Amazon.com: Please Be More Open to Small Publishers

The New York Times today has a story explaining that Amazon.com has disabled the "Buy Now" button for a number of publishers who are disputing Amazon's distribution of revenues from online sales of their books.

Small publishers are an important resource, and a resource that is increasingly important as Amazon allows readers to reach further down into the available resources to purchase less popular titles. The books with small audiences of specialists can be very important for the function of our economy and our society. They also are likely to be more risky to publish, and thus to warrant a higher profit margin for publishers if they turn out to be successful.

I hope that Amazon.com will listen to its customers, reconsider its action, and return to the negotiating table with these publishers who have run afoul of its wrath.