We all knew it was too good to be true: the low-lower-lowest Amazon prices for books. How could they sustain negative profit margins? Though a spokesperson for Amazon said the increase in prices was merely the company tending to it’s “anemic” profits, don’t be fooled. We are witnessing the next stage of a strategic plan to kill off the competition until it was safe to, well, charge anything they want.
Who will be the hardest hit? Since popular books still have some competition, the current victims are scholarly and small presses. Amazon’s market control means readers might be priced out of purchasing certain books, and authors will watch helplessly as their books waste away on the shelf. That’s enough to make any author wonder if publishing was even worth it.
For those of you out there who reconcile the situation by believing all’s fair in business, or even, now that’s some business sense!–just remember, we’re talking about books here. A vital lifeline to the imagination for us, our children, and generations to come. What if Amazon decides a book offers the wrong political or social message and hikes the price? No one company should have that kind of broad influence on people’s voices.
The solution? Simple. Don’t buy from Amazon! All of our books are discounted and offer free shipping, direct from the Fuze website!
Read the entire New York Times article.
