It’s not hard to imagine why bookstores generally aren’t too fond of Amazon, but in the end, the bookstores will need to crunch the numbers and decide if they’re willing to ignore customers who are looking to get eBooks instead of physical books.
As for Amazon, this is a smart move to expand the reach of its Kindle readers, as well as a potential trojan horse.
Amazon’s New Kindle Offer Rejected by Indie Bookstores
But to many booksellers, the offer is about as subtle as the Trojan rabbit in Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and they seem just as willing to fling it back in Amazon’s face. Jeremy Ellis, the manager at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, tells us he can see “how a store that feels a need to be in the e-book market could see a Kindle in their store as a benefit.” But ultimately, he calls this notion “a lie.”
“You are putting your competition inside your store and selling their books for them,” he says of stores who embrace the Amazon program. “That ultimately will not lead to a successful business model.”
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