The Effect of E-books on

the Literary Publishing Industry

Sarah Hann
 Though e-books are a relatively recent development in the literary publishing industry, they are

quickly gaining a hold on the public’s attention. This quickly growing segment of the book industry has

seen the rise of several different brands of e-readers, the main devices customers can use to read e-

books. It has also seen the rise of a huge power struggle between the retailers who create and sell e-

readers and e-books and the publishers who retain the rights to the titles, not to mention the struggle

between individual e-reader companies to see which brand will dominate the playing field. In the short

life of the e-book industry, there have already been several major scandals, including the deletion of

already-purchased e-books from e-readers, a dramatic fight between a retailer and a major publishing

company over e-book prices, and a dispute over the content of self-published e-books. Though it is

impossible to predict the future of the industry, particularly with the fast pace of new technology

developments, the recent conflicts seem to demonstrate that e-book and e-reader rights are important

to retailers, publishers, authors, and readers, and thus, that they will soon become an integral part of

the literary industry.

The first e-reader was announced in 2004 by Japanese company Sony. 1 Since then, there have

been several editions of Sony’s new technology as well as the introduction of e-readers from other

companies, including Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook, as well as the e-reader capabilities

of Apple’s iPad. The highly competitive e-book industry is growing, and is quickly becoming an important

part of the publishing industry.

1
Swinton, Noel K. “The E Ink eBook Reader - A Short History on the Origins of Digital Book Readers.” Ezine
Articles. ezinearticles.com, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://ezinearticles.com/‌?The-E-Ink-eBook-
Reader---A-Short-History-on-the-Origins-of-Digital-Book-Readers&id=2955249>.
 E-books are on the rise, but they are not the dominant player in the literary publishing industry.

Though they are a quickly-growing sector of the book industry, they have not caught up to the print

books in sales. According to a report from Publisher’s Weekly, of the projected $35 billion book market

for 2009, e-books were only $81 million, or less than 1 percent of the total sales. 2

Nevertheless, there is no question that e-books are slowly but surely gaining on their paper

brethren. Amazon, one of the biggest online book retailers, hit a huge milestone during the 2009 holiday

season, when on December 25, according to Amazon, more customers purchased e-books than actual

paper books.3 The trend was not an anomaly. Throughout the course of 2010, the number of e-book

sales has been growing, to the point that Amazon sold three times as many e-books in the first half of

2010 as it did in 2009.4 In fact, during the 2010 second quarter, the bookselling giant sold 143 e-books

for every 100 print books.5

E-readers are created using E-Ink technology. Developed in the 1990s by Joseph Jacobson, the

technology was based on the e-paper used by the Xerox company in the 1970s. 6 When Jacobson

updated it, he “used the same idea of black and white particles but, in contrast to the earlier technology,

he used white particles that were electronically ‘loaded’ and a dark coloured oil in which the white

particles were dissolved.”7 Today, E-Ink consists of black and white particles in a transparent oil. 8

E-Ink is used in e-books, starting with the first version of the Sony Reader in 2004. 9 Today, E-Ink

is used for a number of e-readers, including Amazon’s popular Kindle. 10 In July 2010, the company E Ink

2
Tweney, Dylan F. “Amazon Sells More E-Books Than Hardcovers.” Wired. Conde Nast Digital, 19 July 2010. Web.
23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.wired.com/‌epicenter/‌2010/‌07/‌amazon-more-e-books-than-hardcovers/>.
3
“Amazon: Kindle Books Outsold Real Books This Christmas.” Wired. Conde Nast Digital, 28 Dec. 2009. Web. 23
Oct. 2010. <http://www.wired.com/‌gadgetlab/‌2009/‌12/‌amazon-kindle-books-outsold-real-books-this-
christmas/‌Charlie>.
4
Tweney
5
Tweney
6
Swinton
7
Swinton
8
Swinton
9
Swinton
10
E-Ink-Info.com. Metalgrass software, 25 Nov. 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2010. <http://www.e-ink-info.com/>.
announced its new version, the E Ink Pearl, which the company says “expands the capabilities of

reflective displays. . . . text on Pearl ‘pops’ from the page, enabling a reading experience most similar to

reading text on printed paper.”11

It should be noted that e-readers are not the only technology available for reading e-books. In

addition to computers, tablet PCs have also become popular with e-book enthusiasts. “A Tablet PC is a

cross between a notebook PC and a personal digital assistant (PDA). It’s a flat-panel portable PC in the

form of a slate.”12 One of the most famous examples of a tablet is Apple’s iPad. Though the iPad is not

an e-reader per se—it is actually above and beyond an e-reader—it, and tablets like it, have e-reader

capabilities.13

There are several popular e-readers on the market, the most notable of which are the Amazon

Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader. Another significant device in industry is the

Apple iPad. Though the product is not technically an e-reader—it is, as mentioned, a tablet device with

e-reader capabilities—its abilities, combined with its popularity and that of its parent company, make it

a noteworthy development. These four devices are at the forefront of the e-book revolution, being the

most popular and most publicized e-readers.

Amazon is one of the largest, if not the largest, Internet-based book retailers. However, its place

in the e-book market is enhanced because of the status of the Kindle among e-readers. The Kindle is

Amazon’s “#1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has

the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.” 14 As of October 24th, the latest edition of the Kindle

11
“E Ink Announces Next Generation Display Platform.” E-Ink. Business Wire, 1 July 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.businesswire.com/‌news/‌home/‌20100701005884/‌en/‌Ink-Announces-Generation-Display-Platform>.
12
Kayne, R. “What is a Tablet PC?” wiseGEEK. conjecture corporation, 8 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.wisegeek.com/‌what-is-a-tablet-pc.htm>.
13
“eReader.” iTunes. Apple, Inc., 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://itunes.apple.com/‌us/‌app/‌ereader/‌id284499993?mt=8>.
14
“Kindle Wireless Reading Device.” amazon.com. Amazon, 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <
http://www.amazon.com/‌gp/‌product/‌B002Y27P3M/‌ref=sv_kinh_0>.
costs a mere $139,15 down from the $260 of previous editions. 16 The online store currently has almost

three quarters of a million titles available for sale. 17

The Kindle is small, weighing in at just 10.2 ounces. 18 Though its text is completely black and

white,19 it has plenty of advantages. Current features include the ability to save pages, highlight text,

make notes, and adjust the text size. 20 The e-books’ price is another advantage: More than two-thirds of

the stock is priced at $9.99 or less, 21 which makes for a significant price cut. Even when the e-books go

above that price, they’re often cheaper than the paper copies. For instance, in October, fiction author

Anne Bishop’s hardcover novel Shalador’s Lady was listed at $16.47, which was down from the original

$24.95. The e-book version was listed at $11.99, a price cut from the discounted hardcover of more than

25 percent.

