Amazon putting the squeeze on POD publishers!!

The thing is, Lin, millions of people go to Amazon and not only for books. How many go to small publisher's sites?

Dick Stodghill wrote:

The thing is, Lin, millions of people go to Amazon and not only for books. How many go to small publisher's sites?

That is why I was thinking if all the little outfits got together and did some promotion, driving traffic to one central site, they could undercut Amazon. Or is my thinking way too far out there?

Way out Zada! :rendeer:

Way out Zada, but I like it anyway! I sense a rebellion starting!

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As long as Amazon controls 90% of the book sales,

But they don't. By any stretech of the imagination. They might do about three quarters of INTERNET book sales, but are a very small slice of overall book sales. The leading retailer of books in the US is WalMart

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The thing is, Lin, millions of people go to Amazon and not only for books. How many go to small publisher's sites.

As many as you can get there. You are taking me backwards here.

It doesn't matter how many people go there if they don't see your book. And there is no real reason they should.

This is a common mistake in calculating promo/marketing. It's like, "The LA Times has 5000 times as many readers as this little classical music rag: therefore it would make more sense to spend more money to advertise to all those job seekers and basketball fans instead of a smaller group of people who have an interest in the Beethoven book you're trying to sell."

There are big difference between "millions of people" and "qualified prospects"..who are the type apt to lead to conversion.

Somebody goes onto amazon poking around... are they going to happen to run into a book on Mexican slang? Or bump into a certain romance novel by an unknown author? On the other hand, if they are looking for books on slang or Spanish or Mexico and put it in Google, they will find me all over the first page.

Much more important, when they go on forums and sites and directories dealing with those topics...there it is.

Again... like I said... we DRIVE the marketing to our purchase point, it's not like having a storefront on the corner and people walk by.

These are important distinctions for book marketers to get figured out, and I see a LOT of people floundering around thinking being on amazon is their key to success and wondering why they haven't sold a single book there unless they sent the person there themselves.

BTW, the fact millions of people go to amazon to buy things other than books helps make my point... they are marketing Spam. Small marketeers need to look for the lean cuts.

I'd invite everybody to think about this stuff a little. It can help you.


And, again, I'd be very interested in the experiences of others who sell off amazon and their own buy point.

That is why I was thinking if all the little outfits got together and did some promotion, driving traffic to one central site, they could undercut Amazon.

Not loopy at all, Zada. In fact, that's what I've been suggesting all along regarding amazon--instead of all the lawsuit and boycott malarky.

Form a "cartel" for THIRD PARTY SALES on amazon, a "store" that carries indy titles and offers them as "New and Used" titles for less money and more profit.

Lin,

Where are you getting your book sales figures comparing such stores as Amazon, B&N (bricks and mortar) and Wal Mart?

Malcolm

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This graph indicates that amazon is not even that monstrously dominant among other similar outfits in US sales (UK book sales are much less invaded by online and chains)


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This page has a couple of interesting numbers. One pair of figures is:

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In all, the direct-to-consumer (Internet, book clubs, book fairs, catalog and other) channel accounted for 35% of book purchases.

and

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big chain retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Borders accounted for 33% of unit book purchases.

You aren't working for amazon's PR dept, are you?

Another interesting article about Amazon...


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Odd article, though. It has that "got quotes but never really figured out the situation" feel.

Great article, Jenny. Thank you for posting the link here. 52% is quite a little over the top, I should think!!!

Good article, Jenny. Thanks.

Thanks for the link Jenny. I found his particularly interesting:

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Publish America, a print-on-demand book publisher in Frederick, Md., has not been so lucky, with the buy button vanishing on thousands of its titles, from “Drugstore Jesus” to “Demon Passing.” The company’s spokesman, Shawn Street, takes an optimistic view of the situation.
“There are plenty of other purchase icons,” Ms. Street said in an e-mail message, referring to the alternative of purchasing books through third-party booksellers on Amazon’s open marketplace. “In the wake of the controversy, we have discovered that our sales through Amazon.com have actually increased.”

There's no such thing as bad publicity!

Somewhere in the back of my mind as I read that article a little WalMart bell went off, and I wondered if Amazon is picking up tactics from WalMart. They both seem to take the same kind of approach on bullying their vendors to meet the demands of a marketplace that uses them, holding re-negotiations whenever it suits them and where the result continues to be that people shop from them because they are huge (and in the case of WalMart, cheap) while at the same time becoming more and more disgusted with them.
Anybody know if they are linked together in some kind of strange way?

More strong arm tactics from Amazon....

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Wow. Do you think they might have gone too far this time? When it affects big name authors, something's got to give.

The Hachette war has been going for a while. If only more people would buy from Powell's and B&N.

Malcolm

The Hatchette thing seems legitimate to me. amazon (however evil they might be) have a right to sell only what they want and reject vendors for pricing, like any other store.

Regarding the comment about second-hand sales. Some of that is new books being sold by third party vendors.

I keep saying it, but the real answer to this and to amazon's 55% margin, is for form third party selling co-ops.

Whoever does it first will be a hero, get oodles of publicity, and make some money.

Jenny wrote:

More strong arm tactics from Amazon....

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Thanks for that link, Jenny. It almost makes one want to take out ads in all the world's news and trade papers that says "Authors of the World, UNITE!" Wish I had enough dough to do it!

All you gotta do is start a third party seller store for writers.
Wouldn't cost much and you'd make money.

I think you'd be interviewed in Publishers Week, maybe even New Yorker.

I know a few small publishers who moved to Booksamillion for this.

But Amazon just keeps rolling along unaffected. Best to just accept the fact.

I listen to late-night talk radio where the guests are usually there
mainly to hawk their books. I have noticed a trend lately when the host
asks them , "Where can they get your book?"

The answer used to be an immediate, "Amazon, of course, and from my website, and most all major sellers."

Now I am hearing a trend for them to omit Amazon - at least as the
first choice. The host will usually add, "And Amazon, of course?"

Something is brewing somewhere...