Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

I very occasionally shop at Amazon, but only as a last resort. For online shopping, I go to Powells.com. Otherwise, brick-and-mortar.

I live in a very rural area with no bookshops, and 99% of my book buying is online. Even so, I haven’t felt safe with Amazon since, and have bought nothing from them. I’d usually spend about $70/month with them.

When I shop at Amazon, I generally use Amazon UK, which is logical since I live in Europe. I have only had a problem with them once, when they accidentally sent me a book I had not ordered instead on one I _had_, which they speedily corrected when I contacted them. Nor have I had any problems with the American branch when I have ordered from them.

These days I spend a lot more on e-books than I do on Dead Tree, which means I too often fall afoul of the “this book is not for sale outside USA and Canada” classification, which sucks. Badly. I want to properly buy the books I want, damn it, and not have to go look for pirate editions!!

Heh - “job76” - seems it is a full-time job finding someone who will sell me some of the books I want!

You didn’t give the option of a “less than I used to” button. I’ve not been buying new books from them recently, but for used books, if I can’t find something on eBay then as I think Amazon own Abebooks anyway, I’ve been searching for them at Amazon. I’d probably try Better World Books more often if the postage were cheaper to places outside the US.

The Book Depository seem comparable to Amazon in prices, and they do free delivery worldwide. I haven’t come across another bookseller which does that.

I stopped completely buying from Amazon after the latest debacle, but I’d already switched over to Bamm.com for most of my shopping and especially after the POD outrage.  Amazon started out as the underdog and from a business standpoint their strategy makes sense, but I’m deeply mistrustful of monopolies and that’s clearly what they are after.

I know DA changed back to Amazon links due to financial concerns, but BooksAMillion has a referral program too, why not try that instead?

Btw, the poll doesn’t work for me.

I didn’t vote because I’ve never bought from Amazon.

Reasons yesterday:
- I didn’t have a card I could use.
- I could have borrowed a card but got a headache trying to figure out delivery fees, and then was too outraged by them to actually order.

Reasons today:
- Now that I finally have my Visa Debit, I’ve been pointed in the direction of www.bookdepository.co.uk, which has FREE DELIVERY WORLDWIDE. Not only that, their prices are lower than the internet bookstores that I’ve used before. What’s not to love? I can buy books one at a time as they catch my fancy, instead of waiting to buy in bulk* to save up on delivery fees… Impulse shopping!
——- If I bought Kresley Cole’s Kiss of a Demon King today from amazon.co.uk, I’d pay €10.76 [Estimated conversion from £9.17 (£4.19 plus £4.98 delivery to Finland)]** If I buy it from The Book Depository today, I pay €5.53. Hmm, let me think, do I pay €10.76 or €5.53? That’s a whole book I can buy with the difference! (Depends on book, of course, but still!)

*Delivery fees mentioned have been by order.
**Price details from the little window at The Book Depository.

Note. I do have plans of buying from Amazon Marketplace through amazon.de (once I’m walked through the procedure, my German is nonexistent) to fill in gaps on my bookshelves, books that cannot be found new anywhere. (And I’ve tried!) Apparently the delivery fees will be €3/book, which I can probably live with since these are books that I’ve been hunting for for years, and will hopefully be of really low price. (Don’t I wish!)

I do, but like ghn it’s Amazon.co.uk. (Just in case that’s relevant.)

I have not purchased books from Amazon since the ratings debacle.  However, I have acquired free Kindle books (I have a Kindle app for the ipod touch) and family members have bought books from my wish list for my birthday.

Yep, I was pretty angry and vocal when this went down, but I did choose to return to them. Nobody is as convenient as them, and I have a Kindle to feed.

Also, they made me a Vine member, and it’s hard to walk away from a handful of free things per month.

I know that if something similar occurs, I might have to make a hard decision. I’m hoping it was a lesson learned.

I used Amazon only once before the brouhaha for a book I couldn’t find anywhere else, and haven’t been back since—not entirely due to Amazonfail; I simply find the site too large and unwieldy for comfort, and with dial-up it takes forever to find anything.  I have an account with B&N online and get some decent deals there; I also give considerable business to the local used bookstore.

Where I live, Amazon is one of the few options I have - bookstores stock few romances, and many online sellers won’t ship here, or will only do so for ridiculously high prices (not that Amazon is that cheap, but at least their rates are not as bad).

I don’t think what happened with Amazon justifies my giving up on buying books in general and romances in particular, or buying them from companies that overcharge.

ms bookjunkie, is http://www.bookdepository.co.uk for real? I just had a look, and the prices & no shipping charge seem too good to be true (-:

Yes, but in Japan.  Amazon is really the best option here for getting books in English, especially in the rural area I live in.  Although The Book Depository sounds interesting and I’m going to check it out!

Yes Rose, the Book Depository is for real. I buy many of my books from there, both fiction and reference books. Good prices, free shipping, and fast delivery - usually just a week to my regional town in Australia.

I haven’t bought anything ffrom Amazon for years.

I never stopped, believing the debacle to be the work of a few stupid employees and not worth punishing a whole company for, especially since the cries for boycott began before the company was even given a chance to investigate or explain. That’s my $.02.

the poll doesn’t seem to be working for me, either. I’m in Firefox, if that matters.