The Kindle team continues to create more features in the game of one-upmanship in the e-book

industry. One recently announced upcoming feature is the ability for Kindle owners to lend each other

books.22 The new feature does not cover all e-books, and each e-book can only be lent one time for a 14-

day period, during which the owner cannot access it. 23 Kindle books are also multi-platform, making

investing in one an even bigger deal. Amazon sells Kindle books for several types of computers and

15
“Kindle Wireless Reading Device.”
16
Tweney
17
“Free Kindle Reading Apps.” Amazon.com. Amazon, 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.amazon.com/‌gp/‌feature.html/‌ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771>.
18
Friedman, Lex. “The iPad as e-reader.” Macworld. Mac Publishing, LLC, 3 May 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.macworld.com/‌article/‌150955/‌2010/‌05/‌ipad_reader.html>.
19
Gobry, Pascal-Emmanuel. “B&N: Just Pull The Plug On The Nook Already.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 22
Oct. 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.businessinsider.com/‌bn-just-pull-the-plug-on-the-nook-already-2010-
10>.
20
“Free Kindle Reading Apps.”
21
“Free Kindle Reading Apps.”
22
“Coming Soon for Kindle.” Amazon.com. Amazon, 22 Oct. 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.amazon.com/‌tag/‌kindle/‌forum/‌ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?
_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx1G2UIO9PJO50V&displayType=tagsDetail>.
23
“Coming Soon for Kindle.”
phones, covering the range between PCs and Macs as well as the iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android

phones.24 The free apps allow consumers to buy books from anywhere they can access the Internet. 25

Apple’s iPad is another popular platform. It should be noted that the iPad, unlike the Kindle and

other e-readers, is not really in the same category, being a “multimedia devise that happens to have e-

reader capabilities.”26 Nonetheless, it has become important in the e-book market because of those e-

reader capabilities, and thus merits careful consideration in a discussion on e-readers. In fact, Apple has

expanded the technology to include more of its products—users can also download e-books on the iPod

touch and iPhone.27 The device was not solely intended for reading books and other media, as the Kindle

was, but it, along with Apple’s online bookstore, has become a huge player in the e-book game. 28 As

noted, Apple’s iBooks can be downloaded and read across several applications. In fact, Apple product

owners can switch back and forth between their iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches with bookmarks that

can travel between the three devices. 29 Apple markets the iBook app as an easy way for readers to

access “tens of thousands” of e-books, read summaries, look up New York Times bestseller lists, and

more.30 In short, it is direct competition for Amazon’s e-book stock. The iPad can adjust screen

brightness and text size, add notes, highlight passages, and more. 31 It does have many features in

common with the Kindle, but there are also plenty of differences, including its size. Though many e-

readers are marketed as travel-size, the iPad is a bit chunkier, measuring in at 9.59 by 7.47 inches. 32

24
Tweney
25
“Free Kindle Reading Apps.”
26
“The Best e-Readers Compared: Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Reader Throw Down .” Switched. AOL Inc., 30 Aug. 2010.
Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.switched.com/‌2010/‌08/‌30/‌the-best-e-readers-compared-kindle-kobo-nook-and-
reader-throw/>.
27
“eReader.”
28
Gobry
29
"iBooks Description." iTunes. Apple, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2#>.
30
“iBooks.” iTunes. Apple, Inc., 2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.apple.com/‌ipad/‌features/‌ibooks.html>.
31
"iBooks Description."
32
“iPad.” Apple.com. Apple, Inc., 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.apple.com/‌ipad/‌specs/>.
 The Nook, created by Barnes and Noble, is another popular e-reader. While Barnes and Noble is

behind Apple and Amazon in the e-book industry, it is continuing developments on new versions of the

Nook that are designed to, if not blow the Kindle and iPad out of the water, then at least continue to

provide competition. The new Nook Color, which will ship from the online store on November 19, will be

the first full-color e-reader. According to Barnes and Noble, the Nook Color will have “16 million colors

in unsurpassed high-resolution.”33 In addition, the e-reader will feature a 178-degree viewing angle,

reduced glare, and the ability to switch between a landscape and portrait view. 34 For those owning the

current version of the Nook, technology updates might increase their desire to keep it around. Set for

release in November, the updates include “the ability to ‘go to’ a specific page number, search within a

book, view highlights and notes, delete books from the library” and more. 35 The Nook Color also has

some tablet features.36 Though it is still an e-reader with some tablet functions (as opposed to the iPad,

which is a tablet with e-reader capability), the Nook Color allows owners to “access social media

applications such as Facebook and Twitter as well as email through Google’s Gmail service.” 37 While

other e-readers have some of the same abilities, the updates level the playing field a bit more.

Though the Kindle and the iPad e-readers are still completely black and white, as compared to

the Nook’s full-color touchscreen38 and the Nook Color, new developments from Amazon and Apple

already have consumers saying that Barnes and Noble’s e-reader is never going to match up. 39 It is true

that the Kindle and the iPad have a leg up on the Nook, particularly since both products are backed by

33
“NOOKcolor.” Barnes & Noble. Barnesandnoble.com llc, 2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.barnesandnoble.com/‌u/‌nookcolor-feature-color-touchscreen/‌379002480/‌?
cds2Pid=35703&linkid=1639809>.
34
“NOOKcolor.”
35
cnet.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://news.cnet.com/‌8301-17938_105-20019878-1.html?
tag=mncol;txt>.
36
Shah, Agam. “B&N Adds Tablet Features to New Nook Color E-reader.” PC World. OC World Communications,
Inc., 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.pcworld.com/‌article/‌208854/‌bandn_adds_tablet_features_to_new_nook_color_ereader.html>.
37
Shah
38
Gobry
39
Gobry
powerful online bookstores, both of which stock a high number of popular e-books. While Barnes and

Noble has an e-book stock, its online store cannot compete with Amazon’s Kindle store or even Apple’s

iBookstore in terms of sales and merchandise. 40

Whether Nook can remain in competition with the giants is uncertain. Though it has the edge

with a colored screen, that’s no guarantee. The Pandigital Novel, which was also tied to B&N’s online

store, was a full-colored tablet with some huge drawbacks, the first and foremost being the slow loading

time.41 The fact that the Pandigital Novel42 (which, like the iPad, is a tablet rather than strictly an e-

reader) is in color has not propelled it to instant stardom, or even given it much fame, compared to the

Kindle and iPad, or even the Nook. Cost is also an issue. The Nook Color is selling for $249, 43 more than

$100 more expensive than the latest Kindle 44 and B&N’s current Wi-Fi-capable Nook. 45 Sales figures in

upcoming months, particularly after the holiday season, will show whether the Nook Color is a good

investment or a waste of money. Whether is proves popular or not, the fact that the technology to

create a full-color e-reader is available means that big boys Apple and Amazon will likely look into

developing their own versions in the near future. Nevertheless, the year-old 46 Nook should not be

completely disregarded. Developments like the Nook Color show that, despite fierce competition from

powerful sources, Barnes and Noble is not yet out of the e-reader game, and will likely remain a major

player for a while, as long as it continues to develop its e-reader’s abilities.

