The Goliath vs. The Rest of the World

I am in utter awe of Amazon's dominance. I believe they have the most successful business model going right now...obviously. That isn't saying I agree with them, or even like them as a company.

As a complete force in the marketplace, for authors, this is a fantastic time to get published, and get your book out there. It may not sell, it may have no market, and only go so far as the author's mum, but it's out there. It's relatively cheap! The sparkle and dreams of their name on a book is something any author drools over while typing. There are some very successful books that have been self-published, like Kremmer's 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, and many from the list Marty gave us at the beginning of the quarter, including Age of Engage, which had many powerful endorsers. Both of these titles have a very specific niche, though. Again, the long tail of marketing has proven it can be done.

For readers, this is also a dream come true. It's like the Fred Meyer of the Internet: one stop shopping. Want a Kindle? Done. Need a vacuum? Check. Oh, wait, have use for a print book? Well, they can take care of that, too. They have figured out that if you have everything on one site, people will scroll around and then say to themselves, "Hey! I can get a sweet baby stroller and a book on where to take said stroller!" They take retail goods at wholesale rates, add a percentage plus postage and handling, and there you have a significant profit margin. And around the holidays, they were offering free shipping. No wonder the Christmas season went so well.

For publishers, unfortunately, I feel this is perhaps a good thing as well as a bad thing. First, I don't like that any schmuck from Nowhere, USA can write his memoir that no idiot would even try to read. It seems to undermine the hard work that professional publishers have been doing for years. Manuscripts may be poorly edited, have no marketability, and therefore, will sit in a pile of wasted paper in someones basement. It is also driving quality authors who may have an online following, to believe they could publish themselves. But it isn't all bad for small publishers. If you have a good relationship with Amazon, you could build a little marketing army online, and write several reviews, have people read them and respond, and work that way.


I think of the movie, Idiocracy sometimes when I think about Amazon and their stranglehold on American literacy. Offering anyone the means to publish themselves seems to assault the nature of literature. Editors have a specific role. The Chicago Manual of Style exists for a reason. People in America value quality writing, and well-written prose. Without those people in the industry trying to keep grammar, syntax, and style valued, what happens to the nature of literacy? Will the English language start comprising of usages like "lol," "omfg," and "ttyl"?

I shudder at the thought.