Thanks, Bronwyn! I’ll definitely give it a shot, their prices seem much more appealing than Amazon’s.

Maybe I look at the whole episode in the wrong way but I feel like notshopping at Amazon gives the moral-police-zealots a WIN and puts romance and erotic romance back in the dark—- again. So yes I use Amazon when it works for me.

My goal is simply to get the books I want while supporting the authors whose work I enjoy or want to try for the first time.

My book buying behavior is the same as always: I use whatever seller is the least expensive and has the best deals on delivery charges.  Borders .com & Barnes & Noble .com offering discount coupons and shipping discounts so my shopping dollars go where the price is right.

Is the poll working?

Nope! If I can’t get it for my Sony Reader, I either go to the library or Borders.

Whenever I can, I buy from B&N or Borders on line. In fact, I seldom use Amazon even to browse any more. To those looking for older books, B&N also has listings for used books from sellers. I don’t have a Kindle. If I buy an ereader, I’ll go Sony or that new CoolEr either DA or SBTB linked several weeks ago. At the moment, with the drop in price of the iPhones, I might just have to go that way….Decisions , decisions.

Is the poll recording votes but not showing the results?

It’s difficult.  I mean, I want to support independent booksellers.  But then I go to ENORMOUS, famous indie bookstores like The Tattered Cover in Denver, and they have 30 romance titles.  Maximum.  In a weird, difficult to find part of the bookstore.  Their “sustainability” section was twice as big.  I felt disrespected as a reader.

When I walk down the 16th Street Mall to Barnes and Noble, who has an entire wall of romance novels, I feel catered to.

I still buy from Amazon.  Like Beth, I never felt the fury over the Amazonfail episodes.  I also buy from Borders and Borders Marketplace, and from brick-and-mortar, just as always.

I use The Book Depository for the overwhelming majority of the books I buy online - they have great prices, free world wide delivery, fast shipping and a good costumers service. I’ve been very happy with them and have not bought books from Amazon since discovering TBD - mainly because Amazon’s international (UK to Belgium) shipping rates are relatively high if you buy rather cheap paperbacks like romances.

I do buy DVDs and CDs from Amazon and have overall been quite pleased with them.

@Rose: Try it. Just once. I dare you! *BG*

The only issues, depending where you are, might be VAT or Customs. I haven’t had any problems yet. *knocks on wood* Also, the price fluctuates a bit, according to the £/€ exchange rate I guess.

youre67:  No, actually, I’m not. Not even half that age. I just feel like I’m 67.

ms bookjunkie, I will definitely buy from them next time. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction (-: I’ve also forwarded the link to various friends and relatives.

I’m in Israel - no VAT or customs for orders under $50. I just need to figure out which currency would work best for me against the shekel.

this is off the subject, but i just put three lines into a manuscript i sent to my editor.
in your ass saving your life
run, your vagina is haunted,
and shaved the bush to make the tree look taller.
they’re not exact quotes to avoid copyright issues, though some of the terms undoubtdly are open for public use, anyway. surely, someone else has thought of that bush line.
i don’t know if the editor will have a problem with the changes or not. i’ll let you know if any of the lines get published. love your work, keep up the good job.
friday’s video of literal version of eclispe of the heart was so funny i showed it to mom. she loved it.

When you can’t get a free delivery option if you spend enough, then somewhere like The Book Depository is great (free delivery all the time!).  I buy lots from them.  Occasionally Amazon.com is cheaper, even with delivery, for something very specifically American (a large quilt book was one, recently).  TBD is usually faster, too, about a week vs up to six weeks for Amazon.  I’ve never had a bingled book from TBD, and have from Amazon (they did replace, but that’s another loooong wait - and I think they’ve sharpened their act recently).  There are more reviews etc at Amazon.

For Australian online bookbuyers, a very handy tool is at http://booko.com.au/  It c.ompares prices (including delivery) in Australian dollars from a whole bunch of international and local online book sites.  It also lets you check the delivery if you are buying multiple books from a single place.  I usually check TBD as well, even though it’s listed there, as occasionally it doesn’t show up.

So how is the exchange rate for TBD with American dollars? Is it still cheaper than Amazon?

i haven’t been buying from there and look for other options. Since I never drank the Kindleaide, I feed my Sony addiction instead. There are still some authors I do buy in paper or collections I need to complete. So any way to get them cheaper is always good.

“So how is the exchange rate for TBD with American dollars?”

The Book Depository’s website has an option at the top right-hand corner which allows you to choose which currency you want to view the prices in (the choices are UK pound, Euro or US dollar). You choose the currency in the drop-down box and then click on the flag to make the change.

“is it still cheaper than Amazon?”

The website gives comparisons with Amazon.co.uk’s prices, but it doesn’t give comparisons with Amazon.com’s prices. I suppose if you selected the US dollar option on the Book Depository site it would be easy enough to compare its price with Amazon.com’s if you were looking for a specific book.

I look elsewhere, but I do still shop at Amazon if it’s the cheapest option.  I prefer to support authors/publishers by buying new, but I’m a grad student and can’t afford to pop into regular bookstores.  I have been using it less than I used to, though, and have tried a variety of other websites, but none have matched up yet.

I have several affiliate links that I use and no one ever seems to buy from anywhere other than Amazon, so I would suspect most people are still doing it.

