I have heard from three authors today that they’ve had their wrists slapped by their publishers. Why?
For not having Barnes and Noble sales links on their sites for their books. Authors were informed that if updates to their sites were not made immediately Barnes and Noble would not be ordering their books.
Holy hopping shite, who in the name of better things to do has the job of surfing all the author websites looking for ordering links?
And why is a bookseller mandating authors maintain point of sale links – often at their own expense since many web management firms charge
per update (which is something that already irks me but that’s beside the point)? Referrals are earned commodities, not mandated by threats.
Anyone else get the “send your readers to B&N or else” threat today? Surely there other ways to encourage book sales than bullying & nonsense, right? Right?
ETA:
This is part of an email that was sent to authors today:
One of our major accounts is now checking author websites, and is REFUSING to put in an order if their site is not listed as a place to go to buy….
The particular account is B&N, but we anticipate that in the future more sellers will have this requirement….
Please do this ASAP…. I’m not exaggerating when I say they WILL NOT ORDER the book unless their site is listed.
Question: would it have been too much to… ask? Instead of, you know, threatening?
Why do authors expect B&N to support them if they’re not willing to support B&N? Mediabistro says B&N isn’t asking for exclusivity on this, so what’s the big deal about adding a link to store that’s going to generate most of an author’s money in stores and online?
What about if you don’t have any links to bookstores at all? Or if you also want to encourage purchasing through local independent stores?
Courtney you are a SWEETHEART! I’ll be taking advantage of it too, as I’m in process of a (eternal it seems) re-design. Yes I know right now it’s pathetic (Dreamweaver tables, ssssh.) At least it’s up there with the new book.
To add my bit, I haven’t gotten any sort of contact on this subject, personally, and it really surprises me to hear this. The idea of any major bookseller surfing author sites to make sure they have bookstore links just seems…unusual. I’d guess it’s a fairly empty threat but not a nice tactic for sure.
I’ve always liked to list all online stores that I can maintain links to. However keeping those links alive is a PITA, especially for older books, so Courtney’s contribution is truly brilliant.
I literally just put the BN link to pre-order LESSONS IN FRENCH on my site a day or so ago, because they just added the book to their online store. So, there, anyone can institute an immediate boycott of either one! Cast your vote for Amazon (evil in one way) or BN (evil in another way) by pre-ordering LIF from your favorite. 🙂
I was advised about a year and a half ago to put a B&N link on my book pages on my website. The person who advised me was not working with my publisher, but with another one. My publisher has not said anything to me. But I put the links on the site anyway. No biggie. I also added Borders. I’d already had Amazon and Booksense links.
Barnes & Noble does not have a policy to boycott books because authors don’t link to us.
Everything is bought in anticipation of in store or online customer orders.
We do encourage authors and publishers to link to our website as part of a comprehensive marketing approach to drive sales in all channels.
I would be happy to address any specific concerns that are out there!
Joe Gonnella,
VP Trade Merchandising
jgonnella @ bn.com
I agree that linking to as many booksellers as possible is smart for authors and I recommend it. What bothers me about the situation (and I’ve seen the letter in question) is there is an implicit threat to authors: link or your book will not be ordered by a major retailer. This is not appropriate, on the part of the retailer nor the publisher (and there may be very good reasons for the author’s choice in links).
Mr. Gonnella,
B&N may not have a policy of boycotting authors, but, as so many have mentioned, there’s an implied threat in the letter that went out.
While I appreciate your visit here to talk with us, I have to admit that your comments are very general and do not specifically address the letter or the implied threat. Rather than making us feel better, your comments only make us go, “Hmmmm…”.
Perhaps you could address the real concern here? I think that would go a long way towards smoothing any anti-B&N feelings people have.
If someone will e-mail me the name of the publisher who sent the letter I will be happy to clarify our policy directly with them.
Joe Gonnella
VP, Trade Merchandising
jgonnella @ bn.com
I link to just about every book outlet there is. Yes, one of my publishers asked me to link to the big bookstores and their own site, but it was a request, not a demand, and I would have done it anyway. I figure the more options available to readers on my site, the better. Why would I want a reader who hates Amazon to have no other easily-clickable choices, or to make him or her spend extra time going to their favorite site and hunting for my name?
Internet hyperbole aside, the situations are not analogous at all. B&N is doing business with authors, through their publishers. In choosing to stock a book, they are laying down money up front to obtain copies and, even with the returns policy, they are incurring an opportunity cost in not having the space in their warehouse/on their shelves for other books. In book publishing, like in many other industries, the content creator is responsible for the marketing, which the bookstore expects to benefit from. But if that marketing is sending readers to their competitor—well, why would they take the financial risk and stock the book?
