Long-lasting conflict
Amazon decided to halt book sales of publisher Hachette in May 2014 as the publisher refused to augment Amazon’s share in the sale of ebooks. Authors were furious, but were unable to act.
In August, nearly 1,000 authors (gathered in Authors United) published a page-wide ad in The New York Times to complain about the situation and called on readers to send letters to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to change his mind. Amazon refused to comment how many letters it has received, but none of the people who had sent a letter, have received a reply.
Damaged reputation for Amazon and its board
Six months later, the situation still has not been resolved and that is why the authors have published a letter on their website, a letter they will send to the 10 members of Amazon’s board this week. They “find it hard to believe that all members of the Amazon board approve of these actions”.
They also point out Amazon’s tarnished reputation because of this censorship: “Efforts to impede or block the sale of books have a long and ugly history. Would you, personally, want to be associated with this”, the authors asked.
It remains to be seen whether the board members can convince their chairman, Jeff Bezos. To be continued.