I still shop Amazon…. not super often, as I check the library first, and the used bookstore near my house is pretty good for romance (but not much else), but with the economy, I can’t really justify paying full price for books these days.  Plus, I maintain a wish list there, and with the free shipping, its cheaper than driving.  In a perfect world, I would support indie bookstore and be entirely consistent in only supporting awesome companies, but….

Have never been a fan of Amazon.. just never been able to justify the postage to OZ and have always managed to find it elsewhere. So really can not comment on this issue, but did want to thank the posters for the booko site and the Depository site links..
weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I no longer buy books there. I do still buy their DRM-free mp3s and some household stuff.

I shop at Amazon only if I can’t find the book I want anywhere else.  I work at a library so that is always the first place I check.  I prefer to patron locally owned bookstores rather than Amazon.com but the locally owned book stores can’t often give you decent deals/sales.

Of course I shop at Amazon.

I could drive five miles to Borders or B&N, but they might not have what I want. Or I could drive 25 miles to the nearest independent bookstore, but they don’t carry romance novels at all.

In addition, many of the books I want qualify for Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion, and I always buy enough to get free shipping.

I don’t pay any attention to Amazon’s ratings. Maybe authors do, but I don’t know any readers who do. In fact, I didn’t know the ratings existed until people started getting all bent out of shape about them. Of the things in this world to get upset about, this strikes me as pretty far down the list.

Well, I’m among those who never stopped for a few reasons: I have books and CDs listed with them as a seller. So even though I make very little money, I do make enough to buy a new book now and then and I’d hate to lose any income I can get in this economy.

I also bought the Prime membership for myself and my family and it’s been awesome and I hate to lose out.

And well ... they fixed the problem, apologized and didn’t act like major asshats about it even if they were lying which we’ll never really know for sure.

I have no problem buying MP3s there, but I’m still debating whether I want to use them for books.  (In the meantime, there’s my friendly neighborhood library….)

I never stopped shopping at Amazon.  Like Beth, I thought the AmazonFail fiasco was a bit of an over reaction.  I never used rankings though so it never mattered to me.  Plus, as someone else said, I have a Kindle to feed….

The best part of #amazonfail is that I discovered BetterWorldBooks.com - good prices, free shipping, independent bookstores/libraries and you can purchase carbon offsets!

That said, I’ve been shopping Amazon to get pricing for various houseware items and I used some credit I got for Christmas to get the latest Jacqueline Carey, but I’m going to try not to be back.

Also, can you just have a couple of sets of links for books? Like Book Title by Author (amazon link indieworld link). That way folks can choose where they want to buy from.

Like Beth and Sandra, I never stopped.  I’ve worked for too many companies over the years where a few people’s screwups got publicized way beyond realism to get in a huff over something until I am sure of what happened.  I don’t have a local local bookstore that stocks romance, but my favorite indie, which is about an hour away, is my preferred spot to buy books (http://www.posmanbooks.com/ - they have a dreadful website, but their store is great with a huge wall of romance nicely categorized).  If they don’t have it, or I am not going to be in that area I look at Borders locally before I shop at Amazon for a book.  But the fact is, Amazon has things I cannot get at either of those sources.  Plus, I have a Kindle, and as well as the other reason I might buy (or download free) things for my Kindle, there’s the “shop at 3am when insomnia hits and I have nothing to read” aspect.

Validation: really25 ... oh, not in years, honey!

I prefer Barnes & Noble because the shipping is much better (faster & reliable), but if B&N is out of stock I go right to Amazon.com and find it quickly and at a good price.  I still shop at Amazon, but they are not my first choice.

I haven’t bought books at Amazon in years—with the membership, coupons, and free shipping, B&N online is by far the better option for me. But Amazon is an aggregator of so much “stuff” that I do frequently look at them for all types of online purchases, and sometimes wind up buying. I don’t think I’ve actually bought anything since the whole #amazonfail debacle, but it wouldn’t stop me if I wanted to.

consider37: I consider 37 purchases on Amazon for every one I make.

Yup. Still shop at Amazon—but not for books. The only dead tree books I buy any more are directly from the author at signings/events, and I don’t have a Kindle.  I buy ebooks directly from the publishers ‘cause I know that’s the venue providing the highest return for the author.

Amazon gets my business for stuff I can’t find locally—like specialty low-carb goodies. :)

I stopped shopping at Amazon before the recent case of #AmazonFail. Basically, I decided that I would rather a) support my local independent or b) buy books through ereader.com to read on my iPhone. In fact my iPhone is what stopped me from originally investing in the Kindle. I just hate the idea of carrying around several electronic devices when I have one that can do it all.

I missed the #amazonfail, but Amazon used to be where I bought 100% of my books. Over the last year, however, I’ve become increasingly more irritated with them. It started with a few newly released books taking ages to ship. Then it became everything taking ages to ship. Then they changed shipping times on the “free shipping” option. Basically, if you wanted free shipping (especially for new books), you could plan on waiting 1-3 weeks for them to actually get into the mail. I found it pretty funny that the processing time was extra-long for “free shipping,” as if there’s something more difficult about processing those orders. More like a deterrent.

