Booksellers generally lauded our item yesterday about the policy of
Rainy Day Books, Fairway, Kan., not to stage events by authors and
publishers whose websites do not include BookSense.com among online
buying options. But some authors, publishers and distributors had a
somewhat different take. Speaking for some of them, Jacqueline Church
Simonds of Beagle Bay, Reno, Nev., wrote:
I agree that a link to Amazon.com might be construed as possibly
insensitive to an independent bookstore. However, a link to Amazon is
basic marketing for the rest of the publishing world. The only thing
"unwise" is not having a link to the biggest bookseller in the country.
We authors and publishers love indy booksellers, but the reality is
that we have to deal with Amazon, big box stores and warehouse stores
online. Where do people online usually go? Amazon.
The reason many authors and publishers don't have a BookSense link is
that they don't know it exists as a sales tool. That's because most of
the public don't have a clue what that name means, which is a problem,
because in this market, brand is everything. They won't click on it
because they don't know what it is.
Consider our experience. Beagle Bay has had a BookSense link on our
book pages--at the top!--since we began. In five years, I think we've
tracked 12 links to BookSense, which led to two sales. In the same
time, I can't tell you how many sales we've had via the Amazon link--in
the thousands, for sure.
The problem is not that no one wants to use BookSense, it's that the
public hasn't been educated about why it's a good idea (a green thing, a
progressive thing, "a small = good" thing) to use BookSense instead of
Amazon. Put your energy into raising awareness rather than bludgeoning
authors for "non-compliance."