Amazon Asks Authors to Spam Hachette CEO

THIS JUST CAME IN

Email from amazon KDP asking authors to take their side and email Hachette. Email gave out Hachette CEO, Michael Pietsch email, and even included points that we should address in the email. How thoughtful of them….

Now there is nothing in the email footer or header that says it’s confidential but I probably won’t repost the entire email because I’m sure there’s some catch and I do not want to be sued.  BUT here are a few selections from it anyway

Fast forward to today, and it’s the e-book’s turn to be opposed by the literary establishment. Amazon and Hachette – a big US publisher and part of a $10 billion media conglomerate – are in the middle of a business dispute about e-books. We want lower e-book prices. Hachette does not. Many e-books are being released at $14.99 and even $19.99. That is unjustifiably high for an e-book. With an e-book, there’s no printing, no over-printing, no need to forecast, no returns, no lost sales due to out of stock, no warehousing costs, no transportation costs, and there is no secondary market – e-books cannot be resold as used books. E-books can and should be less expensive….

another snippet

Moreover, e-books are highly price elastic. This means that when the price goes down, customers buy much more. We’ve quantified the price elasticity of e-books from repeated measurements across many titles… The important thing to note here is that the lower price is good for all parties involved: the customer is paying 33% less and the author is getting a royalty check 16% larger and being read by an audience that’s 74% larger. The pie is simply bigger. 

More longwinded TLDR

We recognize that writers reasonably want to be left out of a dispute between large companies. Some have suggested that we “just talk.” We tried that. Hachette spent three months stonewalling…

We’d like your help. Please email Hachette and copy us.
Hachette CEO, Michael Pietsch: M*********@hbgusa.com
Copy us at: readers-united@amazon.com
Please consider including these points:
- We have noted your illegal collusion. Please stop working so hard to overcharge for ebooks. They can and should be less expensive.- Lowering e-book prices will help – not hurt – the reading culture, just like paperbacks did.- Stop using your authors as leverage and accept one of Amazon’s offers to take them out of the middle.- Especially if you’re an author yourself: Remind them that authors are not united on this issue.
Thanks for your support.

I have to say, I did not expect to get this sort of email from Amazon.  While I like spending less out of my pocket, I’d hate to see the effects this will all have in a few years.  Amazon may become be all end all for books.