The online retailers that are selling copies of upcoming books such as Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” and Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” are now saying “not so fast.” Apparently they wanted to draw folks to their websites with the offers of $9 copies, but have decided not to let buyers treat them as a wholesale outlet. This just in from the Wall Street Journal:

Two weeks after an online book price war broke out among giant retailers, the three stores involved—Walmart, Amazon and Target—are limiting the number of copies their customers can buy.

The limits will stop other booksellers from scooping up cheap copies in large quantities and reselling them.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has limited its online customers to two copies each of certain bargain books. Amazon.com Inc. has a three-copy maximum on certain discounted titles and Target Corp. has a five-copy limit online.

Does it have anything to do with the American Booksellers Association’s letter to the Department of Justice? Or did they just decide they were going to lose too much money? At $9 a book, other booksellers (and libraries) could buy the books more cheaply at Amazon or Target than they could from the publishers.

Meanwhile, a very informative and clearly written item at the Huffington Post helps explain how the book business isn’t just a simple matter of supply and demand. William Petrocelli, who identifies himself as a bookseller, author and lawyer, says that the online retailers are indeed trying to drive other booksellers out of business and that it can have major effects on who gets published:

There’s a big difference, say, between 500 buyers all buying for their own stores and one chain-buyer purchasing for 500 outlets. Buyers for independent stores tend to cancel out each other’s mistakes; no single error in judgment can sink a prospective literary career. But when the system is dominated by a small handful of powerful buyers, their decision can make or break a book. Often, there is no appeal from such a decision. One of the dirty little secrets of the book business is that publishers often check in advance with the buyers for the chain stores and mass merchandisers before agreeing to publish a book. If the answer they get is no, the book may never see the light of day.

One of the ironies of the current price war is that it includes The Lacuna, the latest novel by Barbara Kingsolver. But Kingsolver wasn’t always a best-selling author. When her first novel The Bean Trees was published in a modest print-run in 1988, independent booksellers recognized it as a literary treasure and sold thousands of copies. After that the chain stores climbed on the band-wagon, but without that first push from independent booksellers Kingsolver’s career might never have taken off.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-petrocelli/not-a-simple-price-war_b_336233.html

The only thing I disagree with is the implication that future Barbara Kingsolvers won’t “see the light of day.” The fact is, one doesn’t need Random House to get published. There are ways to get published and read. Whether that means well published - complete with advances and royalties, good editing, promotion, book tours, etc.  - is unlikely, however. For St. Louis’ independent booksellers’ views on the current online price war, see earlier post.