⇒Would you still bear such strong resentment towards Chelsea Green if the independent publisher had chosen to distribute coupons for an e-book edition of Obama’s Challenge at the Democratic National Convention several weeks ahead of the print edition’s official publication date?
⇒Would you still bear that resentment if Chelsea Green had cut a deal with Amazon.com to offer convention attendees coupons for a Kindle-only electronic edition of Obama’s Challenge with the same early exclusivity options as the current print-on-demand setup?
⇒What if Chelsea Green had cut a deal with Amazon to deliver a free print-on-demand edition of Obama’s Challenge to convention attendees, with an eye towards creating the buzz that would ensure, as publisher Margo Baldwin said in defense of her actual strategy, “your customers will be asking for the book by the time we ship the first printing”?
Never mind whether that last option is actually financially feasible for a press of Chelsea Green’s size; I’m only interested right now in determining the industry’s reception towards various strategies that could fulfill the stated goal of getting an “important” book in the hands of influential readers as quickly as possible. Anybody with an opinion should leap into the comments section and have at it…
(UPDATE: “I’ve no problem with free,” emails an indie bookstore manager. “If Chelsea Green wants to distribute hard copies, excerpts, or electronic copies in advance of publication, that’s fine. It’s marketing. This is a gift to Amazon, pure and simple. Not only is Amazon getting exclusive access to an influential market, they are able to publicize their already controversial POD service.”)