Many authors obsess over Amazon. They worry about their rankings, the reviews, and the overall visibility for their book. However, not everyone is happy about being on the site. The great Bookninja brings news of a writer who is actually demanding that Amazon remove his book from their site.
“George Walker, author of Tales from an Airfield, was horrified to find that his new title was featured on the site without his permission, following good sales in bookshops. ‘What they are actually doing is getting the independents to do their market research,’ said Mr Walker, a passionate advocate of independents. ‘When a book gets a certain amount of attention, they will attempt to stock it and cut the independents out. Not with my book!’”
Kudos to Mr. Walker for standing up in such a manner.
This strikes me as so wrong on so many levels I hardly know where to begin. First, Amazon doesn’t “stock” books. It merely lists them. My book is on Amazon, and they don’t order a single copy until it’s sold.
Second, Amazon doesn’t “do research” on books. If you get an ISBN and get entering into Books In Print, the book will appear on Amazon. (Again - personal experience.) Why would they do research on books? It costs them nothing to throw a title into a database and populate a web page. If they sell one copy, they are money ahead.
Third, putting the book on Amazon doesn’t hurt bookstore sales. 90% of books are sold via a store, and most of the people walking into the store don’t troll Amazon. Actually, getting on Amazon HELPS sales, because if the chain bookstore doesn’t carry it, you still have a way to get the book.
It sounds to me like this author doesn’t have a clue about book marketing, and is proceeding to cut his nose off to spite his face.