40
Gobry
41
“Pandigital Novel.” PC Mag. Ziff Davis, Inc., 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.pcmag.com/‌article2/‌0,2817,2368660,00.asp>.
42
“Pandigital Novel eReaders.” Pandigita;. Pandigital, 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.pandigital.net/‌pandigitalnovel>.
43
“NOOKcolor.”
44
“Kindle Wireless Reading Device.”
45
“Nook Features." Barnes & Noble. Barnesandnoble.com llc, 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/features/index.asp>.
46
“cnet”
 The fourth major e-reader is from technology company Sony. Sony’s Reader has a storage

capacity for 1200 e-books and weighs in at 155 grams. 47 The reader also offers features such as 12 built-

in dictionaries and a long battery life, as well as a glare-free screen. 48 Like Amazon, Sony is offering an e-

book store to make purchasing for their Reader an easier process. However, like B&N’s e-book store (or

even Borders’ e-store for its own reader, called Kobo), 49 the Sony store is newer and has a much smaller

collection, which puts it behind in the competition. 50 Though the Reader joins the Kindle and the Nook as

one of the Big 3 e-readers,51 there is some question as to its longevity in the market. It has been recently

criticized for upping its prices with new editions of its three Readers. 52 Though the new editions are

smaller and lighter, they are also more expensive without adding many features (as compared to the

expense increase of the Nook, which might justify its price hike with its claim of being the first full-color

e-reader).53 In addition, the new Touch Reader and Pocket Reader do not offer WiFi, unlike the Kindle

and Nook.54

The one area where Sony rises above the rest is its connection with libraries. The Reader allows

users to access their local library’s e-book selection (requires library cards) and check out books for free,

24/7.55 Libraries are even starting to have e-book sections for those who are moving away from paper

47
“Introduce me to Reader.” Sony. Sony Europe Limited, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.sony.co.uk/‌hub/‌reader-want#04>.
48
“Introduce me to Reader.”
49
“Kobo eReader.” Borders. Borders Direct, LLC, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.borders.com/‌online/‌store/‌MediaView_koboereader>.
50
“Amazon Kindle vs Sony Reader vs Barnes & Noble: eBookstore Matchup.” Best-ereaders.com. best-
ereaders.com, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. <http://www.best-ereaders.com/‌2010/‌04/‌19/‌amazon-kindle-vs-
sony-reader-vs-barnes-noble-ebookstore-matchup/>.
51
“Amazon Kindle vs Sony Reader vs Barnes & Noble: eBookstore Matchup.”
52
Kolakowski, Nicholas. “Sony E-Reader Line Is Revamped, with a Higher Price.” eweek.com. Ziff Davis Enterprise
Holdings Inc., 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.eweek.com/‌c/‌a/‌Desktops-and-Notebooks/‌Sony-EReader-Is-
Revamped-With-a-Higher-Price-495180/>.
53
Kolakowski
54
Kolakowski
55
“Reader digital books by Sony.” Sony. Sony Electronics Inc., 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.sonystyle.com/‌webapp/‌wcs/‌stores/‌servlet/‌CategoryDisplay?
catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&categoryId=8198552921644523779>.
books.56 The downside is a smaller collection at most libraries, even among books that have been

converted to the e-book format. However, the Sony Reader is no longer alone with the library feature.

The B&N messageboards are full of advice on how to download library e-books to a Nook. 57 In addition,

Amazon is coming out with a system that, as mentioned previously, will allow Kindle owners to share

books, admittedly with limits.58 The Nook Color also has a borrow/lend feature among Nook Color

owners.59 Sony no longer has a monopoly on the segment of the e-book-fan market that is concerned

about library usage.

In addition to library e-books and the new borrow/lend features on some e-readers, fans can

access hundreds of e-books for free online through places like Project Gutenberg. The organization,

started in the 1970s by Michael Hart, aims to “encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.” 60 The

site provides free books in the public domain to readers. 61 The site currently has more than 33 thousand

e-books available for distribution, and can be used for the Kindle, iPad, Nook, and Reader, as well as

computers and phones.62 Though Project Gutenberg is the first, and arguably the most famous, free e-

book provider, B&N and the Nook have teamed up with Google to provide hundreds of thousands of

free public domain e-books to the masses (or at least to Nook owners). 63

56
“eBooks: New Additions.” New York Public Library. New York Public Library, 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.
<http://ebooks.nypl.org/‌3EE15E6D-8B53-41A7-8993-4B269DBFE1AF/‌10/‌257/‌en/‌BrowseeBooks.htm>.
57
“Public Library Borrowing.” Barnes & Noble. Barnesandnoble.com llc, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.
<http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/‌t5/‌The-Old-eBooks-Help-Board/‌Public-Library-Borrowing-Expand-Your-
Options/‌m-p/‌462342>.
58
“Coming Soon for Kindle.”

59
“Nook Color Lend Me.” Barnes and Noble. Barnesandnoble.com llc, 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.barnesandnoble.com/‌u/‌nookcolor-feature-lendme/‌379002481/‌?cds2Pid=35700>.
60
Hart, Michael. “Project Gutenberg Mission Statement.” Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, 25 Dec. 2007.
Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Project_Gutenberg_Mission_Statement_by_Michael_Hart>.
61
Hart, Michael. “The History and Philosophy of Project Gutenberg.” Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, 8 Apr.
2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.gutenberg.org/‌wiki/‌Gutenberg:The_History_and_Philosophy_of_Project_Gutenberg_by_Michael_Ha
rt>.
62
“Free eBooks by Project Gutenberg.” Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, 23 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.gutenberg.org/‌wiki/‌Main_Page>.
63
Cohen, Peter. “Do we really want vendor lock-in with e-book readers?” Macworld. Mac Publishing LLC, 2010.
Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.macworld.com/‌article/‌142199/‌2009/‌08/‌kindle.html>.
 This cross-company capability is somewhat unique. Sony, among others, uses an ePub format

for its e-books. “EPub is a common file format for digital books,” developed by the International Digital

