Bookshop Takes On Amazon With E-book Platform For Independent Stores 28
Bookshop.org has launched an e-book platform and mobile app that allows independent bookstores to sell digital books, marking its latest effort to compete with Amazon in the online book market. The platform enables bookstores to sell e-books directly through their websites, with stores receiving all profits from direct sales. When customers buy e-books through Bookshop.org without selecting a specific store, 30% of profits will be shared among member bookstores.
The move comes as most independent bookstores remain shut out of the growing digital book market. Only 18% of independent stores currently sell e-books, according to a 2023 American Booksellers Association survey. Since its 2020 launch, Bookshop.org has generated more than $35 million in profits for over 2,200 independent bookstores through physical book sales. The site will initially offer more than one million digital titles and plans to add self-published works later this year.
The move comes as most independent bookstores remain shut out of the growing digital book market. Only 18% of independent stores currently sell e-books, according to a 2023 American Booksellers Association survey. Since its 2020 launch, Bookshop.org has generated more than $35 million in profits for over 2,200 independent bookstores through physical book sales. The site will initially offer more than one million digital titles and plans to add self-published works later this year.
Good luck (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously. Amazon pays authors 70% in royalties and provides a fair amount of publishing and marketing assistance. They also have massive reach.
If a competitor can match or beat Amazon's offering while supporting local bricks & mortar stores, awesome. Anything to keep money away from Bezos.
Re: Good luck (Score:3, Interesting)
The issue with Amazon is it's an ocean of books, made even worse by the AI generated crap being submitted every second.
I know people who've published on Amazon, made the book available "free" for kindle unlimited and still struggled to get anyone to download it.
It was always about paying Amazon lots of advertising $$$ to get it into a few hands.
Just my two cents but I would rather go the bookshop route and get 100 real people to read it than the hassle of Amazon.
Re: Good luck (Score:4, Insightful)
The AI crap will end up in any service that doesn't curate. But human reviews cost money, which means a curated service has no choice but to be more expensive than Amazon, where the garbage is allowed to be piled high.
That means lower royalties, and an author trying to make a living at writing can probably be forgiven for short term thinking and going with Amazon.
I hope not, it'd be nice to have a lit-friendly option instead of an exploitive and uncaring commercial juggernaut. It's just not as easy as you might first think.
Re: Good luck (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Good luck (Score:5, Interesting)
Once upon a time (in the mid-90s) I had a small business. We had a lower than standard commission as a way of enticing people to use us instead of the established players.
It had the opposite effect - people saw us as desperate and therefore not as capable. We gave in and set our commission to the industry standard - which, in my opinion was unjustifiably high - and started getting business.
It also turns out people want to be lied to, and being honest just got us a lot of clients who would milk us for information and then end up buying from the guy who lied to them and told them what they wanted to hear. I'm so glad I gave up on that career.
Re: (Score:3)
By the logic of being worth the price tag making it more interesting, Kindle Unlimited makes books more interesting. It also encourages people to read multiple books so that they're getting a deal - it's $11.99 per month, so if you read two books that cost $6.99 in a month, you're saving.
The problem re
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Here's the thing.
Posting your book online somewhere, even on Amazon, and expecting the "target audience" to magically find and download it is a ridiculous proposition. Sure, it CAN happen, but for the most part, it isn't real likely.
This is where marketing and advertising come in. These are tools to connect to a target audience and encourage them to acquire product. There is even a whole industry that provides these tools, for a fee, of course. A successful campaign may even cost millions of dollars. Even
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From the customer side, I frequently find (sometimes because they are marketed/advertised to me) books that I'm the target audience for. But I know there's countless more I never see, and I couldn't read my entire "want to read" list in a lifetime.
As someone that make
Re: (Score:1)
Well, I'll take whatever dollars you have, that's fine (;
The fundamental issue here is signal to noise ratio. I agree there is a ton of shit I would be really interested (reading, watching, whatever). But there are a bazillion tons MORE tons of shit I have no interest in. The ratio between the two is such that I'm just not willing to put out the effort required to find one amongst the other.
So, for little author-wanna-be (not you, I'm speaking generically), I'm sorry, but no matter HOW good your shit is, o
Democratization of production (Score:1)
The workers now own the means of production. That is, with a PC you can publish an ebook or record an album. Getting your work to people is now easy.
Getting people to your work is a bigger problem. The authors that I know who are doing well are advertising off-Amazon and linking to Amazon, depending on blogs who depend on Amazon affiliate links for income to do the hefty promotion.
Re:Bookshop vs. Amazon (Score:2)
Did some research - Bookshop.org does not publish directly, but they will resell from two specific self-publishers. I only looked into one of them, but they give a better percentage than Amazon (85% instead of 70%).
