Small Publishers Association Backs Booklocker Against Amazon

SPAN, the Small Publishers Association of North America, has publicallty taken a position in favor of Angela Hoy’s BookLocker suit against Amazon for its insistence that small and self-publishers use Amazon-owned BookSurge for printing if they are to receive favorable listing on the online retailers sites. The announcement, titled
Amazon/BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit Campaign describes how and why their Board of Directors voted to support the class action antitrust lawsuit, BookLocker.com, Inc. vs. Amazon.com, Inc.

But they went much further than offering support; they also started a campaign to “generate public pressure to compel Amazon to reverse its policy.” Included in that campaign is a How can I help? page that lists five things each one of us can do, starting with signing a petition.

SPAN is a significant organization whose mission is “to advance the image and profits of independent publishers through education and marketing opportunities.” Founded in in 1996, they have well over 1,000 publishing members whose books range from single books to over 800 titles. If you’re self-publishing you should consider joining.

So far I’ve signed the petition, sent Jeff Bezos an email with a cc to Span (even though I had to take the time to remove the extra spaces from the email addresses, and now I’m spreading the word. I urge you to do at least as much, and when you do, let us know here too if you will.

Oh, and thanks again to Angela and her Amazon BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit Clearinghouse and their pointer to SPANs decision.

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