Amazon is Still the Devil

Every writer I know has stated their opinion of Amazon this past week. I've offered mine before, but here's a simpler take.

1) Amazon is by far the most innovative publisher/retailer in the world today.

If you're an author, you sell more books because of Amazon. If you're a reader, you spend less for books because of Amazon.

2) Amazon wants to kill your community bookstore. 

If you're an author, you should be appalled. If you're a reader, independent bookstores are places where some are willing pay a few dollars more for books so they can have a center for literary culture in their neighborhood/city/region. Some areas are lucky enough still to have them.

That's the crux of it. Book Sales for Authors/Cheap Books for Readers/Innovation v. Death to Community Bookstores.

Solution: 

If you don't love your community bookstore and don't care about literary culture, I suspect there's nothing I can say to affect where you buy your books. There is a great anti-corporate argument against buying from Amazon, but that's a much larger argument and won't be explored here today.

If you love your community bookstore, every penny you give Amazon is a penny spent to destroy your community bookstore, so plan on spending a few more bucks at your local indie so you can have a center for literary culture in your neighborhood/city/region.

Or dance with the devil.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

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