I decided it was just easier to go get my books at a local store. However, since Buy.com has a similar shipping option and none of the massive (intentional) delays, I may start buying there when I need to. As is stands, Amazon is only an option for stuff like marketplace items and the occasional college text book that I can’t find cheaper anywhere else. Maybe when I have some moolah to rub together, I might take advantage of their 4-for-3 program again, but only for books I’m in no hurry to read.

http://www.rainydaypaperback.com/—this is my rec for inside the US—great, GREAT place to buy used Romance books. And, best of all and unlike Amazon, they ship for FREE if you order $25 worth of books. They’re friendly on the phone and that’s my solution.

I still use Amazon for very very obscure OOP Regencies: no one has better prices and a larger selection. Once in a while I combine Amazon orders with a CD I want and throw in a new book. Also, in lieu of spreadsheets and such, I use Amazon wish list as the place to keep track of books I want: usually just clicking over from AAR or where ever.

Frankly, I don’t pay any attention to the various brouhahas—I will say one thing about Amazon though: for the most part I do NOT respect the reader reviews, especially if there are hardly any.  It’s all too easy for a Friend of the Author to slip in a 5 Star “Oh My Gawd, the best book since P&P”. Yeah, right.

About Tattered Cover: super store—sold me an autographed Harry Potter before anyone had ever heard of the author—but 30 romance books? That’s gross. And I have a great bookstore in my neck of the woods too: Book Passage—when it comes to romance, they’re pitiful. Great for mystery, new authors, travel, everything it seems but romance so why would readers want to go to indie stores that by in large, I’m sorry, treat us like pariahs?

(My type-in code: found87: I doubt I’ve found 8 indies with decent romance sections. What REALLY pisses me off even more than indies are UBSs that are snobby about carrying used Romance books ... oh and then have shelves and shelves of SF. Like SF is so much more respectable? Give me a break. Not to criticize SF but really ... )

For eBooks (which means any and all fiction I can get in eForm) I’m a FictionWise girl. For anything else it’s Amazon all the way. It’s fast, reliable, cheaper than brick and mortar, and I don’t pay sales tax or shipping. Though Amazon does sometimes manage to an epic #fail, it’s mostly full of win for me as a customer.

And unlike B&N, when Amazon says something has a 2-4 week wait, they actually mean it. It’s been 8 weeks since I ordered such a book from B&N (because I got a gift certificate) and not so much as a note explaining the delay . . . talk about #fail!

I shop Amazon, but NOT for books.  My discounts at Barnes and Noble and Borders are about comparable, and I’d rather shop at a bookstore.  If an indie has the book and I can get it for a reasonable price, I’ll choose that over Amazon any day.

Like another responder I’ve noticed that my shipping time from Amazon gets longer and longer.  When it comes to books I am an instant gratification gal and hate to wait weeks for a book. I have surfed the other sites mentioned above to find a replacement for Amazon.com but I have a difficult time browsing their selections as compared to Amazon. I try my local bricks and mortar stores and a not-so-local used book store but can have a really difficult time finding older titles- and by older, in many cases we’re just talking 3 or 4 years. I carry a list of SF and romance titles in my purse of books recommended on SBTB and other sites but unless it is a brand-spanking-new title I have to resort to Amazon to find a copy.

I use Amazon more than ever for a few reasons - one I though the whole amazonfail thing was a ridiculous overreaction by a mob mentality with little relationship to reality.  And as a librarian who knows a little bit about online book databases, well I know all too well how easy it is to miswrite a little code and lose a whole bunch of stuff. 

My other big reason for using Amazon is that they have always had the best prices, best service, and best shipping options for me.  As a grad student for the last many years, all that really matters. 

Finally, now I live way out in the middle of nowhere, with a not very well stocked grocery store, no bookstore of any kind for over 40 miles, and now I have a Kindle (which I really really love).  I buy lots of grocery type stuff, esp things like environmentally friendly paper towels and dish washer detergent and rice noodles - all things I either can’t get nearby or would have to pay ridiculously high prices for.  I also continue to buy books, love the option to search for used books when it comes to textbook buying time, and I buy stuff mostly for my Kindle now whenever I have a little extra book money. 

Altho I occassionally buy from Powells, their selection is much more limited, prices are higher and it takes them forever to ship stuff. Plus it comes by US mail and that delivery person leaves my boxes in very strange places that I sometimes can’t even find.  UPS and Fedex never do that, which matters when you live somewhere where its either freezing cold, snowing or raining most of the year. 

On a slightly related topic, I think the new Kindle DX is awesome and is going to be perfect for the academic market.  All the faculty I know (who are interested in things like that) are very interested and many are considering buying - the ability to natively display PDFs without changing anything is huge all nearly all journal articles and even most textbooks come in that format and they have to see the charts, graphs, etc.

I didn’t vote but the answer is “only as a last resort”.  I live in a very rural area and the nearest bookstore is 100+mile (one way) so for years the majority of my book buying was online.  When ebooks arrived on scene I was estatic - no more paying for shipping, no more waiting for shipping (which Ami would send out within two days of order, but could sit in a warehouse somewhere for 2+weeks at times), but then along came the Kindle. 

I don’t like the Kindle, I don’t like the price of the Kindle, I don’t like that Ami only sells ebooks in Kindle format.  So - I don’t buy from Ami, unless it is a book that I want in paper and can only find there. 

