Just last December, it was the talk of not just the UK but New York when James Daunt, legendary London indie bookseller and currently head of chain retailer Waterstones, publicly attacked Amazon as a “ruthless, money-making devil.” As Ellie Robins reported here on MobyLives, Daunt used…
The American book industry — and, in a sense, the world book industry — got another major player yesterday when it was announced, amidst swriling rumors that Barnes & Noble was going to sell off its Nook division (which would have signaled the beginning of…
The aftermath of last week’s capitulation by three of the five major publishers has had at least one solid effect: Barnes & Noble took a 17% hit on its stock. The Department of Justice always gets its man. And this clearly demonstrates that justice has…
` Canadian publishers are fuming after learning that Indigo Books & Music, the country’s largest bookseller, has raised its co-op fees — over a week ago without telling them. This, less than a year after the giant chain overhauled its co-op program, making publisher payments…
Here’s an angle to the DOJ vs. Apple and the publishers story that you probably didn’t see coming: “To make a small dent in Apple, the Department of Justice will need to take a big swing. The danger is it will inadvertently whack Barnes &…
According to Wired magazine’s Epicenter blog, Barnes & Noble is sponsoring a March 19th event in London for tech developers. The move would be a savvy one. B&N’s devices have consistently received higher marks than Amazon’s from tech critics, and yet the company has not…
Add the Authors Guild to the list of major industry players taking a dramatic stand against Amazon.com for unfair business practices. Yesterday, the Guild issued a statement decrying the behemoth from Seattle for “predatory” business tactics, and dismissing the defense that those tactics were simply…
In the short time since MobyLives first noted the rumors about Amazon “All-Brick-And-Mortar-Retail-Must-Die” Dotcom opening a, er, brick-and-mortar retail outlet — you know, a store — rumors have intensified to the point where it seems like there’s something to them. Other news outlets seem to…
Maybe it’s an instance of live by the sword, die by the sword: After years of ruthlessly battering retailers with relentless and drastic predatory pricing, Amazon finds its foray into book publishing being greeted by a wide-scale and growing retailer boycott. Late Friday, just…
Let me get this out of the way: I told you so. Late yesterday, in a dramatic statement from its Chief Merchandising Officer, Jaime Carey — why it wasn’t the CEO, I don’t know — the country’s biggest brick-and-mortar bookseller, Barnes & Noble, said that it would not…
