current target is Hachette, a firm with numerous imprints and responsible for publishing authors you may have heard of:  J.K. Rowling, Kate Atkinson, David Baldacci, James Patterson,  and Donna Tartt, whose newest novel, The Goldfinch, won the Pulitzer Prize. Haven’t read it? Well, don’t make any plans if you insist on buying it from Amazon because their newest ploy is to delay shipping on ALL Hachette titles from 2-5 weeks in an effort to force Hachette to give into their demands.

I understand the lure of Amazon in our instant gratification society and I have used their site for numerous purchases (aside from books). In their day, their practice of free shipping and reduced prices was a unique concept but this is not the case anymore. There are all kinds of online booksellers who offer great shipping and similar pricing. So, rather than be a part of the problem, why not show Amazon they’re not the only game in town. Here are just a few other retailers where you can get the titles you want, when you want them. Or if you have a local bookstore reach out to them—they can advance order, hold books, and often ship for free as well.

Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Books, Indie Bound (find a store in your area)

This is a big issue and has gotten a lot of press in the book world. Only recently has it moved beyond our little corner when another Hachette author became angry enough to vent. I’ll speak for himself:

 

The Colbert Report



Want to learn more? Click on any of the links below.

Hachette Says Amazon Needs to ‘Value Appropriately’ Authors, Publishers (Publishers Weekly)

Amazon vs. Hachette (On the Media podcast)

Amazon and Hachette: The dispute in 13 easy steps (LA Times)

Writers Feel an Amazon-Hachette Spat (New York Times)

Inside Amazon’s Battle with Hachette (Forbes)

It’s Time to Turn Your Back on Amazon  (The Stranger- a Seattle newspaper- where Amazon is headquartered)

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
Powell’s Event: Maryka Biaggio
gluten free
The Gluten-Free Table
University Book Store
california
California: A Novel
You Will Know Me

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Feature, Reading Tagged: book store, Grand Central Publishing, Hachette, Little Brown and Company, publishing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in