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The author and agent community has backed Hachette Livre UK in its terms dispute with Amazon, with leading agents spearheading a backlash against the online retailer.
The dispute has seen Amazon remove its “Buy new” button from key Hachette front and backlist titles, and drop books from promotional positions. In a letter sent to agents and authors last week, Hachette c.e.o. Tim Hely Hutchinson said he would stand firm against conceding additional trading terms, and asked authors for their patience.
He said Amazon’s sanctions were “creating a breach of trust between Amazon and its customers”, and its actions could “prove to be a catalyst for Amazon starting to lose its popularity with the public”. Despite advantageous terms, he said, “Amazon seems each year to go from one publisher to another making increasing demands in order to achieve richer terms at our expense and sometimes at yours.” At its current rate of growth, he predicted that Amazon would become the largest bookseller in Britain in three years.
Curtis Brown m.d. Jonathan Lloyd said: “I think the entire industry of publishers, authors and agents are 100% behind [Hachette]. Someone has to draw a line in the sand. Publishers have given 1% a year away to retailers, so where does it stop? Using authors as a financial football is disgraceful.”
Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander added: “This is a disturbing glimpse of the iron in Amazon’s soul. I think its ruthlessness in bargaining is extremely disturbing.” Derek Johns of A P Watt said: “I consider [Amazon’s] attitude to terms is predatory and I entirely support Tim.”
The m.d. of a rival publisher said: “Taking the ‘Buy’ button down is the equivalent of going to a bookseller on the high street and saying, ‘Can I buy that book?’, and them saying, ‘No.’ It’s disgraceful.” Another added: “Publishers are thinking, ‘Thank God it’s Tim and not me.’”
Hachette has also received author support. Headline novelist Emma Darwin said on her blog she supported the move, “and hope I shall be unselfish enough to keep doing so even if my own sales are affected. This is about whether Amazon can be allowed to exploit its near-monopoly.”
Lloyd said it was “bloody difficult” for authors affected. “What I’m saying to Hachette is, ‘I understand and support the principle, but with the books that have been delisted on Amazon, you’ve got to sell more to other online retailers.”
An Amazon spokesman said: “[We are] totally committed to offering the broadest selection of titles possible, both through our retail offering and through Amazon Marketplace. Amazon.co.uk is also committed to ensuring we offer our customers the lowest possible prices.”