Publishing Forum (IDPF).64 The Nook65 and the iPad66 also use the ePub format for their e-books, which

means that the files on each company’s online e-bookstore can be used no matter which e-reader a

customer chooses. It also means that readers should not be “locked out of [their] e-book collection[s] if

support for [their] hardware ever disappears.” 67 Amazon is the largest and most famous hold-out. The

company has its own file type, which makes it impossible to read e-books from their store on a Nook or

Sony.68 Since Amazon is such a huge e-book retailer, with a store that surpasses Sony’s and B&N’s, it

hurts the other companies while making the Kindle seem like a good option. In addition, Amazon offers

an app that allows iPad owners to read Kindle books on their iPads, so Apple fans are not left out of the

huge Amazon selection, just the companies that produce devices that are solely e-readers. 69 Amazon has

received flak from reviewers about sticking to the .azw format instead of converting to the more open

ePub format.70 So far, the vender lock-out does not seem to have hurt Amazon, which remains near the

top of the e-publishing industry, though the company “does not release Kindle sales data.” 71 This is

actually similar to what Apple did with the music industry, blocking out all non-Apple products from

being able to play songs purchased from iTunes. 72 Amazon’s continued resistance to allowing other

companies access to their files has not won it friends among owners of other e-readers. However, since
64
Paul, Ian. “Sony to Embrace Open E-Book Standard.” PC World. PC World Communications, Inc., 13 Aug. 2009.
Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.pcworld.com/‌article/‌170153/‌sony_to_embrace_open_ebook_standard.html?
tk=rel_news>.
65
Kameka, Andrew. “NOOK for Android app gets ePub side-loading and new features.” Androinica. Androinica, 5
Aug. 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <http://androinica.com/‌2010/‌08/‌05/‌nook-for-android-app-gets-epub-side-loading-
and-new-features/>.
66
Cook, Mike. “The Apple iPad and ePub Books.” EPubBlog. BlogOH!Blog, 20 Feb. 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.epubbooks.com/‌blog/‌594/‌the-apple-ipad-and-epub-books>.
67
Paul
68
Paul
69
“Kindle for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch.” Amazon.com. Amazon, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.amazon.com/‌gp/‌help/‌customer/‌display.html?nodeId=200298460>.
70
“Sony moves its e-book reader technology in the right direction.” Macworld. Mac Publishing, LLC, 14 Aug. 2009.
Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.macworld.com/‌article/‌142293/‌2009/‌08/‌sony_ebookreader.html>.
71
Paul
72
“Do we really want vendor lock-in with e-book readers?”
the Kindle is doing very well (and is without the danger of losing out to the competition, which has been

predicted for the Reader and Nook) and Amazon has one of the biggest e-book stores, whether or not

the company will be hurt by its continued resistance to sell its e-books in a more compatible format is

probably unlikely, at least in the near future.

E-readers are not just for those who love to read—they’re also attempting to revolutionize the

textbook industry. “Many students have complained about the soaring price of textbooks in recent

years, and universities have tried various methods, such as book-rental programs, to help lower costs.” 73

According to the Association of American Publishers, “Total U.S. book sales declined 1.8 percent last

year, but the higher-education category grew 12.9 percent to $4.3 billion.” 74 With students so eager for

cheaper and easier ways to own and use textbooks, e-readers could be a solution. In addition, having

textbooks all on a small e-reader reduces the amount of backpack weight students have to deal with, as

well as being more environmentally healthy, since the paper that would have been used in the

textbooks is spared.75

The textbook industry is still huge at college campus across the United States. Seeing an

opportunity, Amazon decided to test its Kindle DX at several universities across the country in 2009. The

test was not a total success at schools like Princeton, Case Western Reserve, and the University of

Virginia’s Darden School of Business.76 Students cited the inability to highlight text as the main “lowlight”

of the experience,77 but that was not the only problem. According to the Princeton researchers,
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Ryman, Anne. “ http://www.azcentral.com/‌arizonarepublic/‌news/‌articles/‌2010/‌07/‌06/‌20100706amazon-kindle-
school-textbooks.html.” The Arizona Republic. azcentral.com, 6 July 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <
http://www.azcentral.com/‌arizonarepublic/‌news/‌articles/‌2010/‌07/‌06/‌20100706amazon-kindle-school-
textbooks.html>.
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Martinez, Amy. “Amazon.com’s Kindle fails first college test.” The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 15
May 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/‌html/‌businesstechnology/‌2011938870_kindle24.html>.
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Peters, Sara. “Universities Turn to Kindle — Sometimes to Save Paper.” The New York Times. N.p., 30 July 2009.
Web. 20 Nov. 2010. < http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/‌2009/‌07/‌30/‌universities-turn-to-kindle-sometimes-to-save-
paper/>.
76
Kolowich, Steve. “Colleges test Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader as study tool.” USA Today. USA TODAY, 23 Feb.
2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/‌news/‌education/‌2010-02-23-IHE-Amazon-kindle-for-
college23_ST_N.htm>.
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“Because it was difficult to take notes on the Kindle, because PDF documents could not be annotated or

highlighted at all, and because it was hard to look at more than one document at once, the Kindle was

occasionally a tool that was counter-productive to scholarship.” 78 Students also disliked that they were

“unable to have multiple texts open at the same time.” 79 Michael Koenig, the director of operations at

the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, also cited this as a major concern for students. 80

Though some students liked using the Kindle DX for school, only 15 percent of the Darden students

enjoyed it.81 In fact, 75 percent of Darden users said they would not recommend using the Kindle DX for

studying.82 (However, 90 percent of those students said they would recommend the Kindle for casual

reading,83 so even though they did not feel that e-reader technology was up to the demands of

university life, they did generally like the product—a positive potent of the future of e-readers.)

Even though many students had problems with the Kindle DX for study purposes, the test results

were not all bad. At Arizona State University, “Students who took part generally liked the Kindle's

reader-friendly screen, weeklong battery life and portability.” 84 In addition, “The Kindle did have one key

advantage over traditional textbooks: Students could download passages onto their computers, such as

into a theme paper, without having to retype.” 85 ASU Humanities Professor Ted Humphrey, who tested

the Kindle with 65 honors students, reported that about half the students loved or liked it, and only

about 5 percent actually hated it. 86

The price cut was a huge advantage. “Humphrey’s two-semester course requires 30 books that

usually total up to $500. Buying the books electronically cut their costs by about 75 percent.” 87 For

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students who spend hundreds of dollars a semester on textbooks, having a 75-percent cut can make a

huge difference.

