(no subject)

Today in 1876, the United States ordered all Native Americans to move into reservations. Only 100 years after fighting for our liberty from an unjust ruler, and we turn into what we fought against.

As if they couldn't make me any more irritated, today I discovered that not only did Amazon remove all the "Buy" buttons from all Macmillan titles, e or print, but they removed preorders from peoples' shopping carts, and wishlisted titles from wish lists.

In my own little way, I'm protesting by immediately buying two of my wishlisted Tor titles from The Book Depository, a company recommended by a number of folks on my flist. They offer free shipping no matter how much your order is, and they have discounted prices. So I'm getting Indigo Springs and War For The Oaks. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll be shopping from Barnes & Noble, too, although I won't buy the membership card.

I keep hearing that Amazon's little stunt will be over by Monday. I have no idea if that's true, but I guarantee that I'll be shopping from other online booksellers from now on.

(no subject)

Amazon versus Macmillan...the fun just keeps coming!

Amazon posted this statement on their Kindle forum on their own site. In my opinion, this might have been better posted on their front page. Silly me. Anyway, they said:

"We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because , and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative."

The part that made me giggle? "Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles." Well of course they do! Same as the way Amazon has a monopoly on the Kindle.

Tobias Buckell had an amusing take on that point.

(no subject)

And among all the ebook kerfluffle, Kage Baker slipped away.

Kage, I wish I could have met you. Thank you for all the great stories.