Bookstores ban Amazon titles

A number of booksellers have announced they will not stock products from Amazon imprints.

In a move that appears hugely short-sighted, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Indigo Books have said they will not carry Amazon published titles.  The American Booksellers Association's subsidiary, IndieCommerce, has also removed all Amazon titles from its database. Buyers will therefore need to go directly to the source and potentially pick up other books at the same time. Industry insiders have also warned this could force Amazon to push on with plans for more bricks and mortar stores.

Jaime Carey, Barnes & Noble's chief merchandising officer said: "Barnes & Noble has made a decision not to stock Amazon published titles in our store showrooms. Our decision is based on Amazon’s continued push for exclusivity with publishers, agents and the authors they represent. These exclusives have prohibited us from offering certain eBooks to our customers."

Amazon has partnered with one traditional publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which has agreed to distribute the print editions of Amazon Publishing's books through its New Harvest imprint. Those books, too, would not be welcome at Barnes & Noble, the publishing industry newsletter Publishers Marketplace confirmed.