Movie trailers don’t tell you to watch their movie at AMC. I suspect if one did, Regal Cinemas would decide not to show that movie. But many, many authors link only to amazon. Especially in online retail, where there is so little to distinguish competitors, that’s showing a crucial lack of support, and an endorsement of a competitor, on the part of the author. And why would you take a risk for someone who’s undermining you? Even if sales from the author’s website are only a small percentage of overall sales of the book, the website is a marketing tool, and only linking to one retailer is slapping all the other retailers in the face. Major faux pas. I think it’s a little naive to expect to be stocked at B&N in spite of something like that. I am not at all surprised that B&N is making representation on author sites a condition of stocking that author’s book.
Diana asked about what if there are no links to bookstores. My answer to that is, B&N probably wouldn’t get their dander up about it, but why would you do that? An author website is pretty ineffective at selling books if it doesn’t make it possible for readers to buy books. As for wanting to support only indies…oh, I think that would be a bad step for an author. You can support indies by doing events there, signing stock, telling your friends about it, but most book sales do not come from indies. To tell people not to do business with the people who generate most of your income is very, very bad business.
Courtney, that’s awesome!!!
Well I did get that email today. I had no idea it was B&N. As of this morning, I had NO links to my book (which isn’t out until Jan 5, 2010). But after getting the email to get it up there asap, I updated it immediately. New authors can’t afford to NOT have a major bookseller boycotting their book over a link. But I have another website where I feature a ton of books and I do make sure that I have not 5 but 6 of the major booksellers linked to each and every book.
While I understand their frustration in believing, and frankly, KNOWING that here, Amazon has the clear advantage. But as an author, Amazon was the FIRST online retailer that had my book out there for pre-order. The others trickled in about 6 wks – 2 mos later. I think it’s a natural instinct to put up the first retailer that has your book on their site.
This isn’t a retailer, but (http://isbn.nu) also helps you locate book sellers by ISBN.
Leaders33? Yes, please!
@trish
Amazon has a better user online interface, a better discount on just about every book I have bought, and better help/service. Unlike B&N, you don’t need to buy a membership at Amazon to get the full discount on an item. Amazon has the Kindle, while B&N is still lagging behind in the e-reader department.
B&N needs to spend some time looking inward to see how they can improve sales. Because you work at B&N and you want to keep your job, it would behoove you to help your company in regards to improving sales, instead of being an yes-woman to bullying tactics.
I guess nobody likes a bully and that’s why there’s such a reaction. I found the email quite unprofessional in tone, but it was sent by the publisher, not by B&N, and that’s where the frustration here seems to be directed. It sounds as if some hack threw around their weight at a publisher that in turn sent a hasty, poorly worded email to its writers (Mr. Gonella, you can totally find the person without forcing an author to out them).
I have to say in the history of odd things publishers have done or said to authors I consider this one a pretty low-key incident. A little quid pro quo seems like not much to ask – it’s a link, not someone’s blood or firstborn. If B&N funded some hateful purpose to which authors objected, that would be different.
Even if an author has to pay a webmaster to make a website change, publishing is a business and they should have a link to all of the major online bookstores and it was an oversight to not do that initially….am I the only one who feels like this is a tempest in a teapot? (yeah, I’m not one of the writers, I’m a business type so I rely on a stash of cliches, ok?)
I’ve heard about this problem for at least a year. I have a big website and e-mail newsletter to which representatives from Borders and B&N are subscribed, and my publisher tells me the reps get pissy when we only link to Amazon.
Sorry, but Amazon makes it dramatically easier to link to them and to buy from them. Also, the only rankings that matter are those at Amazon, so it makes sense for an author to drive all the sales there to increase the ranking of the book to get attention from people in publishing. You never hear anyone crowing about a book making it into the Top 1000 or Top 50 at B&N.
But, because of the pissyness and implied threats of less promotion in physical stores, we added links to all the majors (and some independents). It doesn’t matter though, because I see the stats and nobody clicks on those links anyway.
B&N should have been worrying about Amazon 10 years ago. It’s too late now.
Put something in this deal for the author, Mr. Gonnella. For example, tell us you will stock our (small press) books in your b-&-m bookstores if we provide the online purchase link on our websites.
Thanks in advance.
Deb,
You did notice that he said this wasn’t their practice, right? So there’s no deal in which to put something.
@Jessica Scott
Economic coercion is unethical, counterproductive, and history has shown that economic coercion doesn’t work. It’s not “just business”, it’s just plain stupid.
Without the full story, I woul dhesitate to start slamming B&N. I think anything like that can be used to tarnish a reputation when only part of the story is revealed. And this site has had some really harsh things to say about B&N in the past so I have to wonder about their reaction.
