News and views from the award-winning author of the novels The Skinny Years, America Libre, House Divided and Pancho Land

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Wal-Mart & Amazon price war reaches AMERICA LIBRE

The battle between Wal-Mart and Amazon has escalated to more than just "marquee" authors. An hour ago, I learned Walmart has undercut the listed price of my novel AMERICA LIBRE by 19 cents, making Wal-Mart's the lowest price for my novel on the web.

Although this is a boon for readers, they should also know that if this price war keeps up, many independent bookstores may be driven out of business -- and the brick and mortar chains may not be far behind. Also, the chances for a new author to get published in this kind of environment become infinitely more staggering than they already are.

While I welcome anything that makes books more accessible for readers, I think this may prove to be a short-sighted approach that ultimately hurts everyone. There truly is no such thing as a free lunch.

Raul Ramos y Sanchez