Amazon and Hachette Publishing Dispute: Stephen King, Suzanne Collins and Over 800 Famous Authors Take Out Ad Against Online Retailer
A large group of bestselling authors purchased a full-page advertisement in The New York Times to bring attention to the ongoing dispute between e-commerce site Amazon and publishing house Hachette Book Group.
The efforts from more than 900 well-known writers was to call out Amazon "in the strongest possible terms to stop harming the livelihood of the authors on whom it has built its business." The ad cost $104,000 and appears in the printed Sunday edition of The New York Times' paper.
Included in the group of authors are Douglas Preston, the group's organizer, as well as Suzanne Collins and Stephen King, who all signed on to the petition for resolution between Amazon and Hachette.
The online shopping giant currently blocks sales of Hachette's books because Hachette previously refused to reduce prices on their titles. The authors accused Amazon of resorting to dirty business tactics like this to force sellers into compromising to their demands.
Both J.K. Rowling of the infamous "Harry Potter" novel series as well as Stephanie Meyer, the author who penned the smash "Twilight" saga, are among Hachette's authors.
Amazon said that its actions were on behalf of its customers' interests, creating "lower ebook prices," and Hachette is using their "authors as human shields." Hachette claimed the publishing house is just making sure the author and publishing house is receiving their fair share of profits.
The ad itself will highlight the fact that no bookseller has the right to block the sale of books and preventing readers from purchasing books they want. The group of authors feel that the "selective retaliation" of Amazon is unfair, even though these particular writers are not the individuals being targeted.
"Many of us have supported Amazon since it was a struggling start-up," the band of authors said. "We have made Amazon many millions of dollars and over the years have contributed so much, free of charge, to the company by way of cooperation, joint promotions, reviews and blogs."
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