If you’re a bibliophile, if you love staying on top of new releases and trends in the publishing world, then I’m sure you’ve bought a book from Amazon - or at least been tempted to.
There are countless reasons to: Amazon Prime, discounted prices, and a seemingly endless library of reading material to be sent out within seconds. The online store opened their first physical bookstore in November 2015 in Seattle, WA. Recently, a large mall CEO mentioned that Amazon’s goal was to open hundreds of bookstores across the United States.
Amazon refused to comment on this story, and CEO Sandeep Mathrani is not directly associated with Amazon — but still, the goal isn’t quite surprising. After getting their foot into the door of online bookselling, the natural next step is to bring the physical copies to the consumer, as well.
When I first heard this, I celebrated. I like knowing that I’ve saved 30% of the original price when I purchase from Amazon. I like checking the package tracking and reminding myself that two days is actually a very short wait in comparison to online shopping anywhere else. It’s fun, it’s convenient, and it seems to be the most practical way to buy books.
But a story is never one-sided.
While Amazon celebrates and poor college students (like myself) rejoice, many booksellers are finding more and more reasons to be alarmed about Amazon. Amazon has become the dominant player in the book-selling industry, and many worry that it has become too big.
There has already been some critique against Amazon’s low pricing of books, with the argument that it devalues them. Furthermore, some critics accuse Amazon of playing favorites with authors and bullying publishing companies. It is not so much the size of the company, they argue, but its will. Scott Turrow, author of legal thrillers published by Amazon, said that Amazon aims to monopolize the e-book market (think Kindle) and has used unfair tactics to do so.
This isn’t to say, of course, that Amazon is a 'big bad wolf' in the publishing world. In fact, these are critics speaking, and sometimes, we must critique the critics, as well. But perhaps consider this the next time you are looking at your Recommended Reads on Amazon.
