Ned Hayes Writing

Ok, I know a lot of people are up in arms about the whole Amazon / Hatchette fracas. I'm a little surprised by all the umbrage addressed at Amazon though -- I mean, everyone in publishing knew they were getting in bed with the online equivalent of Wal-Mart, right? I mean, you guys never saw Amazon as a white knight, right?

The publishers were profoundly stupid to not sell directly to consumers in the first place, and get their act together to actually take advantage of new digital technologies. Instead, they stuck their collective heads in the sand, and solidified their old-school approach, and then did their deal-with-the-devil to allow Amazon to sell their books. Their choice, not Amazon's. They chose this deal, not Amazon (Amazon can't force them to sell books thru Amazon -- Melville House had led the way here).

Frankly, if some visionary 15 years ago in a major publisher had the guts to do it right, we would today be reading on a "Random House Reader" (instead of a Kindle) and buying books on an ALA approved website, perhaps run by Hatchette. Stupid big 5 publishers are now seeing the results of their bad decisions. Chickens come home to roost. So sorry for you, but it's not Amazon's fault for being consistent with the wholesale pricing  practices they've always had in place.