Amazon

I posted this as a reply in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own thread. It's a continuation of my gripe yesterday about Amazon's practice of selling used copies of new books at a fraction of the new book's cover price. I figure more eyes will see it if it has its own thread.

My complaint didn't include folks who are trying to complete collections of out-of-print books that are impossible to find at the local level...for that the Internet is a great tool. What set me off against Amazon again yesterday was seeing that there are already 29 used copies of Red and Buried available at Amazon. Moonstone and I are trying to get something going here, and it's hard enough to launch a series (or even a one-off book) these days without being undercut by people who bought the book, read it, then dumped it back on the market at two bucks less than what we're selling it for within days of the book's release...plus I get not one penny in royalties. This Amazon practice is pure evil and it's directed against struggling writers, as well as the fans who want to see those writers continue writing.

Clearly Amazon is staying in business, but I'm sure this practice has driven some writers on the bubble out of the business. Even McDonald's couldn't afford to stay in business if people were allowed to sell the exact same burgers for thirty percent less in their lobby.