Novelists, Inc. Position Papers

Amazon.com's policy of promoting used books in competition with new book sales

The Novelists Inc. Board of Directors joins with the Authors Guild in objecting to Amazon.com's policy of blatantly promoting used books in direct competition with new book sales. Authors receive no royalties or other financial compensation on these used-book transactions.

Novelists, Inc. is an organization with a membership of over six hundred published authors of popular fiction. It is true that a few very successful and high profile authors -- like high profile actors, musicians and other artists -- make a great deal of money from their work. However, the vast majority of authors need the royalty from every new book sale just to earn a decent living. Amazon.com's flagrant brokering of used books cannot help but diminish our members' income; its ill-conceived decision to become an aggressive purveyor of used books may well result in authors abandoning their writing careers.

We strongly urge Amazon to reconsider this policy, and we heartily endorse the sentiments expressed in the Authors Guild's recent letter to Amazon, the text of which which appears below.

The Novelists, Inc. Board of Directors
Barbara Keiler (w/a Judith Arnold), President
Patricia Rice, President-Elect
Kathy Chwedyk, Secretary
Linda Kay West, Treasurer
Georgia Bockoven, Advisory Council Representative
Pamela Browning, Newsletter Editor.

A letter to Amazon.com

We are writing on behalf of the more than 8000 members of the Authors Guild and the 278 member companies of the Association of American Publishers to express our grave concern that Amazon's new method of marketing used copies of recently published titles will significantly harm sales of new copies of those titles.

At the moment, when customers view information about a title on the Amazon Web site, a blue box links users to a screen where they may buy or sell used copies of that title. To encourage them to click on the blue-box link, Amazon informs them of the number of used copies of the work available for sale and of the lowest price available for those copies. With one mouse click, customers depart the new book's screen and enter the used book Marketplace.

Some of the used books now available through Amazon Marketplace Sellers are very recently published titles. A quick review of the site reveals that used copies of the following works (among what appears to be thousands of others) are available: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (published October 17), Drowning Ruth by Christina Swartz (published September 27), Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (published May); The River King by Alice Hoffman (published July 13), The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (published September 5), The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (published October 10), and Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan (published November 7). For every title not yet available in used form, the blue-box link allows a reader to list it for sale "in 60 seconds."

As you know, these Marketplace sales earn no payment for the authors and publishers of the books in question. Only the seller and Amazon are paid. These sales are excluded when calculating sales figures for various bestsellers lists, as well as from the publishers' own sales records of their authors' titles. In addition, Amazon does not appear to have taken any precautions to prevent Marketplace users from selling review copies or other promotional copies not intended for resale.

We understand that Amazon wishes to provide customers with all manner of services including the ability to buy and sell used books. However, as a leader in the bookselling industry, Amazon's sales practices can have a significantly deleterious effect on new book sales. If your aggressive promotion of used book sales becomes popular among Amazon's customers, this service will cut significantly into sales of new titles, directly harming authors and publishers.

We're all in this business together. Without talented authors producing a large number of new titles every year, Amazon's sales will certainly suffer. If book authors and publishers aren't adequately compensated for their work, however, then more and more writers will be compelled to pursue other creative outlets and professions. For the sake of authors, publishers, readers and Amazon, a compromise must be found that will not discourage writers from writing or consumers from buying new books.

We believe the compromise is simple and straightforward: restrict the blue-box link to out-of-print and collectible books and list all used book offerings after all new versions of a title are listed. Our members want nothing more than a fair opportunity to earn royalties for their book sales whatever the sales outlet. We hope that Amazon will respect this very reasonable professional goal.

We are encouraged by your publicly stated commitment not to hurt authors or publishers with your new Marketplace. We welcome the opportunity to discuss other ways to meet that commitment and would be happy to meet with you or your representatives regarding this matter.

Sincerely,
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
President, Authors Guild

Patricia S. Schroeder
President, Assoc. of American Publishers

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