Many universities were also impressed with the beneficial environmental results in using the

Kindle, particularly since there has been such a great emphasis on sustainability on college campuses

over the past several years. Lauren Robinson-Brown, the assistant vice president for communications at

Princeton, said that “Sustainability is the driving force behind Princeton using the Kindle.” 88 Additionally,

Robert Carraway, an associate dean at Darden, said that “the Kindle could help the school achieve its

goal of becoming ‘carbon neutral’ by 2020.” 89

However, despite the positives, many professors are worried about students’ comprehension

when using the Kindle. A faculty member at Reed College in Portland, Oregon “said comprehension

suffered because students have difficulty highlighting and taking notes on the Kindle. This likely caused

them to read passively and reduced their ability to reflect on and retain complex information, according

to an analysis by the college.”90 Students at Pace University in New York, which also participated in the

study, had trouble adjusting to using the Kindle as well. According to school officials, the 80 participants

“started off excited and proud to be part of the green revolution. By the third or fourth week,

excitement waned. They grew frustrated with issues such as difficulties in highlighting text, note taking

and the lack of color display.”91

Some of the students’ issues with the Kindle DXs they tested might be resolved with future

upgrades or by using a different e-reader. For instance, complaints about difficulties in reading charts

and diagrams could be lessened with the use of the Nook Color, or a future full-color version of the

Kindle. In addition, upgrades, both since Fall 2009 test and in the future, should ease tasks such as

highlighting and taking notes. Lev Goenick, vice president of information technology services at Case

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Western Reserve, believes that another type of devise might be beneficial as well—something like a

tablet, which is small, easy to carry and promotes sustainability, but also has more capabilities than a

general e-reader. “Next-generation smartpads, including the iPad and the Edge from Entourage, are true

multi-functional devices that to varying degrees carry forward the strengths of the Kindle DX while

adding additional features,” he said.

Schools can also use e-readers beneficially by directing them toward specific groups of students,

rather than the university population at large. For instance, Darden’s Michael Koenig “did note that the

very aspect of the Kindle that at times made it inferior to a series of texts spread out on a desk proved

advantageous in other contexts — such as traveling.” 92 This is beneficial to business students in

particular. According to Koenig, business students often do a lot of travelling for internship and job

interviews, and they are expected to juggle a large amount of text while they do so. “Thus, being able to

fit the equivalent of reams upon reams of study materials on a 10-ounce gadget is a boon for the

scholar-on-the-go.” Koenig said, “If I'm taking off Wednesday for Thursday and Friday interviews, I don't

need to go through four class binders on the plane in order to not fall behind.” 93

Though Amazon’s test appears to have been hit-or-miss, with some students and professors

liking the new technology for its benefits and other seeing problems with its use, Amazon seems to be

optimistic about the Kindle’s future in university life. Amazon spokeswoman Stephanie Mantello said,

“We believe that, one day, students could read all their schoolbooks on Kindle and that, in doing so, will

have an even better experience.”94 Commenting on the success or failure of the studies, Mantello said

that they have “been effective in gathering feedback” and that Amazon “is always looking for ways to

improve the student experience.”95

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 If nothing else, the Kindle study started a trend. This year, Apple is doing a similar test of the

iPad on university campuses.96 Communications and business students at Oklahoma State University will

have a chance to test the devices to “determine how effective iPads can be as tools to enhance learning

as well as how such mobile devices can be integrated into the workplace. Visiting Professor Bill Handy

said, “We will evaluate the academic enhancement to the courses, how the iPad and its specific apps

and web-based tools can be integrated in this capacity, and perhaps most importantly, how the

integration of these mobile tools can expand the tactical abilities of students as they enter the

workforce.”97

Several other schools, such as the Illinois Institute of Technology, are also testing the product.

ITT is giving all 550 incoming freshmen iPads as a “technological enhancement to the curriculum.” 98

Since the freshmen are all required to take certain introductory classes, the readings and material for

the courses will all be available on for access on the iPads. 99

It is uncertain how far in the future a conversion to a completely paperless format is, but,

despite the fact that the Kindle test produced mixed results rather than being a resounding success,

there are multiple indicators that it is coming. As mentioned, the increasing environmental awareness

and campus efforts to increase sustainability mean that universities will be encouraged to take this

paper-waste-reducing route. In addition, the increasing cost of textbooks means that any measure that

saves money—especially if it is a lot of money, such as ASU Professor Humphrey’s estimates of 75

percent100—is going to be popular with students who are tired of paying outrageous sums at campus

bookstores. And Humphrey is not the only one who found significant savings with e-books over the print

version. Oklahoma State, currently undergoing the iPad study, discovered that in one class, the e-
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Foresman, Chris. “iPad goes under the gauntlet at universities this fall.” Ars Technica. Conde Nast Digital, Aug.
2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. < http://arstechnica.com/‌apple/‌news/‌2010/‌07/‌ipad-goes-under-the-gauntlet-at-
universities-this-fall.ars>.
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textbook costs $100 less than the “dead tree” version. 101 Students are likely to be in favor of something

that saves them such a huge chunk of money, even if they do not care about the environmental benefits

of moving away from paper books. Not only that, but if students do not have to carry around huge and

heavy textbooks to class, their chances of developing back problems from lugging around heavy

backpacks are significantly reduced.

What do these tests, and the possibility of future conversion to completely electronic formats,

mean for the publishing industry? For one, it puts a great deal of power in the hands of the hands of the

e-reader companies. Since millions of students will be accessing their textbooks on e-readers, the e-

book stores such as Amazon will replace campus and nationwide textbook stores, and textbook

publishing companies such as Pearson will probably have to work more closely with the e-book stores—

and possibly even lose some control over price settings. Textbook authors would choose which

companies to publish with based on which ones are aligned with major e-book publishers.

The trend could also affect other e-reader companies because of file formats. Companies like

Barnes and Noble, which don’t have stores as large or as popular as Amazon, could lose business. When

it comes down to e-reader choice, if textbooks are available from Amazon (which, because of the e-store

giant’s refusal to convert its e-books to a file that can be used on different e-readers, means that the

textbooks will be available to Kindle and iPad owners) and not B&N, students would probably choose

the Kindle over the Nook.

The increasing power and growth of the e-book industry has created conflicts, both between the

publishers and retailers and between the retailers and customers. Amazon has been at the center of two

such conflicts: the Orwell book deletion and the controversy over e-book prices that Internet users

dubbed “AmazonFail.”

