http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/walmartvamazo fiction matters Tue, 22 May 2012 13:51:14 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/walmartvamazo/comment-page-1#comment-3134 Sung Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:05:03 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5323#comment-3134 This is awful news, no two ways about it. I know things are a-changing, but man, this is not good for the little guys (like me!). I just saw Stephen King's new book, Under the Dome, for $9 on Amazon. His mass market paperbacks are $9.99. It's insanity. This is awful news, no two ways about it. I know things are a-changing, but man, this is not good for the little guys (like me!). I just saw Stephen King’s new book, Under the Dome, for $9 on Amazon. His mass market paperbacks are $9.99. It’s insanity.

]]> http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/walmartvamazo/comment-page-1#comment-3132 Anne Stameshkin Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:21:06 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5323#comment-3132 There's a potentially serious legal angle to this, too. My sister forwarded me <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703816204574489891863465178.html" rel="nofollow">this Wall Street Journal article</a> about the ABA asking the Justice Department to investigate hardcover pricing at Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Target as "illegal predatory pricing." Thanks, Liz. There’s a potentially serious legal angle to this, too. My sister forwarded me this Wall Street Journal article about the ABA asking the Justice Department to investigate hardcover pricing at Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Target as “illegal predatory pricing.” Thanks, Liz.

]]> http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/walmartvamazo/comment-page-1#comment-3109 Paul Dorell Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:04:40 +0000 http://fictionwritersreview.com/?p=5323#comment-3109 This is a continuation of the commodification of retail products that has been at the core of Wal-Mart's and other big box retailers’ strategy for more than twenty years. The net effect for consumers is that they can buy a few things very inexpensively, and alternative products are either costly or unavailable. The fact that deep discounting has migrated to online sales, with Wal-Mart moving into Amazon's territory, is a significant development. From the standpoint of book markets, I would guess that physical books will eventually be produced for fewer titles. At some point, new titles from unknown authors may be limited to electronic distribution. The next phase could be cheap e-book readers and e-book distribution by Wal-Mart. Even so, there will always be demand for content, and writers will have jobs. This is a continuation of the commodification of retail products that has been at the core of Wal-Mart’s and other big box retailers’ strategy for more than twenty years. The net effect for consumers is that they can buy a few things very inexpensively, and alternative products are either costly or unavailable. The fact that deep discounting has migrated to online sales, with Wal-Mart moving into Amazon’s territory, is a significant development. From the standpoint of book markets, I would guess that physical books will eventually be produced for fewer titles. At some point, new titles from unknown authors may be limited to electronic distribution. The next phase could be cheap e-book readers and e-book distribution by Wal-Mart. Even so, there will always be demand for content, and writers will have jobs.

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