I came across a bit of news this week that should be of interest to anyone interested in the publishing industry and how Amazon is changing it. Recently, some of the biggest chain bookstores, including Barnes ‘n Noble, Books-a-Million, and Canada’s Indigo Books, have decided they will no longer sell Amazon books. This news, which I first read on AWP’s website/newsletter, came after Amazon announced it had begun its own publishing program, which could present yet another major challenge to bookstores and the struggling publishing industry. The article states that, “Amazon has cut out the traditional system of publishers publishing books and then working with booksellers in order to market them. Amazon, which already created a lot of stress for publishers with its decision to produce Amazon-exclusive e-book titles, now publishes and sells its own books and major publishers and retailers don’t want any part of it.”
The bookstores aren’t alone in their protest over this. The American Booksellers Association has made its subsidiary, IndieCommerce, remove all Amazon titles from its listings. IndieCommerce provides indie bookstores access to the latest titles via an online database. Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor has reported that Amazon plans to open its own bookstores based on the model of the Apple stores.
If Amazon does expand its publishing house and also opens bookstores, this certainly could drive more bookstores and publishers out of businesses. If we eventually live in a world where Amazon is the main publisher and seller of books, what impact will that have on allowing for a variety of voices in literature? I seriously doubt Amazon would take a chance on a young, experimental writer. Furthermore, bookstores, especially indie ones, provide something Amazon does not-community. Local bookstores are where writers and poets go to do readings and sign books, and local bookstores host other events for all ages, including lectures and workshops. I simply don’t foresee Amazon bookstores being as friendly to local communities as indie bookstores or even Barnes ‘n Noble.
Brian Fanelli 
About fifteen years ago I remember arguing with a friend that Amazon would be to bookstores what Wal-Mart was to local hardware stores. At the time, small bookstores saw the big chain bookstores as the more immediate threat, and maybe they were right. But now the big chains are being crushed in turn by Amazon.
It looks like your prediction was right, Harold. If Amazon’s plans for the publishing house and their own store goes through, I really don’t know how the chain bookstores will compete, let alone the few indie bookstores remaining. We already lost the only indie bookstore in my community, and then we lost Borders.