I'm missing something somewhere because Bookshop.org also has an author affiliate system where the author gets 10% and a local member bookstore gets 10% if a sale is linked to them. That's 105%, leaving Bookshop.org at a 5% loss. I'm pretty sure they've thought it through better than I have, t
Re: (Score:2)
Anything to keep money away from Bezos.
Indeed. Amazon had earnings of over $30B in 2023 and probably more in 2024, and yet it continues with its (probably illegal) union-busting [globalnews.ca] so it doesn't have to share its wealth with employees.
I won't buy from Amazon unless it's something I really need that's impossible to get elsewhere at a reasonable price. That's quite rare, in my experience.
Competition (Score:1)
Most people will not read past your first paragraph, but to my mind you made an important point:
Bookshop.org also offers print books, like this vintage copy of Nihilism: A Philosophy Based In Nothingness And Eternity [bookshop.org] which is a book too controversial for the Left or Right apparently.
Re: (Score:2)
True, but Amazon is Amazon. And the fact that independent bookshops are still thriving means people aren't sold on Amazon. Writers also aren't all pro-Amazon.
There's a growing collective of writers, authors and customers who buy from independents over Amazon, even if the product is available from both. These people know should Amazon take over things will be much harder.
Sure, Amazon may offer more money, but having alternative distributions keeps Amazon from being the book monopoly it practically is. Amazon
DRM Removal? (Score:3)
I applaud the effort, but their FAQ says this:
Ebooks from Bookshop.org must be read on either our Apple or Android app, or via a web browser, with the exception of DRM-free titles.
Unless there's a way to remove the DRM, this is a deal-killer for me. At least Amazon is a big enough target that people have made tools to strip their DRM and output a standard epub.
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This is probably my age showing but I simply don't understand how electronic books are better than printed ones. If I can't find a book in printed form I simply won't purchase it. Having a physical library of books to reference lasts a lifetime and beyond. You never have to worry about DRM, bit-rot, or the requirement to purchase the "book" again because technology/DRM/Company policy has changed. Useful PDFs I've found over the years I also print out and catalog in binders. Physical media is far superior in
Re: (Score:3)
I agree that paper is superior for recreational reading. However... I can't take my library on vacation with me as easily as I can load a copy into my Kobo.
I agree about the DRM though. That's why I side load instead of using the official software.
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This is probably my age showing but I simply don't understand how electronic books are better than printed ones.
I decided to get a kindle recently for a number of reasons...
1) I'm also starting to show my age, and being able to bump the font size up a couple points and read comfortably was a big deal. The font control, e-ink, matte screen, and backlighting was just incredibly comfortable, ideal reading conditions. FWIW, I tried reading on my phone a bit prior, but that was a far worse experience for a lot of reasons.
2) Reading on the plane, in economy the seats are cramped, and the kindle is better ergonomics than m
Attn: old guys (Score:1)
My side hustle is digging bespoke artisanal graves. For a low fee, I will show up on the weekend to dig you a 6'x2'x6' negative space out of the earth, using a custom nineteenth century shovel and vintage 1990s thrift store wheelbarrow. The process will be entirely organic, anti-corporate, and carbon neutral (there are small amounts of methane if done after lunch). Any dirt leftover after burial will be upcycled into marijuana plantations in gentrification-free suburbs. I mention this only incidentally of c
Re:DRM Removal? (Score:4, Interesting)
Meh, there are use cases for each.
I like having an entire library in the palm of my hand. I find e-ink easier on my old eyes than print.
I continue to buy dead tree books for technical manuals, show pieces, anything with pictures or for camping.
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I am in my late 50s, and have migrated to e-readers pretty much exclusively, but only e-ink ones.
For me it comes down to:
- having tons of books on the device
- always sharp fonts (many of my pulp paperbacks from the 80s and 90s have crap paper with degrading letters)
- easier to hold: no more tired thumbs forcing open a paper back
- back light for reading at night or in bed
- instant purchases from my couch (of two minds on this one, since browsing bookstores for actual books is more enjoyable for discovery)
- e
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So, DRM is a deal killer but you like Amazon because their DRM can be circumvented?
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If I go with Amazon I can read any e-book in my web browser, on my e-reader, or probably in an app. I can access it anywhere. Yes, it has DRM on most of its books, but that doesn't introduce a practical limitation because I can read the book on any device - laptop, tablet, e-reader, etc.
With Bookshop.org they only allow readers to view their books in their proprietary mobile app or in a web brow
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They're also apparently pretty aggressive about threatening people who make tools to remove the DRM.
Publishers want eyeballs (Score:2)