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 In 2009, Amazon was involved with an issue over copies of George Orwell’s books 1984 and

Animal Farm. The online retailer remotely deleted copies of the books that customers had already

purchased and downloaded to their Kindles. 102 According to Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener, the

books “were added to the Kindle store by a company that did not have rights to them, using a self-

service function.”103 Herdener said, “When we were notified of this by the rights holder, we removed the

illegal copies from our systems and from customers’ devices, and refunded customers.” 104

The public, and those who had had the books removed from their Kindles, did not appreciate

the move, which was seen as an invasion of privacy—ironic, considering the material removed. Many

compared the retail giant’s move to the totalitarian, “Big Brother is watching you” state of Orwell’s

1984.105 Charles Slater, whose e-book was removed, was among the many displeased with the situation.

“Of all the books to recall,” he commented. “I never imagined that Amazon actually had the right, the

authority or even the ability to delete something I had already purchased.” 106 The situation was unusual.

The books had been sold illegally by digital publisher MobileReference. 107 However, unlike in physical

stores, where store owners cannot go to customers’ houses and take back the goods, whether or not

they were sold illegally, Amazon could and did reach into their customers’ private property and reclaim

the items. Just the fact that they had the previously unknown ability and were willing to use it disturbed

customers. Not only that, but the copyright situation is especially sticky. The copyright on 1984 does not

expire in the United States until 2044, but in countries like Russia, Australia, and Canada, it has already

expired, leaving websites based in those countries able to freely distribute copies of the novel. 108

102
Stone, Brad. “Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle .” THe New York Times. N.p., 17 July 2009. Web. 21 Nov.
2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/‌2009/‌07/‌18/‌technology/‌companies/‌18amazon.html?_r=1>.
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 The move affected more than just the casual reader. Detroit 17-year-old Justin Gawronski was

reading 1984 for a summer assignment, and when Amazon deleted the e-book, not only did he lose his

copy, he also lost all the notes and annotations he had been making on the reading. 109 “They didn’t just

take a book back, they stole my work,” he said. 110

Orwell’s books weren’t the only ones removed. Reports surfaced of similar events with Harry

Potter books and some of Ayn Rand’s titles.111 However, nowhere in Amazon’s Terms of Service did the

company say it had the right to remove titles, whatever the situation. 112 In fact, the company said that

customers were granted the right to keep a “permanent copy of the applicable work.” 113

Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer for British Telecom, is an expert on computer

security and commerce—as well as being a Kindle owner. 114 “It illustrates how few rights you have when

you buy an e-book from Amazon. As a Kindle owner, I’m frustrated. I can’t lend people books and I can’t

sell books that I’ve already read, and now it turns out that I can’t even count on still having my books

tomorrow.”115 Though Amazon—and other e-reader producers—currently have or are in the process of

creating lend/borrow programs, the company’s actions did not foster a sense of comfort with Kindle

owners—in fact, quite the opposite.

Amazon seemed to have recognized its error in removing the e-books without notifying

customers. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos posted an apology on the Kindle forums for the disruption and the

lack of tact when dealing with the situation. “This is an apology for the way we previously handled

illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our ‘solution’ to the problem was stupid,

thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the

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criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better

decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.” 116

Bezos was backed by his team. Drew Herdener stated, “We are changing our systems so that in

the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.” 117 Nevertheless,

it might be too little, too late for those people affected by the move—especially those like Gawronski,

who lost not only his copy, but also the notes he had created while reading.

The Orwell issue has not been the only problem to plague Amazon in recent years. In January

2010, Amazon got into a spat with the Macmillan, one of the “Big Six” publishing houses, over e-book

prices. Macmillan CEO John Sargent announced that the company wanted to be able to sell their e-

books for up to $15, instead of following Amazon’s usual $9.99 price cap, and threatened to stop

distributing titles through Amazon if the retailer refused to sell at those prices. 118 The matter was further

complicated by the fact that Apple, which had just released the iPad, was willing to sell e-books at

higher prices, and Macmillan had already signed a deal with the company. 119 The new technology meant

that Macmillan—or any other publisher—could release e-books to Apple but not to Amazon, which

would hurt Amazon’s sales (and presumably its Kindle sales as well). Macmillan’s official stance was that

it wanted to ensure the “long-term viability and stability of the digital book market.” 120 The publisher

was also worried that pricing the e-books so far below the hardcover copies would “undermine” the

hardcovers’ sales.121

116
Snell, Jason. “Amazon apologizes for Kindle book deletions.” Macworld. Mac Publishing, LLC, July 2009. Web. 21
Nov. 2010. <http://www.macworld.com/‌article/‌141890/‌2009/‌07/‌kindle_apology.html>.
117
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Rao, Leena. “Amazon Caves To Macmillan’s eBook Pricing Demands.” Tech Crunch. AOL Tech, 31 Jan. 2010.
Web. 21 Nov. 2010. <http://techcrunch.com/‌2010/‌01/‌31/‌amazon-caves-to-macmillans-ebook-pricing-demands/>.
119
“Amazon Pulls Macmillan Books Over E-Book Price Disagreement.” The New York Times. N.p., 29 Jan. 2010.
Web. 21 Nov. 2010. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/‌2010/‌01/‌29/‌amazon-pulls-macmillan-books-over-e-book-
price-disagreement/>.
120
Allen, Katie. “Amazon shelves Macmillan titles in ebook row.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited,
31 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2010. < http://www.guardian.co.uk/‌business/‌2010/‌jan/‌31/‌amazon-shelves-macmillan-
titles>.
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 Amazon’s reaction surprised a great many people. The online giant decided to retaliate by

removing all of the Macmillan titles from its shelves without warning, 122 which effectively deleted a sixth

of the company’s stock.123 It should be noted that this was done on the U.S. website only; amazon.co.uk

was not affected.124

According to Sargent, he met in Seattle with Amazon executives to discuss pricing, and by the

time he returned to New York, Amazon had already started removing Macmillan books. 125 However,

Amazon made a tactical error in the way it went about fighting for e-book prices and punishing

Macmillan to try to get them to capitulate. Rather than publicizing their grievances with Macmillan and

trying to get a play for sympathy, Amazon just removed the titles without warning, leading many to

think that it was a system glitch.126 Macmillan author John Scalzi, who was affected by the abrupt

removal, commented on his blog:

If Amazon had given it any sort of rational or at least tactical thought,

they could have played it up for all it was worth, starting with
strategically-placed rumors to trusted, sympathetic media about the
behind-the-scenes struggle with Macmillan, which would build to a
more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger corporate decision to put Amazon
shoppers first and to stand up to Macmillan, followed by the
announcement of a public deadline for the delisting of Macmillan
product to highlight the struggle, with a notation that all orders placed
before that deadline would of course be honored (hint, hint), and so on.
Basically, all sorts of public gamesmanship designed to put the pressure
on Macmillan and to make it look like the bad guy. 127

