IndieCommerce, the e-commerce arm of the American Booksellers Association, unveiled a new policy aimed at books published by Amazon: “only publishers’ titles that are made available to retailers for sale in all available formats will be included in the IndieCommerce inventory database.”
According to Publishers Weekly, IndieCommerce began removing Amazon titles from its database earlier this week, joining Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and Indigo Books’ decision to keep Amazon published titles out of their physical bookstores. These booksellers feel that Amazon’s push for exclusivity in eBooks is hurting the book publishing industry.
Publishers Weekly has more: “In an e-mail message that went out Monday to indie bookstores that rely on the IndieCommerce Web platform, director Matt Supko wrote, ‘While Amazon is seeking to distribute its print catalog through conventional means, it seems that they are simultaneously pursing a strategy of locking in ebook exclusives which other retailers are not allowed to sell. IndieCommerce believes that this is wrong.'”
