By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
When Dean Koontz's book contract expired last year, his stature
as one of the country's top-selling authors made him a hot target
for several major publishing houses. He chose Amazon.com Inc.
It was a surprising move because it means his new books likely
won't appear in retail stores, which generally boycott
Amazon-published titles. But Mr. Koontz is banking on Amazon's vast
retail machine to get his work to readers, whether in physical or
digital formats.
"Maybe I won't be in some stores or make the New York Times
best-seller list, but I'm willing to take that risk and I think
we'll sell more books in all formats," Mr. Koontz said.
Amazon dominates the U.S. book-retail market -- accounting for
over half of all new books sold in October, according to research
firm Codex Group -- but it is also a force as a book publisher.
Signing up blue-chip authors like Mr. Koontz could make the tech
giant an even more formidable threat to the traditional industry,
led by publishing houses such as Penguin Random House, which is
controlled by Germany's Bertelsmann SE, ViacomCBS Inc.'s Simon
& Schuster and HarperCollins Publishers, which is owned by Wall
Street Journal parent News Corp.
Mr. Koontz's first novel for Amazon is expected to publish March
31. He already has published a collection of short stories,
"Nameless," that generated over a million downloads in the first
month after its debut last November. The stories are available only
as e-books and audiobooks.
Mr. Koontz, whose over 100 books include hits like "Odd Thomas"
and "Watchers," isn't the only high-profile writer Amazon
Publishing has snared. In 2018, Patricia Cornwell signed a two-book
deal; the first novel, "Quantum," was published last October and
enjoyed brisk downloads despite poor reviews. Both Mr. Koontz and
Ms. Cornwell are in the top 25 of all currently published U.S.
adult fiction writers, as measured by the size of their most
dedicated fan bases, according to consumer surveys by Codex.
Amazon Publishing already has 16 imprints in the U.S. churning
out titles from thrillers to romance novels. Rival publishers
expect competition for top talent to heat up further, now that
Amazon's initial big-name signings have proved encouraging.
The fact Amazon is both a book publisher and the dominant book
retailer is unlikely, on its own, to raise antitrust issues, said
several legal and media experts. Current antitrust laws are meant
to increase consumer welfare, so Amazon's low prices act as a
shield.
"When prices are low for the customer, that improves consumer
welfare even if it puts out of business people who are charging
more," said Gregory Arenson, an antitrust lawyer and partner at
Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP.
Mr. Arenson said Amazon might be in violation of antitrust laws,
however, if it is using its platform to provide an advantage to
books it publishes that it doesn't provide to other book
publishers.
"Amazon offers all publishers a variety of marketing programs,
including adding titles to subscription programs like Kindle
Unlimited, Amazon First Reads, and Prime Reading," a spokeswoman
for the company said.
Amazon can promise writers a big paycheck, agents say, and a
powerful e-commerce platform and marketing tools to promote sales
of their work. That is an appealing package, including to
established authors who have had declining sales but still believe
their best days are ahead.
"Quantum" sold only 6,000 hardcover copies through Nov. 23,
according to NPD BookScan, a unit of NPD Group Inc. A spokeswoman
for Amazon Publishing says the book has "reached approximately
600,000 readers across print, audio, and digital sales and
downloads."
Even when premier writers remain under contract elsewhere for
their novels, Amazon can develop ties with them on other projects
such as exclusive short works, and eye a larger deal down the
road.
"They are playing a long game with a lot of authors, and yes, it
worries me," said a senior executive at one of the largest
publishing companies.
Amazon isn't "aggressively hunting big-name authors," said Jeff
Belle, vice president of Amazon Publishing. But it is cultivating
relationships with writers, he said, and is willing to "write
checks for great content."
The downside for high-profile authors of tying up with Amazon is
that Barnes & Noble Inc. and independent booksellers shun
Amazon's books. It is possible Barnes & Noble could change its
approach under the new management team that took over after hedge
fund Elliott Management Corp. acquired the retailer last
summer.
"I am surprised that there is an overt policy at Barnes &
Noble to boycott and generally would not personally be in favor of
this," James Daunt, the bookseller's chief executive, said last
month.
For Mr. Koontz -- who has sold more than 500 million books
world-wide -- the opportunity to reach new readers through Amazon's
extensive promotions was too good to ignore, he said.
"We had seven or eight offers, but Amazon offered the most
complete marketing plan, and that was the deciding factor," said
Mr. Koontz, who is 74.
The pact Mr. Koontz signed last spring with Amazon Publishing's
Thomas & Mercer imprint ended his long relationship with Bantam
Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, the world's largest
consumer book publisher. A spokeswoman for Bantam Books, which has
published more than 50 of his works, declined to comment.
The six "Nameless" short stories, which feature a vigilante who
suffers from amnesia and doesn't have any fingerprints, sell for
$1.99 each. Subscribers to the Amazon Kindle Unlimited service can
access them as part of their membership, as can Amazon Prime
users.
Mr. Koontz says another reason he signed with Amazon Publishing
is because he enjoyed close ties with audiobook publisher
Brilliance Audio even before it was acquired by Amazon in 2007.
Mr. Koontz's success with Brilliance Audio caught the eye of
Julia Sommerfeld, editorial director of the Amazon imprint Amazon
Original Stories, who suggested working together. The novella that
followed, "Ricochet Joe," was published in December 2017
exclusively as an Amazon e-book and audiobook.
"There was no paperback, no hardcover, but hundreds of thousands
of people read it with their e-readers, and he was well
compensated," said Richard Pine, his literary agent.
The ability to reach new potential readers was also a key
attraction for Ms. Cornwell, best known for her novels featuring
fictional medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Ms. Cornwell signed a
two-book contract with Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint in
2018. Her most recent Kay Scarpetta novels had been published by
HarperCollins Publishers.
"She's not scared of shaking it up," said Ms. Cornwell's agent,
Jeremy Barber, a partner at United Talent Agency LLC. "She believed
she'd be able to access new and different readers via this
platform." HarperCollins Publishers declined to comment.
Ms. Cornwell's "Quantum," the first in a new series featuring
Captain Calli Chase, a NASA pilot, scientist and expert in
cybercrime investigations, disappointed many readers, with 35% of
the reviewers on Amazon.com giving it one star.
The author said she is undeterred. "I'm building a new audience,
and yes, I'm getting kicked around in reviews, but I know what I'm
doing," she said.
Ms. Cornwell didn't anticipate the emotional impact of not
seeing her new novel in bookstores. "It's depressing when you don't
see your book anywhere," she said. "It's not fair, and it's not
right."
Ms. Cornwell is working on a sequel titled "Spin" expected to
publish this year.
Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at
jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 14, 2020 19:58 ET (00:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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