Authors Urged Not To Link To Amazon
from the that'll-show-them dept
The Authors Guild is encouraging authors not to link to Amazon.com from their own websites. The Guild is angry that Amazon lists used book prices on the same page as new books. They feel this causes people to buy the used books, depriving the author of their rightful commission (I’m almost surprised the Authors Guild doesn’t take after the recording and movie industries and somehow try to claim that reselling used books is illegal). I have to side with Amazon on this one. Their job is to provide the best possible service to their customers – and letting them know the same book is available used at a lower price seems like a completely reasonable service for them to offer. Again, I think an author should be happy that anyone is discovering their work – even if they buy the used version. It could bring them a new fan who will rush out to buy their next book brand new when it comes out.
Comments on “Authors Urged Not To Link To Amazon”
Great!
Great! This will help put all those bastards who photocopy the entire book, then resell the used version, out of business!!!
msykes
no book rental market
if there were a market for book rentals (pick your medium), perhaps the authors’ guild wouldn’t be so upset.
I, for one, buy a ton of used books at Amazon, rarely paying more than $2.50 for a title ($7.00 with shipping). I love it.
Authors want to sell their books, hence they’ll link to Amazon. Used book sellers want to sell used books. Unless Amazon separates the two, they’re destined to tango.