Society of Authors chair Lindsey Davis has expressed concern over the dominance of the Kindle, following news of the Amazon/Waterstones link-up.
"What worries me is that Kindle is becoming the Hoover of e-readers. It's the only one people talk about," she told The Bookseller.
"A lot of authors are uneasy about Amazon, about their tax position. It certainly was very unfair to sell e-books with a much lower rate of tax, and those things do grate with authors," she added.
Society of Authors deputy general secretary Kate Pool called the deal, announced on Monday (21st May) "a bold move", but said: "It is a pity that the deal has to be with Amazon rather than with any truly viable e-reader competitor."
Author Nick Harkaway agreed. "I still feel that there were quite a lot of other girls that could have been asked to dance, and possibly they could have been better choices," he said.
But he added that he had been frustrated by the slow rate of change on digital in the industry. "We have to get ahead of the curve, and here is James Daunt doing something," he said.