A Look at Coverage to Date of the Hachette-Amazon Dispute

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

As national media outlets continue to address the Hachette-Amazon controversy, which began early last month with Amazon delaying shipments of popular Hachette Book Group titles and continued with Amazon removing the pre-order option for some of the publisher’s upcoming books, the American Booksellers Association has developed a resource list of news reports, bookseller responses, author comments, and more to help inform the independent bookselling community and its supporters.

Additionally, ABA has created an assortment of digital media, available in BookWeb’s DIY section of Designs & Downloads, for use by independent bookstores and their customers, including:

On social media, booksellers and independent bookstore supporters shared ABA’s digital banners more than 500 times, with the message reaching upwards of 50,000 people on Facebook alone since June 3.

While independent booksellers continue to show support for Hachette Book Group and its titles, including in Parnassus Books’ front window and on its website and through in-store displays by McLean & Eakin, Book Passage, and Murder By the Book, booksellers are encouraged to share with ABA their pictures, promotions, comments, or anecdotes about how this dispute is starting conversations or lifting sales in their stores.

Stores are also encouraged to review the multitude of information about the situation, including the selected news coverage below:

The Ongoing Hachette-Amazon Dispute

“Hachette Says Amazon is Delaying Delivery of Some Books” (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/technology/hachette-says-amazon-is-delaying-delivery-of-some-books.html?src=busln&_r=1

“As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish” (New York Times blog)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/amazon-escalates-its-battle-against-hachette/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

“Amazon steps up pressure on Hachette U.S.” (The Bookseller)
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/amazon-steps-pressure-hachette-us.html

“The Antitrust Book Boomerang” (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/articles/gordon-crovitz-the-antitrust-book-boomerang-1401661151?KEYWORDS=crovitz

“Hachette Chief Leads Book Publishers in Amazon Fight” (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/business/media/hachettes-chief-at-front-lines-in-fight-with-amazon-over-e-books.html

“Amazon and Hachette: The dispute in 13 easy steps” (LA Times)
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-amazon-and-hachette-explained-20140602-story.html#page=1

“Amazon Feud With Publishers to Escalate as Contracts End” (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/amazon-feud-with-publishers-to-escalate-as-contracts-end.html

“Amazon Versus The Book Publishers” (NPR’s On Point)
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/06/05/amazon-prices-ebooks-hachette

Booksellers Make Headlines

“Seattle indie bookstore jabs at Amazon, enters Hachette fray with promise to hand-deliver J.K. Rowling’s new novel” (GeekWire, on Third Place Books)
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/amazon-problem-third-place-books-hand-delivering-hachette-books/

“How Powell’s Books became the official bookseller of The Colbert Report” (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/06/powells_books_
colbert_report.html

“Indie booksellers join Hachette’s battle with Amazon” (The Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/06/indie-booksellers-hachette-battle-amazon

“Local Bookstore Offers Books Not Available from Amazon During Publisher Dispute” (Fox 17, on Parnassus Books)
http://www.fox17.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/local-bookstore-offers-books-not-available-amazon-during-publisher-dispute-eric-alvarez-21787.shtml

Authors Speak Up

“Amazon Is Destroying My Favorite Things!” (Peter Brown’s blog)
http://www.peterbrownstudio.com/publishing/amazon-is-destroying-my-favorite-things/#.U42soVx9lg2

“Caught in the Middle of Amazon’s Spat With Hachette” (Brad Stone, Businessweek)
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-23/caught-in-the-middle-of-amazons-spat-with-hachette

“Malcolm Gladwell ‘Surprised’ to Become an Amazon Bargaining Chip” (New York Times blog)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/gladwell-on-amazon-its-sort-of-heartbreaking-when-your-partner-turns-on-you/?_php=true&_type=blogs&hp&_r=0

“John Green Criticizes Amazon.com in Book Dispute” (ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/john-green-criticizes-amazon-book-dispute-23963104

“Amazon’s New, Powerful Enemies” (Forbes)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2014/06/03/amazons-new-powerful-enemies/

“Amazon Boycott Gets a Helping Hand from Stephen Colbert” (New York Times blog)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/amazon-boycott-gets-a-helping-hand-from-stephen-colbert/

“J.K. Rowling Tweet Tweaks Amazon in Contract Dispute” (ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/jk-rowling-tweet-tweaks-amazon-contract-dispute-23998526

“Amazon’s Fight With Hachette Strands an Author in The Crossfire” (David Shafer, The Daily Beast)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/08/amazon-s-fight-with-hachette-strands-an-author-in-the-crossfire.html

“Neil Gaiman: ‘I’m obviously pissed at Amazon’” (Salon) http://www.salon.com/2014/06/11/neil_gaiman_im_obviously_pissed_at_amazon/

“Amazon Tightens Its Grip in Dispute with Hachette” (Authors Guild statement)
http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/amazon-tightens-its-grip-in-dispute-with-hachette/

Beyond U.S. Borders

“Amazon Strategy Raises Hackles in Germany” (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/business/international/amazon-strategy-raises-hackles-in-germany.html

Beyond the Book

“Amazon Stops Taking Advance Orders for Lego and Other Warner Videos” (New York Times blog)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/amazon-stops-taking-advance-orders-for-lego-other-warner-videos/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Categories: 
Publisher News
Industry News
Main Street/Shop Local
Marketing
Resources