Now, I still rely on Ami for other things - again with the rural, I do most of my gift buying online and have it shipped directly to the receiver from there - Ami is great for that.  But books?  Nope, I can get better deals and better pricing and more format options at other places. 

About the whole #amizonfail thing?  Way blown out of proportion IMO.  Before the days of internet and instant messaging, things like this occurred and the company had a chance to correct the error before it became public knowledge.  Now, almost before the company knows the error has been made, it is a huge deal on the internet.  Sometimes mistakes just happen because someone hit the wrong button. 

@JanetW - before I moved to the middle of nowhere, I lived in a civilized area that had two Rainy Day (used) Bookstores in my general area.  I still dream about the hours and hours I would spend roaming those aisles and sampling their wares.  Love, love, love Rainy Day Books.

I’ve never used Amazon for books, except to research what’s out. I usually shop BN, or in the case of ebooks now, fictionwise or the publisher’s direct website.

Last Christmas though, I spent a good chunk of money on Amazon for gifts for all my nieces and nephews; two of my sisters even requested it, since they find the return policy easy if something goes wrong. The free shipping, low prices, and HTF items made it nice for me. Unless some new entity emerges offering similar deals, I may end up doing the same thing this year.

I also use Amazon as a very last resort, if I can’t find the book I want anywhere else. But I often go on to Amazon to see what’s available, not just in books but all kinds of merchandise, and I LOVE the reader reviews for books, I read the one star reviews for popular books when I’m in the mood for a laugh. Some of those reviews are just hilarious.

I still buy from Amazon those titles I can’t get elsewhere, which means out of print books from the Amazon sellers.

I’m very enthusiastic about The Book Depository and perhaps their affiliate program could be of use to you: http://affiliates.bookdepository.co.uk/affiliates/index.php

I did take ‘less than I used to’.  I shop BN more now.  I have no independents.  Oddly, I am using Paperback Swap more than I used to as I’ve slowly learned the good traders and how to slip around the ‘wish list’ system of FIFO.  Today I sip out 17 books and I have 11 on order.  I have prders coming in from Amazon, BN and directly from 2 different publishers for books not available at either and too expensive at Alibris. 

I went nuts in BN’s discount section getting some historical fiction.  All hardcover books and all under $5 each!  Remaindered books are my happy hunting ground that kind of offsets all my ‘I can’t wait for it’ hardcovers.  AT least, as a member of BN’s club, I do get the extra 10% and I get frequent discount coupons.  BUT they charge me sales tax, and Amazon does not.  With the amount of buying I do, it matters.  In many ways, that gives Amazon an unfair selling advantage.  I do price shop, and their 4-for-3 promotion constantly.  But I get newly released mass market cheaper at BN with my 10% compared with no discount at Amazon.

I use Better World Books now, and I can’t say enough good things about them.  Fast shipping, selection and prices rivaling Amazon (books only, of course) and you can buy used without having to deal with potentially smarmy individual sellers.  They’ve also sent me tea and chocolate with my past orders, and they donate proceeds to promote world literacy.  Now THAT is bitchin’.

I don’t buy anything from amazon (.co.uk OR .com) any more. I’d been getting more and more frustrated with them, and amazonfail was the last straw.

I buy my new books from The Book Depository (cheaper, faster, better service) or a shop in town (fopp, Waterstones, borders, etc) and , my OOP or older books from ebay.co.uk (some real bargains to be found, and postage is NEVER as high as amazonmarketplace [£2.75 for a 99p book!?! Ha!]) or I go trawling in usedbookshops.

The only other things I bought from amazon were cds/dvds , which I now get from fopp - comparable-ish prices, instant gratificationand some electronic stuff - usb drives, headphone extension cords, and so on, but I buy them from the shop I work at now. A few more pennies in our till, to help in these rather trying times!

I get a lot of my presents (birthday, etc) in the form of amazon gift cards, so you can say I still buy at amazon.

I suck, I know.

I don’t know what amazonfail is so I can’t speak to that.

I buy very few books new these days, but I do sell some of my stuff on Amazon and buy used there when I can’t get a book from Paperback Book Swap (which is my preferred option).  If I am going to buy new, I will go to Ye Olde Bookstore (not an actual name) in person.

The only time I buy from Amazon is if someone gives me a gift certificate.  Several years ago, Amazon started advertising to buy books used and put a pretty obvious button right up there along with the new book sales.  Some people decided to sell ARCs so used copies were available on the first sale date of a new book.

RWA, on behalf of members, asked if the service could at least move the Buy Used button a little further away and pretty much received no response.  So, on behalf of my published friends, I did all of my online buying at BN.com.  Yes, I know that BN.com also offers used books as an option, but at the time it wasn’t as obvious.

I’m not crusading against UBS.  In fact, the UBS stores often introduce someone to an author they’d never read.  All I ask is that we authors at least have a chance to sell a new copy and earn a royalty. 

It might have been Amazon’s rudeness that got to me.  In the end, however, I don’t need more than one online bookseller, so I remain with BN.com.

I live in the middle of the Florida Keys.  The closest full service new bookstore is over an hour away in either direction.  The local half bookstore/half health food store has a horrible selection and the owners don’t know anything about stocking titles.  It’s deplorable.  I can pick up new books at the supermarket, but the selection is very limited.

