Amazon has just announced the purchase of Goodreads, the premiere book discussion site on the internet. This has sent into a tizzy many who see Amazon as a monopolistic Goliath bent on world domination — and also those Goodreads users who fear a loss of the site’s independence.
Rather than write about this at length, let me simply link to an interview with representatives of Amazon and Goodreads, who anticipate and try to allay such fears by describing their reasons and plans. I also want to link to two excellent blog posts, by bestselling indie author Hugh Howey and self-publishing author and advocate David Gaughran, which offer reassuring perspective.
In my own dealings with Amazon, I have experienced from them nothing but stellar service, fair play, and an authentic desire to help me become successful. That kind of behavior and “win/win” attitude is why Amazon has grown so rapidly to dominate its competitors in the book world. If those rivals spent more time striving for excellence in customer service, and less bashing Amazon for its well-earned success, they would have much less to worry about, and the book world would be a far better place.
Photo (c) by Debbie Scott
