Amazon.com has announced that they will no longer allow Print On Demand books to be sold on their site… unless they are printed by Amazon’s own POD service BookSurge. It’s no secret that the big A has been struggling to gain a foothold in the booming POD world. But they haven’t been able to. Many of the other services out there just do it better (something about focusing on your core business…) and they offer a better community.
So, for once, Amazon can’t walk in the room and sweep away business from its competitor fast enough. What’s the answer? Take away your competitor’s avenues of distribution! Just don’t allow other businesses to play in the same room as you. Way to go Amazon, ya big bully!
All I can hope for is that this sets the stage for some really smart enterprising person to step in and make a strong business out of opening the doors Amazon just shut and locked. Hmmmmmm….
Rumors and stories have been circulating over the past couple of years about the “top book reviewers” at Amazon.com. I’ve read everything from Amazon secretly pays the top reviewers to theorizing the reviewers don’t actually read any of the books (their number one reviewer has reviewed 45 books a week over the past couple of years…. hmmmmm).
Chip Kidd has voiced his view about Amazon’s Kindle. And while some folks don’t agree with him, I think I do. I mean, a handheld unit like the Kindle would be nice if I’m a mechanic and referencing specs or manuals while working, but not to read. I agree that digital is the future, but these e-readers just haven’t “gotten” it yet.