When I go “off the rock” to the mainland, as I did this last weekend, I frequent bricks and mortar stores.  Rang up $88.00 worth of books.  The stash should last me a while.

This brings me to a new rant.  I didn’t realize that Nora Roberts’ new series is coming out in trade-size paperback.  Of course I bought Vision in White anyway but I was surprised at the move to publish a more expensive version when it could as easily have come out in mass-market size and price.  No wonder this title never appeared at the local supermarket.  It doesn’t fit their racks.  Now I need to conduct an informal survey to see if the book is also not stocked at CVS or Walgreens.  I wonder if this will impact sales.

Given that it’s a Nora book, probably not.  :-)  We who are Nora fans are not easily deterred.

I only ever shopped at Amazon.ca once, and I got lousy service, so I never went back. I tried Chapters/Indigo instead and got great service, so I use them almost exclusively. The only exception is when I buy direct from the publisher or from an Indie for signed copies. For the most part, the prices at Chapters are better anyway, so I probably wouldn’t buy from Amazon even if their service wasn’t as spectacularly bad as my experience was.

I’d be grateful for a summary of the Amazonfail. I take it they did a blanket banning of books or something?

Scrin, there’s a Smart Bitch summary here. There are more details at Dear Author but I’ll just extract a little bit of that DA post:

For those who don’t know, Amazon has decided to derank and then remove from front page searches books labeled “erotic” and GLBT. For example, books that are about Lesbian parenting have been identified as “adult content” and deranked. Patti O’Shea’s book that is listed “erotic horror” despite having only one sex scene has been deranked and removed from front page search results. Amazon has deranked Annie Proulx, E.M. Forster, but not American Psycho. Mein Kampf and books about dog fighting are ranked and can be searched from the front page, but not books about gay love or books with erotic content.

This and a number of other Amazon controversies are listed at Wikipedia.

I expressly stopped shopping at independent bookstores when they were nasty at me about romance novels. I’d rather shop where no one’s going to sneer at me while they are holding their hand out to take my money.

Amazon is my go-to if I am forced to buy paper. Otherwise, it’s E all the way.

If the Amazon affiliate link is easy to put up, why not just add it and for those who still shop at Amazon, we’ll continue to click on it.  For those who choose not to do business with Amazon, they don’t have to click it.  I mean at the end of the day, I’d rather click on the Amazon link and have you guys get some money out of it - if only to support the increasing cost of stamps for your awesome giveaway contests….  Just my 2 pennies.

Can I vote for Barnes and Noble??????? they have great quick service, and I use their site more than Amazon - its easier to browse…...........

I just wanted to say that at the Independent bookshop I work at, if it is a book, we support you! We actually have a customer who really started reading for pleasure about 8 months ago, starting with Stephanie Laurens, and she is in almost every week, every staff member knows her by name (and most know her by voice on the phone), and who cares that they are (sometimes cheesy) romance novels? they are books!

So to the people who feel slighted by their indies, they should find their favorite romance novels, bring them in, and ask some of the open minded staff members to read them, and if they don’t find them fun and perfect for escapism, THEN they can be snooty!

I love romance novels, though I also read regular fiction and non-, and yeah, I still love Romance Novels. (which is why I own the SM,TB book!)

I used to buy all my books at Amazon, but not anymore. I still use their site when looking up books though.

Recently I bought 3 books from Borders online. On Amazon they came out to $26+ and qualified for free shipping. At Borders they came out to $24.68 with shipping.

I’ve noticed people mention the free shipping for spending over $25 at Amazon, but pretty much all the big online book stores are doing that now. Books-A-Million does it, Borders does it, and Barnes and Nobles does it. They’re reliable, they deliver and they comparably price their books.

I understand it’s useful to have a nice easy link, but why can’t the people who are annoyed by you not linking to amazon go to amazon themselves and search the book in question?  It’s your right as a blogger to avoid advertising for a company you disapprove of just as its their right as a consumer to shop where ever they want.

I think I’m lucky in my local used bookstore - about a third to a half of it is romance novels!  (The mystery section is also large; I’m also a mystery addict.  Especially historical mysteries.)

Nora has an entire shelf all to herself, LOL.

I stopped buying at Amazon after #amazonfail, which was the final straw for me in terms of their monopolistic tendencies. I buy books at B&N during the week (three blocks from my office) or from a local independent. I have no compunction about ordering romances at independent stores. If they sneer at me, I sneer right back about the overwritten prose of Rick Moody. *g*

While I felt sympathy for the authors affected by the rankings debacle, I didn’t get on the whole #amazonfail wagon. I bought a Prime membership before all that happened and it’s saved me so much money and I get all my purchases in two days now. Not just having to wait the standard longer time for the free shipping w/$25 purchase. When it comes to that, in this economy, there’s no contest.

As for things taking longer to ship now from Amazon, I suspect, though I certainly may be wrong, that they may be doing so to save some money. So when I did use the free ship/$25 option before, I noticed it might take them a day or two longer to get the package to my door. I was really not surprised given the economy. No matter how much money any company makes, it’s almost always smart to save money if they you can. At my own job, we’re not even allowed to overnight packages anymore without written approval from our accounting department. They claim it’s already saved us a lot of money. And I’d rather a company adjust their shipping speeds (and me get my package a little later) than hear about them having to cut jobs to save money. And I know doing just that might not save their employees, but enough money saving might.

