Going Up Against Tech Giants

Dave Eggers said this before his new book came out. And he is truly doing it now. It takes writers with balls to do it. Not everyone will or can. But he is. He's making a stand against Amazon. However meagre these efforts might be, it is a humongous step for authors and independent bookstores. 

Published by McSweeney's (founded by the author), the hardcover of the new 'The Every' will only be available in independent bookstores. The paperback, published by Vintage, arrives six weeks later to every store, and along with it, the audiobook. The New York Times quoted him in an article published on June 9, 2021,

Eggers said that even distributing the book in a way that excluded Amazon was a challenge, because McSweeney’s usual agreement with its distributor, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services, prevented it from circumventing the retail giant. Vintage, part of Penguin Random House, would not be in a position to skip around them either.

As a consumer, I'm not sure whose side I stand on. To be very frank, I stand on the side that grants me the cheapest option on the Kindle (unfortunately, Amazon), or to borrow from the library (of which I wouldn't care where they get it from). I can't buy too many physical books now. So I'm constricted by physical space. If I don't buy e-books from Amazon, then I need options in order to support the independent bookstores. I won't be petulant and not get to read a book, or end up having to buy a hard copy. 

In an October 3, 2021 comment, The Guardian called it "taking a stand" too, and described it as a "typical move for Eggers". UK booksellers and the community seem to be pushing hard against the wave of Goliath tech in the industry.

They are pushing back against the dominance of online bookselling. They also have bookshops become venues and community focal points for reading events and as outlets to protect the reading public's mental health. 

Singapore, well, we uhhh.... don't have many physical bookstores left. We only have like three English bookstores, and Kinokuniya. The Chinese bookstores are still present, with some new ones sprouting. Most of us have shifted e-books methinks, buying hard copies only when we really enjoy a book or in support of an author. 

The plight of the high street bookshop, struggling against the power of the online giants, is a common complaint either side of the Atlantic. But not often do the prominent players, the authors and publishers, put their words into action and take a stand against the tide.

This month, Dave Eggers, the award-winning campaigning author, is to risk American sales of his new novel, The Every, by limiting access to the hardback copies. Only small bookstores will stock it.  It is a typical move for Eggers, who has long pushed back against the conventions of the industry, setting up his own non-profit publishing house, McSweeney’s, in 1998, two years before his breakout bestseller A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. But it is also something that fits neatly with the subject of his new book. A sequel to his 2013 hit, The Circle, it is a dystopian satire, featuring a company that looks much like Amazon.

The hardcopy is now out. I eagerly await the audiobook, and hope the e-book comes out along with it. Perhaps I'll buy the paperback if I like it enough. I can't wait to read the book. It's a sequel to 'The Circle' (2013). I have read and clean forgotten the story, so I need to re-read it before I get to 'The Every'. I have six weeks to do it. Heh.