Publishing Perspective's Edward Nawotka
thinks that Hachette's CEO strategically choose to get the fight with Amazon out on the public eye.
I think it was smart of Pietsch to take his fight with Amazon public. Maybe it wasn’t Pietsch himself — maybe the order came from France, from Arnaud Noury of Hachette in France, or perhaps someone higher up at Lagardere (it’s no secret there is no love lost between the French and Amazon)? Either way, it doesn’t matter. If you want a general in this war, Pietsch is your guy [...].
The fact is that this has now become a war of words. And for this reason alone I think it was in Hachette’s best interest to make their disagreement with Amazon public. They made the battleground into a place where they have a natural advantage.
Amazon, which is reticent to speak publicly or with substance about any issue with true importance, has already proved itself clumsy with words. To wit: its embarrassing misquotation of Orwell…While it’s not a fatal blunder, it is revealing.
And the fact of the matter is, if publishers can’t themselves win a war of words, they are doomed as it is.
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