How Hachette could fight back against Amazon

[Commentary] Amazon.com, in its zeal to keep book prices low, is in a large fight with Hachette -- the smallest of New York’s big 5 publishers.

According to the New York Times, it started with tactics to crimp Hachette’s sales and has now apparently led to the removal of many Hachette books including, ironically, the paperback version of Brad Stone’s terrific book on Jeff Bezos but far more interestingly, JK Rowling’s latest that is due to be released soon.

For Hachette, with its looming JK Rowling book launch date, there is opportunity. If people want to be able to read her book on their Kindle, Hachette need only provide it in .mobi format. Yes, that would leave them with the spectre of potential piracy but that exists anyway and the music industry has demonstrated that most consumers will take convenience over free anyday; especially curmudgeonly readers tied to their existing devices.

All they need to do is set up a site that allows people to pay and then click a ‘send to Kindle’ button. Not only will Hachette bypass Amazon but they can sell the book for less because they don’t have to pay Amazon’s commission.