Scalzi refers to the sudden book removal as the “Friday Night Massacre.” 128 “One minute the books were

there, the next they weren’t. And everyone was left going ‘huh?’ Was it a hardware glitch? Was it a

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Scalzi, John. “All The Many Ways Amazon So Very Failed the Weekend.” Whatever. N.p., 1 Feb. 2010. Web. 21
Nov. 2010. <http://whatever.scalzi.com/‌2010/‌02/‌01/‌all-the-many-ways-amazon-so-very-failed-the-weekend/>.
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Scalzi, John. “Macmillan Books Gone Missing From Amazon.” Whatever. N.p., 30 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
<http://whatever.scalzi.com/‌2010/‌01/‌29/‌macmillan-books-gone-missing-from-amazon/>.
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software bug? No! It was one corporate entity having a big fat hissy fit at another corporate entity, and

everyone had to figure out what the hell was going on the weekend from bits and pieces that they found

on the Internet, which was not easy to do.” 129

In an industry where communication is key, Amazon messed up. And to further worsen the

situation, they let it sit without doing anything. Macmillan CEO John Sargent published an advertisement

in Publishers Launch, written as a letter to his employees but addressing the situation to the public.

Rather than bashing Amazon for its actions, he took the time to explain the situation and the pricing 130

deal.

Under the agency model, we will sell the digital editions of our books to
consumers through our retailers. Our retailers will act as our agents and
will take a 30% commission (the standard split today for many digital
media businesses). The price will be set for each book individually. Our
plan is to price the digital edition of most adult trade books in a price
range from $14.99 to $5.99. At first release, concurrent with a
hardcover, most titles will be priced between $14.99 and $12.99. E
books will almost always appear day on date with the physical edition.
Pricing will be dynamic over time.131

In other words, though initial e-book prices would be more than Amazon’s usual $9.99 set price, over

time, the e-books would mirror paper copies and reduce in price, often ending up less expensive than

the paperback versions.

Scalzi also attempted to show that profit is not at the heart of Macmillan’s demands, but rather

the growth of the e-book industry. “The agency model would allow Amazon to make more money selling

our books, not less. We would make less money in our dealings with Amazon under the new model. Our

disagreement is not about short term profitability but rather about the long-term viability and stability

of the digital book market.”132

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131
Sargent, John. “A Message from Macmillan CEO John Sargent.” TOR.com. Macmillan, 31 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Nov.
2010. <http://www.tor.com/‌blogs/‌2010/‌01/‌a-message-from-macmillan-ceo-john-sargent>.
132
Sargent, John. “A Message from Macmillan CEO John Sargent.” TOR.com. Macmillan, 31 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Nov.
2010. <http://www.tor.com/‌blogs/‌2010/‌01/‌a-message-from-macmillan-ceo-john-sargent>.
 Rather than being proactive and getting information to the public quickly—or at least reacting in

a timely manner—Amazon was silent for another day, 133 which, in this day and age of instant electronic

communication, is a long time. In another PR blunder, the company didn’t match Macmillan and publish

a letter by CEO Jeff Bezos, or even send out a communication by a top-ranking official or PR expert. 134

Instead, the first announcement135 Amazon put out was on its Kindle forum. It was anonymous, signed

only by “the Kindle team,”136 and was accusatory in tone rather than following Sargent’s lead and opting

for a conciliatory letter. “We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our

disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that

ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a

monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are

needlessly high for e-books.”137

Not only did the remarks further inflame the situation, but they were subjected to mockery by

those who took to the Internet to protest Amazon’s actions. Many, including one Lee Goldberg, took

particular offense to the “Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles” comment. “That's like

chastising Ford for having a ‘monopoly’ on Mustangs, or Nabisco for having a ‘monopoly’ on Oreos, or

Amazon for having a ‘monopoly’ on the Kindle. It's a bizarre and idiotic attempt to make Macmillan into

a villain for charging what they want to for their product...the same way that Amazon charges what they

want to for their Kindle.”138

The result of the struggle was not that people were displeased with Macmillan wanting to hike

e-book prices. Instead, they were angry with Amazon for removing the books with no warning and no

explanation. As Scalzi put it, when customers click on Amazon and see that titles are not available, they
133
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“Coming Soon for Kindle.”
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138
Goldberg, Lee. “Nabisco Has a Monopoly On Oreos.” A Writer’s Life. N.p., 31 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
<http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/‌a_writers_life/‌2010/‌01/‌nabisco-has-a-monopoly-on-oreos.html>.
aren’t going to automatically assume that it is because Amazon is trying to stick up to the publisher to

try to keep e-book prices from rising. Rather, they are going to be irritated that they can’t buy the book,

because that’s why they’re on Amazon in the first place. 139 “And when you don’t let people buy the . . .

book, they’re not going to blame Macmillan. They are going to blame you,”140 he commented.

Not only did Amazon confuse and annoy customers, they also confused and annoyed the

authors whose titles were pulled, many of whom spent the weekend writing furiously online about the

unfair treatment. “Amazon apparently forgot that when it moved against Macmillan, it also moved

against Macmillan’s authors,” Scalzi said. “Which was not a smart thing, because as we all know, the

salient feature of writers is that they write. And they did, about this, all weekend long. And not just

Macmillan’s authors, but other authors as well, who reasonably feared that their corporate parent might

be the next victim of Amazon’s foot-stompery.” 141

Scalzi was indeed not the only one to write about how mad he was at the situation and how it

was affecting the authors. TOR (a division of Macmillan) author Brandon Sanderson, among others, also

wrote about the situation.

For those of us who had book launches before the holidays, most of you
who want our books already have them. But think of Steven Erikson,
who had a new book come out a couple of weeks ago. Or heck, Ben
Bova, Charlie Stross, and L. E. Modesitt Jr. had books come out today.
First week sales, as everyone knows, are very important for a book's
future. What Amazon did to me was annoying; what it did to these folks
was downright nasty.142

Others, like TOR author Jake Lee, similarly vented their frustration that authors were being affected by

this—and not only their e-books, but also the print copies of those books. “These are fights that we as

139
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142
Sanderson, Brandon. “Amazonfail 2010, Mythmaker Interview, Updates.” brandonsanderson.com. N.p., 1 Feb.
2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2010. <http://www.brandonsanderson.com/‌blog/‌865/‌Amazonfail-2010-Mythmaker-
Interview-Updates>.
authors didn’t pick, can’t control, and have PR implications that we lost before we ever open our

mouths.”143

In the end, Amazon did have to “capitulate” and give in to Macmillan’s demands, because

Macmillan does publish about a sixth of Amazon’s stock. Not replacing the titles would have been a

potentially devastating move in the e-book war, especially since Apple was willing to discuss increased

prices for their iBookstore. However, in handling the situation the way they did, they lost a lot of faith

from the authors they hurt and the fans of those authors who read their blog posts on the subject and

were unable to buy the books they wanted. Whether or not that will have any long-term affect on

Amazon remains to be seen, but it is likely that the effect will not be large. Amazon in general and the

Kindle in particular are both popular, and this episode occurred over a fairly short period of time, rather

than being dragged out for weeks and months, so it did not reach the point where most Macmillan fans

had to find another venue to be able to read the books.

