Macmillan vs. Amazon vs. Readers

By Jason Boog 

11gEvSNO43L._SL150_.jpgSunday night Amazon wrote that they would “capitulate” to Macmillan’s eBook pricing model, but the online retailer has still not resumed directly selling books by the publisher (as of this 4:11 p.m. EST update). In addition, Amazon stock slipped at closing time for the second day in a row.

Earlier today, the Authors Guild defended Macmillan and criticized Amazon’s “bullying tactics” in an email alert to members entitled “The Right Battle at the Right Time.” Meanwhile, some Amazon customers continue to boycott Kindle books priced higher than $9.99. As of this writing, 1,435 different comments have been posted in response to Amazon’s note to customers about the price war.

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. EST: The NY Times reports: “some Macmillan books were creeping back” this afternoon. Yesterday we interviewed O’Reilly’s Andrew Savikas about the price fight, and he shared some of his own experience: “when we raised the price of an iPhone app from $5 to $10, sales fell by 75 percent overnight. That’s a pretty loud and clear signal from the market.”

Finally, Macmillan author John Scalzi rejected calls for a boycott today, instead urging readers to buy books by Macmillan writers–helping the people most directly hurt by the stand off. After the jump, GalleyCat readers shared indie bookstores around the country where you can find Macmillan titles.


Word Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY.
Atomic Books in Baltimore, MD.
Page and Palette in Fairhope, AL.
The Village Bookstore in Pleasantville, NY.
Book People in Austin, TX.