Books cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of a single huge online retail bully that threatens the very basic treasure of knowledge, creativity and imagination.” “The publishing industry should continue to be diverse, with many publishers, many authors, many retailers contributing to our common literary culture. “Books are our culture - a key way we communicate ideas, and history, and beliefs to each other,” said Maryelizabeth Hart, co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy. Last week, it was the top seller at independent bookstores in Southern California.īooksellers like “California” for its literary merits, but also because promoting it and other Hachette titles is a way to remind customers of what the stores see as predatory business practices by Amazon aimed at eliminating competitors. 3 on The New York Times best-seller list. Helped by the “Colbert Bump,” the book debuted at No. By the time she was done, she’d signed 10,000. “We are not going to lick their monopoly boot.” He mentioned the crusade again a couple of nights later, and tweeted about it to his 6 million followers on Twitter.īefore too long, Lepucki was at Powell’s, standing in a room, walking around a table stacked high with books - her books, all awaiting her signature. “We are going to prove I can sell more books than Amazon,” Colbert said.

His guest that night was the writer Sherman Alexie (“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”), also in Hachette’s stable, and they talked about the dispute and how it was hurting authors, especially debut authors.Ĭolbert held up a copy of “California” and urged his viewers to pre-order it online through Powell’s, an independent bookstore in Portland. makes it even harder.Īll of that was on Lepucki’s mind June 4 when, out of the blue, she got a phone call telling her that Colbert was going to highlight “California” on his show.Ĭolbert is a Hachette author. Rowling.įor first-time novelists, getting noticed is difficult, and having your book in effect blacklisted by Amazon - which by one recent estimate sells 40 percent of all new books in the U.S. Amazon stopped accepting pre-orders of new Hachette books, delayed delivery of other Hachette titles, and in its recommendations steered customers away from Hachette authors, who include James Patterson, Malcolm Gladwell and J.K.

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