The real result of AmazonFail (and the Orwell issue) was not just a lack of trust in Amazon and a

shift over to other e-readers (and since, as previously mentioned, Amazon does not release sales figures,

the general public has no way of knowing if there was a decrease in sales of e-books, paper books, or

Kindles), but also a move in the power structure. Amazon is not able to completely control the prices,

since it is no longer the only e-book store and owner of the only e-reader. That power now rests with

the publishing companies—and the public, which chooses whether or not to purchase. The agency

model is probably the way of the future—hiking up the price of newly released e-books, to coincide with

the higher prices of their newly released paper counterparts, and then dropping them down to a price

that is actually less than Amazon’s $9.99 as the prices for the “dead tree” books drop. Despite the

fervent reaction of the literary community, the forced acceptance of the agency model and the

143
Lake, Jay. “Three more comments on Amazon and Google Books.” Jay Lake Writer. N.p., 30 Jan. 2010. Web. 21
Nov. 2010. < http://www.jlake.com/‌2010/‌01/‌30/‌publishing-three-more-comments-on-amazon-and-google-
books/>.
introduction of another major player—Apple—into the e-reader and e-book market are the biggest and

longest-lasting effects of AmazonFail.

Self-publishing is increasingly becoming a popular way for authors who have difficulty finding a

publishing house—or even a literary agent—to get their works in print. Organizations across the United

States help these authors by publishing and printing their books, often offering packages based on the

amount of editing, marketing, etc. that the author is interested in. 144

Amazon has joined the self-publishing revolution. The Amazon company CreateSpace “provides

one of the easiest, fastest and most economical ways to self-publish and make your content available to

millions of potential customers on Amazon.com and other channels.” 145 Authors can also publish their

works straight to the Kindle store, where they can be downloaded onto Kindles, iPads, computers, and

more as easily as a book that went through a publishing house. 146 It’s an even quicker and easier way to

get material to the public. And since the books are on Amazon, they have a potentially quick way to get

noticed. At the very least, the two newest things in the industry—self-publishing and e-books—have

now combined, which could potentially increase both sectors.

However, there are downsides to having instant publication to one of the biggest online retailers

in the world without going through any sort of vetting process. A recent scandal involved a book called

The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct, which was self-published

by Philip R. Greaves and was available on the Kindle store for less than $5. 147 Greaves claimed that he

wrote the book in order to help prevent harmful sexual relationships between adults and children. 148

According to AOL News, Philips “considers his book a how-to guide for pedophiles to indulge their

144
“Compare Self Publishing Packages.” AuthorHouse. Author Solutions, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.authorhouse.com/‌Packages/‌default.aspx>.
145
“Self Publishing.” Amazon.com. Amazon, 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <https://www.amazon.com/‌gp/‌seller-
account/‌mm-product-page.html?topic=200354160&ld=AZOnDemandMakeM>.
146
“Self Publishing”
147
Frayer, Lauren. “Amazon Yanks Pedophilia E-Book Amid Boycott Talk.” AOL News. AOL Inc., Nov. 2010. Web. 22
Nov. 2010. <http://www.aolnews.com/‌nation/‌article/‌amazoncom-yanks-philip-r-greaves-pedophilia-e-book-amid-
boycott-threats/‌19712148?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk1%7C183618>.
148
Frayer
fantasy while abiding by U.S. laws.”149 Philips also claimed that he wrote the book to give people a

different perception of pedophiles. “Every time you see them on television, they're either murderers,

rapists or kidnappers, and, you know, that's just not an accurate presentation of that particular

sexuality. True pedophiles love children and would never hurt them.” 150

The book raised outcries, and Amazon eventually removed it from its e-shelves, amid cries of

censorship. “The company issued a statement saying that it ‘does not support or promote hatred or

criminal acts’ but that it believes it is ‘censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their

message is objectionable. We do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing

decisions.’” Nevertheless, the company bowed to pressure and removed the book. Whether or not it

was legal or in good taste, it did raise a huge outcry among the public. Amazon’s process might make it

easier and cheaper than going through an acclaimed publishing company or a regular self-publisher—in

fact, self-publishing to the Kindle store is free. 151 However, the price Amazon is paying, and will continue

to pay, for the potentially great interest and attention is harsh criticism when anything at all can go up—

especially if the media learns about it before the company does.

Despite the many people who prefer their traditional paper books, e-books are the way of the

future. The market is really just taking off, and recent advances in the industry—the iPad, the Nook

Color, and more—make it even more likely that the trend will catch on. The fact that publishing and

retail companies are spending so much time and attention on creating and selling e-readers and e-books

is a sign of the ever-growing popularity of this new phenomenon. Though a small percentage of people

own e-readers at present, it is still a new technology. Additionally, sales figures (even those like

Amazon’s, which do not give specific numbers) show that e-books are becoming more and more popular

with the public. Whereas a few years ago it might have seemed inconceivable that print books would be

149
Frayer
150
Frayer
151
“digital text platform.” Amazon.com. Amazon, 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <https://dtp.amazon.com/‌mn/‌signin?
ie=UTF8&ld=AZEbooksMakeM>.
replaceable by a decent technology, now e-readers are everywhere, to the point that there are Kindle

ads on the London Tube system.

There is no question that the market will be fierce. Though Amazon and Apple appear to be the

competition’s front-runners, Barnes and Noble’s latest developments are keeping it in the game. The

new agency model for pricing showed that publishing companies are taking careful measures to ensure

that e-books are more than a passing fad. The AmazonFail crisis was also proof that the industry is

changing. E-book monopolies are worth taking huge steps in the fight for control, which suggests that

they have a lucrative future. It was also the first of what is likely to be many power struggles between

the publishing companies and the retailers. The retailers have the technology and the stores, but the

publishers have the rights—and, if AmazonFail and the Orwell scandal were any indication, the general

public is growing mistrustful of the monopoly a few companies have in the e-book industry. Though it is

impossible to predict who will come out on top in the fight, it is certain that this is an industry worth

fighting over, because e-books are here to stay.

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