your 900th blog post on Macmillan v. Amazon...

I don't need to summarize it; if you care about this particular fracas, you already know. My sympathies are mostly with Macmillan, as they have the right to overprice their ebooks if they choose, and while I think the graduated pricing plan is a poor idea, Amazon's bully tactics and bad faith make me disinclined to champion their cause.

That said, there are a lot of people screaming about boycotts and protests, and frankly, that's not helpful. While Mom and Dad fight, the authors for Macmillan's imprints suffer. That includes a good percentage of the science fiction genre, as Tor Books is part of Macmillan.

Look, we authors have no control over 90 percent of what happens to our books after they leave our hands. We accept this fate because we have no choice. But despite Amazon's cute little blog post that they will "have to capitulate" to the price set by Macmillan for Macmillan's own product, they have not restored the books - including print books - for the authors.

As John Scalzi points out here, authors are freaking. And rightfully so. Amazon is a big source of retail - at least half my vampire sales come from them - and if I were with Macmillan I'd be drinking myself into a stupor.

So if you care either way, buy the books of Macmillan's authors. Buy them at Borders or Barnes and Noble - hell, find them at your local independent. B&N's online store prices only about 50 cents to a buck more per book than Amazon. The authors have absolutely no say in this particular fracas, but they will be the ones to starve while it sorts itself out.

Help them stay alive until Mom and Dad kiss and make up.

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