Amazon is good for book publishing because it is good for readers, writes Anne Treasure.
Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994 after identifying a market that was poorly managed by its traditional stakeholders. 19 years later, the book industry needs to stop complaining about it and follow his lead, writes Anne Treasure.
You’re in a bookstore, looking for a copy of Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us. You ask the bookseller, and she checks stock levels. They’re currently out of stock, as this book isn’t a perennial bestseller. Do you;
a) Get the bookseller to order it in for you. Delivery time: 2-3 weeks.
b) Have the bookseller get it sent to you directly from the publisher. Delivery time: 48hrs.
c) Buy the book online in digital format. Delivery time: seconds.
Imagine the recent incursion of Amazon.com.au as a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. Who is the villain? Is it Amazon, the giant tax-dodging retailer from the US, moving into Australian territory with disintermediation and predatory business practice? The big publishers, only concerned about profit? Perhaps it’s bricks and mortar booksellers, unwilling to adapt to the new digital regime. Or is it someone else? Have you abandoned the old faithful community hub of the local bookstore for cheaper, more convenient books in the digital realm? Perhaps you, dear reader, are the villain.If you chose option b, you’re quite the savvy consumer. Thorpe Bowker has only recently introduced a service to circumvent the consumer’s flight to the convenience of online shopping, allowing Australian bookstores to have books delivered from the publisher’s warehouse directly to the consumer within 48 hours.
During the keynote address at the recent Independent Publishers Conference, publishing insider Michael Webster expressed amazement that students who want a career in the local book industry buy books from Amazon. “A company about which I have a view,” Webster said, smiling wryly and letting his words hang in the air, provoking laughter from the assembled book industry folk.
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a) Get the bookseller to order it in for you. Delivery time: 2-3 weeks.
b) Have the bookseller get it sent to you directly from the publisher. Delivery time: 48hrs.
c) Buy the book online in digital format. Delivery time: seconds.
Imagine the recent incursion of Amazon.com.au as a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. Who is the villain? Is it Amazon, the giant tax-dodging retailer from the US, moving into Australian territory with disintermediation and predatory business practice? The big publishers, only concerned about profit? Perhaps it’s bricks and mortar booksellers, unwilling to adapt to the new digital regime. Or is it someone else? Have you abandoned the old faithful community hub of the local bookstore for cheaper, more convenient books in the digital realm? Perhaps you, dear reader, are the villain.If you chose option b, you’re quite the savvy consumer. Thorpe Bowker has only recently introduced a service to circumvent the consumer’s flight to the convenience of online shopping, allowing Australian bookstores to have books delivered from the publisher’s warehouse directly to the consumer within 48 hours.
During the keynote address at the recent Independent Publishers Conference, publishing insider Michael Webster expressed amazement that students who want a career in the local book industry buy books from Amazon. “A company about which I have a view,” Webster said, smiling wryly and letting his words hang in the air, provoking laughter from the assembled book industry folk.
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