Hachette, Amazon and buy links

[julesjones]

Amazon are being thugs again, and this time it's Hachette they're trying to intimidate. (And if you're a reader who's thinking "Yay, go Amazon! Cheaper books for me!" think again. What happens to those cheap prices when Amazon's the only store in town?) So once again I'm torn on whether to put Amazon buy links on my book log; a pertinent question for me since I'm making an effort to catch up with said book log, and there are a couple of items I intend to say "Go forth and buy this" about.

No two ways about it -- Amazon is the most useful link for most people. They've got the biggest market share, they have the most reviews by other people, they sell both print and ebooks. That's also why they have so much power. So do I withhold my minuscule contribution to their coffers and mindshare, when that might reduce the chance of someone thinking, "I'd like that!" and actually following through with a purchase?

Posting the reviews to Amazon is an easier decision. It does make a difference to sales when there are reviews, and I think on balance it does more good than harm to provide Amazon with that content.

But I think I need to make more of an effort to get Kobo links as well, where possible. They're ebook-only, but at least they use an open file format and eschew DRM unless it's requested by the publisher.

Comments

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

I never buy from Amazon. If I can't find it somewhere else, I do without.

[julesjones]

Problem is, I know from my own sales reports just how many people are the opposite -- if it's not available on Amazon, they don't bother going elsewhere.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Myself, I link to Powell's or Bookshop Santa Cruz, but I am in the US. Does the UK have a bookstore with a similar online presence?

[julesjones]

The problem for me with Powells is that I used to do B&N and Powells links as well -- and I could see from my affiliate reports that people only ever bought from Amazon. It's actually quite a lot of effort to get multiple links, especially if you want to use affiliate links (which I do, for the tracking rather than the paltry affiliate income).

I also used to copy my reviews to Powells, but that became more effort than it was worth because of their website/account design. And then I acquired a stalker who felt the need to go round downrating all of my reviews...

For hardcore bibliophiles, it's Foyles, but most people would go to a chain. I'd normally go to Waterstones in the UK, but they've gone with Kindle for their ebook hardware of choice. WHSmith push Kobo (and are where I got mine from), so are probably the best option from that perspective. Blackwell's are another option, but I'm not sure what they're doing for ebook hardware now that Nook's in the process of dying.