Comments on: Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services

By: AnniGifts

AnniGifts — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:39:28 +0000

I happen to think its a great idea

By: Names

Names — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:47:45 +0000

Digital content is the way of the future… adapt or fall off the face of the Earth.

By: Obama Surrenders National Interests to Thugs and Terrorists - Page 4 - Debate Politics Forums

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:40:02 +0000

[...] to order book system. BookSurge, part of the Amazon group of companies (you can do it yourself!) Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services This is actually quite ingenious. Take a system that can print small orders quickly and [...]

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:27:21 +0000

Has Amazon ever handled on-demand books? No.

They only handle books that Ingram handles or books from small publishers who can fulfill to Amazon a certain number of copies in a couple of days time. They’ve never handled books from Lulu, etc., unless the publisher has lied about delivery speed.

All this means is that you now have the option of having Amazon handling your true on-demand book, which you didn’t have before. If you don’t want to use Amazon’s printer, you can still sell Lulu books by just paying for 100 copies or so to be preprinted on demand and storing them in your house, and topping them off when the number falls to 50 or so, depending on demand for your book.

All Amazon is worried about is their level of service problem with on-demand publishing, not being able to get the books to their customers in a reasonable period of time.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:46:53 +0000

Consider me confused and concerned. Does this mean that I should work with Booksurge to get an advantage on Amazon or avoid Booksurge? Amazon seems like a huge player in the POD market and I sell over 100 copies of Compelling Conversations – printed by Booksurge every month. But did I make a mistake? Should I have done something else? Which POD is better? Suggestions?

By: Tiburon-TV » Blog Archive » publish your own book: blurb.com - eileen gittins @ PICNIC

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:38:23 +0000

[...] A Book On Facebook With BlurbAmazon Muscles Print-On-Demand ServicesAmazon Says It Will Only Sell Print-On-Demand Books That It Gets To [...]

By: johnmiedema.ca » Blog Archive » The Politics of Web-Based Libraries: Neutrality or Accountability?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:32:57 +0000

[...] that it would only sell print-on-demand books printed by its own print-on-demand service (TechCrunch). Amazon is abusing their virtual monopoly on book sales for their profit. What really gets me is [...]

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:46:33 +0000

Does anyone have an update on how this initiative has panned out for Amazon? How has it impacted the print on demand industry?

By: johnmiedema.ca » Blog Archive » OpenBook Plugin: The Importance of Linking to Publisher Websites

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:20:54 +0000

[...] will only sell print-on-demand books printed by its own print-on-demand service BookSurge” (TechCrunch). The widespread practice of linking to Amazon is reinforcing its monopoly on the web. We increase [...]

By: Deal Radar 2008: Blurb - Sramana Mitra on Strategy

Deal Radar 2008: Blurb - Sramana Mitra on Strategy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:48:39 +0000

[...] is also a close competitor. Another formidable entrant into the print-on-demand market is Amazon, who got into the business by acquiring BookSurge. Finally, the company that has the most active photo books business at scale is Shutterfly. You can [...]

By: Flexoril » Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services

Flexoril » Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:27:17 +0000

[...] Blurb..Amazon’s Print On Demandread more | digg [...]

By: www.ubraniaroxy.pl » Blog Archive » Build A Book On Facebook With Blurb

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:44:06 +0000

[...] asked about Amazon’s recent foray into on-demand print services, CEO Eileen Gittins expressed a lack of concern that it would cut [...]

By: Build A Book On Facebook With Blurb

Build A Book On Facebook With Blurb — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:37:24 +0000

[...] asked about Amazon’s recent foray into on-demand print services, CEO Eileen Gittins expressed a lack of concern that it would cut [...]

By: Fiction Scribe » Blog Archive » Give Amazon.com the Bird

Fiction Scribe » Blog Archive » Give Amazon.com the Bird — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:59:51 +0000

[...] Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services by Duncan Riley, TechCrunch [...]

