One book reviewer has called Bookshop the “Rebel Alliance” to Amazon’s “Empire”
ANDY HUNTER launched Bookshop.org in beta format six weeks ago, and he expected the business to scale up gradually. The coronavirus upended those plans, like everything else. By March 20th, a week in which 2,400 independent bookshops in America started closing their physical doors, the fledgling literary portal resembled a port in the storm.
The need for an alternative outlet has been made clear by Amazon’s decision to slow shipments of all but “essential” products during the pandemic, strangling online book sales. Publishers have suddenly lost their main source of sales; meanwhile, major independent bookstores such as Powell’s in Portland, Oregon, and McNally Jackson in New York have been forced to lay off staff.
Still, some in the book world remain cautious. All may agree that Amazon poses a continuing threat to independent bookstores, in America and beyond. Yet the sector has rebounded in recent years as shoppers flock to preserve community bookstores, and many booksellers are wary of further online competition.
All are on the same page, though, when it comes to limiting Amazon’s monopoly on so-called “affiliate programmes”: the “Buy” links on sites where millions of readers get their literary news, from book reviews to blogs to authors’ websites. Until now, major media and bloggers have had little choice but to link to Amazon. Countering this, says Mr Hunter, is Bookshop’s main reason for existence.
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