Amazon has been making enemies left and right lately when it comes to their book policies and publishing habits. Their newest one is Stephen Colbert.
In a recent episode of “The Colbert Report,” he spoke about Amazon’s shady business practive of delaying shipments of books published by Hachette. They also decided to remove the option to pre-order Hachette titles. Why? Because of an ongoing contract dispute. Yeah, real mature Amazon. Way to act like an adult. And also way to make Hachette want to renew their contract.
Oh, and by the way, Hachette is Colbert’s publisher as well and the conflict is harming sales of his recent book “America Again.”
“I just found out that they are ‘deterring customers from buying books by Stephen Colbert,’” Colbert told his audience, a statement which was met with loud boos. “And as any long-time viewer of this show knows, that’s me.”
Amazon is not just hurting big name authors though. Colbert interviewed Sherman Alexie who explained that Amazon’s dick movie is most harmful to first-time authors who are already having a hard time getting their names and books out there.
“The fortunes of a book are determined long before it ever hits the shelves,” Alexie said. “Pre-publicity and presales determine the success of a book… [Without presales] the book is dead.”
Colbert and other authors such as Alexie and James Patterson have been encouraging readers to purchase books not from Amazon but from publisher websites and author websites. There is no reason to give in to Amazon demands and ruthless business practices.
Support your author and support your publisher!