I was glad when Amazon apologized, but those that feel opposite of how I did certainly had their own reasons for distrusting all of it. To each their own.

I tend to shop in person (lucky me!) at Powells Books so I didn’t vote.  But honestly, I would still buy at Amazon.  They screwed up, but I don’t think they’ve crossed over into hopeless evil, and I do believe that buying from them and making your feelings known still influences them.  Better to have that power from the inside.

I tried Barnes and Nobles for Naamahs kiss because of the “fast” 3 day shipping at reasonable cost . Still waitng day #5 LOL. Honestly I have no problem with you linking to any source that benefits the site the most. As for the time involved in multiple links, I bet there are techy fans of smartbitches that would work for free or for a smart bitch title banner thingy LOL . You’re a famous author now outsource the grunt work !!

I cut back on my Amazon purchases long before #amazonfail because of their bad Buy Blue rating.  B&N is rated very high, so if I’m buying books or other media online, I buy from them.  I have a membership and usually buy from them when I’m visiting a brick and mortar store, also, since our area formerly-independent bookstore was bought out by Books-a-Million over a decade ago, anyway.  The only reason that I chose “less than I used to” rather than “no” is that I will buy from Amazon if I absolutely can’t find an item for sale anywhere else, not that that happens often.

I just want to share that I buy a lot of books from Amazon based on recommendations from posts and reviews I see here. And, since I enjoy this site tremedously, I am all for you guys getting a share of the $$$ I spend.

I, too, have stopped linking to Amazon.com as a direct result of #amazonfail and I won’t link to them again until they apologize for the loss of sales of not only my books, but thousands of others’. However, since it has now been 2 months since they “glitched” and there has been no acknowledgement of the problem they caused, I doubt I’ll be linking to them any time soon.

To those of you who cannot get books directly from my publisher’s site…Use whatever site you must. It isn’t your fault technology reaches only so far! But I urge everyone to support their local independent bookstore, even if that store has never carried the types of books you want in the past. Time to make your voice be heard so they know what customers truly want! :)

(captcha: reported36 ...okay, who’s ratting out that I’m actually older???)

I don’t care if Amazon made a mistake with a code or if it was intentional or if only a few employees made the mistake.  I feel like it wouldn’t have hurt the company to issue an unambiguous apology and assurances that this won’t happen again.

It is a big deal, but I still shop there because they have the cheapest books.  I’m glad smartbitches doesn’t link to them though.  I really do appreciate that.

I buy a box of books once a week from Amazon. I feel that pretty much every bookstore in the Greater Boston area - independent and chain alike - has cashiers who judge romance readers and find us beneath them. Sure I shouldn’t care what cashiers think of my tastes, but, regardless, it’s unpleasant to be criticized, even if it is ever so subtly done.

Nobody smirks at my vampire romance when I buy through Amazon, and cashiers all but hug and praise consumers of GLBTQ literature around here - since we’re in head over heels love with gay rights in MA - so I’m going to feel it’s an even trade and not feel a whit of guilt over patronizing Amazon.

I also thought the whole Amazonfail thing was a massive overreaction, though Amazon reacted kind of poorly to it all as well.

Does anyone use ABEbooks.com?

I find it’s easier to find exactly what I’m looking for.  And you can shop by dealer.  But it’s mainly used or rare books.

RonHogan just twittered (twatted?)

Completely OT but my other half insists that “twatted” is the appropriate past tense for tweet… LOL.

I’ve never shopped at Amazon because I prefer to shop as locally as possible.  Even though chapters. indigo. coles. smith. everyflippingbookstoreincanada.ca is a ginormous chain, at least it’s still (so far as I know) a Canadian chain.  Support local jobs and all.

That said, amazon.ca is much more navigable, and I like the peek inside option.  And the Indigo ebook screen just makes no sense.

I’d rather buy books in person whenever possible. I only buy off Amazon when I can’t find the book in person, and usually I am getting really obscure research titles a few times a year. I haven’t bought since amazonfail, but given the sheer practicality of it all I doubt I’d ban buying from them for that. They are just the most convenient, period.

Yes, I still do some shopping at Amazon, usually for items that aren’t available through my local bookstores, chain and independent. 

But since the majority of my reading is now done through my Sony e-reader, I tend to do most of my buying through Connect and directly from some publishers, such as Baen books. 

My second choice, when a download isn’t available from anywhere, is my bookstores.

Third is my bookclubs, such as Rhapsody and Mystery Guild and Doubleday.

Amazon is last on the list.

I shop from whomever has the best price and availability, sadly that is usually Amazon

Does anyone use ABEbooks.com?

I’ve used them for years, but it must be noted that they’re now owned by Amazon.

I understand it’s useful to have a nice easy link, but why can’t the people who are annoyed by you not linking to amazon go to amazon themselves and search the book in question?  It’s your right as a blogger to avoid advertising for a company you disapprove of just as its their right as a consumer to shop where ever they want.

I think it’s also about the small % that they earn via said link. It helps offset the ginormous cost of running a site like this (this is the same issue Dear Author had). If they’re posting a link nobody uses, they get no revenue.