Reading through the comment thread, it’s good to see Joe Gonnella’s remarks, because having worked in the publishing industry for several years this strikes me as highly, highly, unlikely. While B&N would certainly like authors to include links (and why not? If the prospective buyer prefers B&N, why not make it easier for him to find the book?), there’s no way they would quit purchasing books with a profitable sales volume just because the author neglected to include such a link.
If anything, it’s the *publisher* who is making such demands in an effort to life their B&N sales volume, and placing the blame elsewhere.
Jason
Ummm quid pro quo anyone? BN barely carries high selling midlist authors for a month on bookstore shelves (sometimes they don’t carry them at all!) Why on earth should an author be FORCED to advertise for FREE for BN. The link on an authors site will stay up for months if not years providing free advertising for BN for some time to come, with BN offering nothing in stores for many authors,while the authors shell out money for website updates. It is one thing to say “Hey, authors, if you link to our site you might get more sales, that benefits YOU and ME. We’ll provide you the code and we’d appreciate it you’d use it” and another to say “We won’t carry your books…at all… if you don’t create a link” Authors are being held hostage all over the damn place.
I had to write this twice because the comment thing didn’t take my spam busting code…that tells you how PO’d I am over this.
Mr. Gonnella, you have your head in the sand.
This threat is perpetually implied by your buyers. Even if just in jest, it sends my publisher into panic mode. And then they get it from Borders, and Amazon, etc.
No publishers is going to send you a “memo” because there isn’t one. It’s strongly suggested—verbally. What do you want, a wire-tap?
Because it isn’t in your fucking corporate handbook doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
I’m married to author Patty Briggs, and maintain her web site. We made the decision, years ago, not to link to booksellers. Ideally, we’d like to encourage folks to buy from their local booksellers, and there’s no way I can maintain a list all the independents.
Most readers already know about B&N, Amazon etc. and I don’t think we’re causing her readers any harm by not having a link farm on the books page. Hopefully, by providing good content, we’re providing what the readers expect from an author’s web presence.
There’s not enough hard data here for me to panic just yet.
However, if we do receive an ultimatum I’m sure our response won’t be favorable. We can’t afford to face off with a bookseller as big as B&N, but we won’t be bullied either.
I’d probably either pull the entire site down.
I might also run it as “The Briggs Family Website”, rather than an author website. Wanna’ see pictures of my kitty? Oh yeah, and Patty finished a new book!
OK, somehow I skipped over Mr. Gonella’s comments earlier. I’m greatly relieved. I think authors should be able to concentrate on writing books, not marketing them.
I get irritated when I go to an author’s site and they have a thousand links to Amazon.com, and none to other booksellers. I can only imagine that other booksellers are even more bothered by this.
We’re going to continue promoting the books, and letting the reader decide where to buy them. I think this was a hot-button for me this morning because just wrote nice letters to a couple of persistent marketing firms informing them that I wasn’t going to clutter our site with their promotional gibberish regardless of HOW many folks they thought they could drive our way. Sorry for the rant!
Mike, I get irritated when I go to an author’s site, and there’s no link to buy the book at all. In fact, usually I just don’t buy it if I have to type in the url of my favorite online bookstore, type in the title, wait for the list to come up, then click on the page … all to get to a page most authors link directly too.
As far as pointing only to Amazon, right now Amazon has, by far, the best information to help readers decide if they want to purchase a specific book. I encourage my readers to actually buy the book at a local store (preferably an indie), but if they’re just looking for more information, Amazon is the quickest and easiest way to get it.
I’d love a better option. But right now, I don’t see one, and I don’t want to clutter up my website with links to umpteen different booksellers every time I mention a book.
P.S. Library Thing’s Get It Now page is supposed to roll out soon, and it might be the better option I’ve been looking for.
http://www.librarything.com/blog/2009/09/amazon-policy-change-and-how-were.php
As an author, I often hear complaints from other authors about the grief they get from readers who think e-books should cost hardly anything because, you know, they’re just a file and don’t cost anything, not like a “real” book. And then the author has to patiently clue the reader in on how little writers get paid in the first place and how publishing an e-book is not without its own set of costs.
So as a web developer, I was surprised to hear an author complain about having to pay a web developer to update her website. Should the web developer work for free? Updating a website takes time, and the knowledge to do it well takes many years to acquire.
Amazon.com provides the code that will add a link, including a thumbnail image of the book cover, to an author website. Does Barnes & Noble also do this? I think that would be a good place to start.
Catherine M. Wilson
whenwomenwerewarriors.com
Here is the link to our affiliates’ program:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/affiliate/index.asp?
Joe Gonnella
VP, Trade Merchandising
jgonnella @ bn.com
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