By: Aaron Shepard

Aaron Shepard — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:45:39 +0000

You might be interested in the post on this issue on my Publishing Blog, “Amazon Declares War on Lightning Source.”

http://www.aaro...shing/blog.html

Aaron Shepard
Author, Aiming at Amazon
Webmaster, Sales Rank Express

By: Author

Author — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:50:29 +0000

A good case can be made that what Amazon is attempting to do violates anti-trust laws. Waiting for federal anti-trust action would take many years–years to get the Justice Department to act, years of trials, years of fussing over what the court decision means. Notice how long it took to deal with Microsoft’s tactics, despite the fact that the corporations they were bullying were large and powerful. None of us can afford that long a wait.

Action at the state level, however, could move much faster, particularly if it involves off-the-record contact and a somber warning from those who can make trouble for Amazon. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle about a ten minute drive from the office of the Antitrust division of the Washington state attorney general, also in Seattle. Here’s the contact information:

Office of the Attorney General

Antitrust Division

800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000

Seattle, WA 98104-3188

http://www.atg....st/default.aspx

Telephone: 206-587-5510

Fax: 206-464-6338

Note the remark on that web page that “The Antitrust Division only processes complaints that involve either Washington State residents or businesses located in Washington State.” Amazon is in Washington state, so it matters not where you are. You might also want to raise the issue with your state attorney general’s antitrust office, asking them to get in touch with their colleagues in Seattle. If you’re a publisher, encourage your authors to write. If you’re an author, encourage other writers to contact them.

By: Cyndy Aleo-Carreira

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:20:56 +0000

Why is this even a story? They didn’t say you had to use them. They said if you want to be able to take advantage of Amazon’s shipping discount you had to use them. No one is banning the other POD service-printed books from the site, but it’s apparently a slow weekend, so everyone has to whine about big, bad Amazon. They don’t make money on free shipping. They exist to make money. If they aren’t making a profit SOMEWHERE on an order, who is it helping?

By: Publishing Update « Moultrie Creek Online Historical Society

Publishing Update « Moultrie Creek Online Historical Society — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:55:24 +0000

[...] Posted March 30, 2008 TechCrunch reports Amazon announced this week that they will only sell print-on-demand books from their [...]

By: Amazon’s Blatant Disrespect of Their Best Customers

Amazon’s Blatant Disrespect of Their Best Customers — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:54:32 +0000

[...] Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services by Duncan Riley, TechCrunch [...]

By: Marti

Marti — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:33:57 +0000

Jon, this is NOT fantastic news. An author who publishes through Lulu can do their own editing and formatting and produce a very professional looking book. Then (until now) they could purchase their own ISBN for less than $100 and get the book listed on Amazon. If that same author is forced to go through BookSurge, their minimum package is $499, and the author doesn’t retain the same sort of rights and freedoms with their own work.

By: Amazon launches their weapon of mass destruction, steps on the long tail of independent authors | Business is Personal

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:04:55 +0000

[...] the Wall Street Journal, TechDirt, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Computerworld and Publisher’s Weekly. And so [...]

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:20:44 +0000

Fantastic news with fantastic timing… I was researching this just a few hours ago! This is great because Amazon is THE book seller, having them print and ship your books all in one shot will save a small fortune to small book publishers.

Jon

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:40:37 +0000

One reason that this will raise prices is due to the fact that small publishers who rely on POD technology may have to use two services in order to get full distribution. Small publishers who used LightningSource (or a service that uses LSI) to print books will be forced to reformat their books for BookSurge. This costs money. Yes, it most likely will drive up the cost of POD books.

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:08:37 +0000

This is bad news for people using Lulu and the other POD services.

I don’t know whether this is a quality issue – presumably with BookSurge Amazon could require further editing with books it feels don’t meet their quality guidelines – whereas with other POD books, they have no control over the books.

It will be interesting to see how this affects the POD industry.

By: ventureblogalist

ventureblogalist — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:57:47 +0000

this analysis is wrong. POD for vanity publishers is just one part of the market.