If it’s an older book that I’m okay with waiting until I can find it at a used book store, I’ll wait.  Otherwise I use Amazon, both because it’s easy and because it is cheap.  I too frequently qualify for Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion, and I always buy enough to get free shipping.  If you posted a link here I’d be sure and use it for my many purchases.

At one point I did think that maybe I was using Amazon too much when I called their helpline and the gentleman said, “Oh, you are a frequent customer, aren’t you?”  Then I reminded myself that one can never have too many books and went on my happy way.

I live in a (very) rural area, so amazon.ca is my go-to for bookstore purchases, after our mom-and-pop bookshop (RIP Persnickety Books, who were NEVER rude about what books we bought, thank you) shut down when the owners moved back to Newfoundland to retire. A friend of mine says amazon.ca and amazon.com are two very different companies, so maybe I’ll return to shopping there, because I do so miss the convenience and the prices, but lately I’ve been shopping through indigo.ca and the chapters people, which has been alright, I suppose.

What I’m saying is that YES, #amazonfail was enough for them to lose my business, even though it is annoying and inconvenient for me to shop elsewhere, as someone who lives hours away from the nearest Chapters, or even the nearest mom-and-pop bookstore.

I forgot to mention earlier that another forum I belong to has tried for over a year to enter the B&N affiliates program, and has been denied each time. Amazon’s revenue, on the other hand, has saved their/our bacon more than once (meaning, the forum is still viable mostly thanks to that income).

So if amazon links keep the bitchery alive… go for it, ladies. Pragmatism and all that

Personally, I don’t see the big deal.  If they have what you want you buy it.  If they don’t then go elsewhere.  Frankly, I’m going with whoever is cheapest.  I can be moralistic and stand up for others issues when the economy isn’t in the tank.  I know that may be harsh but it’s where I stand atm. 

BTW why would the rank matter that much?  I mean if you know you’re going in to buy something why would you care the rank?  If you were simply browsing why would you give two shits what others think about the book anyway?  Can you not read the synopsis on your own?

I was totally appalled by #amazonfail, and in solidarity with authors who lost their ranking, I gave up on Amazon.

But still, I use Amazon’s Look Inside feature to preview a book, then I pick up the phone and order through my independent.

I’ll admit, I’m addicted to audible.com, which is owned by Amazon. Anyone know of an independent online audiobook seller?

I live in Germany and the local Amazon is my only way of getting pretty much any English language book I want at reasonable prices and with free shipping. The foreign language book sections in the local bookstores are often small and frequently skewered towards books/genres I have no interest in. Special ordering English language books at the bookstore (which is what I did pre Amazon) is more expensive than Amazon and the orders can take a long time to arrive.

It’s not that I wouldn’t like to be able to shop at Powells, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository or any other Amazon alternative, but only Amazon gives me free shipping and I don’t have to deal with the exchange rate hassles and the credit card company charges extra for foreign currency.

So if boycotting Amazon for their crappy behaviour regarding GLBT books means buying fewer books at higher prices, I choose the books anytime.

I canceled an order and haven’t used them since the fiasco, but… for treebooks, I’ll still use them. Most of my reading list is eBooks from Fictionwise or Baen Books, anyway. For eBooks, Amazon is teh suck.

BTW why would the rank matter that much?  I mean if you know you’re going in to buy something why would you care the rank?  If you were simply browsing why would you give two shits what others think about the book anyway?  Can you not read the synopsis on your own?

It mattered because removing the rankings meant that the books didn’t turn up at all in the results of searches done from the main page, so it looked as though they weren’t available. If you knew to search specifically in the book category, they did turn up, but a lot of people (and I include myself in that number) usually just search Amazon using the searchbox on the main page, without bothering to specify that the item sought is a book. Usually this isn’t a problem, but at the time of this incident it was, and authors may well have lost sales because it looked as though their books weren’t available.

It’s not that I wouldn’t like to be able to shop at Powells, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository or any other Amazon alternative, but only Amazon gives me free shipping and I don’t have to deal with the exchange rate hassles

Cora, the Book Depository say they offer “Free delivery worldwide on all our books” and in the top right-hand corner of their main page you can choose the option of seeing their prices in Euros, which would presumably eliminate any “exchange rate hassles.”

Living   in the UK &  trying to get my hands on   the sort of deliciously trashy books that I enjoy is well nigh impossible.
So for me,  Amazon is a necessity; &  in all fairness I’ve always had fantastic service from them.
Like most of us who read   purple prose,  lust in the dusts,  bodice rippers…...call ‘em what you will. I’ve been sneered at by the best. From librairians to spotty 20 somethings who are going to spend the next 7 yrs carrying The Satanic Verses around, making out they’ve read it ( Don’t bother,  it’s   truly,  mind blowingly awful )
Amazon have definately cocked up,  big time…...but,  they’re   still going to have my custom   for the foreseeable   future

The independents in my city would not lower themselves to carry romance!  I am lucky that a new Borders was just built within miles of my home, but I can still usually get better prices at Amazon.  I had to break up with my local BN a few years ago.  They could not seem to get books on the shelf on their street date.  When I want my book…I want it now!  I am lucky enough to have access to Amazon Prime, so I can’t beat a 4 for three deal with free two day shipping.