Amazon, POD, Booksurge Update
Since my last post regarding this topic:
1. The Washington (state) Atty General has said “talk to the hand Feds.”
2. The National Writers Union (I am a member – they are UAW Local 1981 btw] has called for Justice Dept. and Congressional investigations.
3. AuthorHouse and Lulu.com have caved, though I can’t find any official announcement about Lulu.com.
Given the state of the Justice Department these days, the US Government’s servile toadying to Corporations, and the fact that Congress was pretty much elected so they would end the Iraq War and yet … therefore I, for one, welcome our new BookSurgian overlords.
I’m still not buying anything from Amazon.
Not a lot of blogging is taking place about this issue lately, but here’s an article from Publishers Weekly:
Amazon: Friend or Foe?.
Lulu posted an official statement saying authors shouldn’t worry (I think I snipped it for the DIY blog at the time, April 2ndish), but then shortly thereafter deleted the entire thread from the boards. (A supremely annoying habit of theirs.)
I haven’t heard anything else, and so far, there doesn’t seem to be any change for Luluers. I’m 99% positive BookSurge was *already* printing some Lulu titles though, so that may be why Lulu isn’t affected–they were already assimilated into the Borg.
Thanks for the roundup, Jilly! (& hope you’re feeling better soon.)
Thanks for the links, it helps when I’m trying to explain it to stubborn people. I will no longer deal with Amazon, even when it’s really, really cheap-
Hope you are felling better, too.
Shann, old hippie chick
Thanks for this update, Jilly. I, too, hope you’re feeling better.
Thanks