海角大神

TV host Stephen Colbert, whose book is one of the titles currently being delayed for shipping by Amazon, joined the fight against the online bookselling giant in a recent episode of his show.

In May, customers noticed that Hachette titles like Colbert鈥檚 鈥淎merica Again鈥� were listed as taking weeks to reach customers (鈥淎merica鈥� would currently take two to four weeks to reach a reader, according to Amazon鈥檚 website). Hachette and Amazon were apparently involved in negotiations at the time and Hachette spokesperson Sophie Cottrell told the New York Times that 鈥渨e are satisfying all Amazon鈥檚 orders promptly鈥� and that Amazon was delaying shipments 鈥渇or reasons of their own.鈥�

Soon customers also observed that upcoming Hachette titles like 鈥淭he Silkworm鈥� by Robert Galbraith, J.K. Rowling鈥檚 pen name, were no longer available for pre-order and customers only had the option of signing up to receive an e-mail alert when the title became available to buy in advance.

Amazon recently released a statement on the dispute, saying that 鈥渢hough we remain hopeful and are working hard to come to a resolution as soon as possible, we are not optimistic that this will be resolved soon鈥� and that 鈥渨hen we negotiate with suppliers, we are doing so on behalf of customers.鈥� The company went so far as to say that if customers needed a Hachette title, 鈥渨e regret the inconvenience and encourage you to purchase a new or used version from one of our third-party sellers or from one of our competitors.鈥�

When Colbert discussed the issue on his show, he compared Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� villain Lord Voldemort and said that Amazon taking off pre-order buttons 鈥渉as pushed me past my tipping point. I think. Because I'm still waiting for my copy of Hachette author Malcolm Gladwell's聽鈥楾he Tipping Point.鈥欌��

The host said he had 鈥渁 little package鈥� for Amazon from himself and other authors like Rowling and Gladwell and proceeded to raise his middle fingers at the camera.聽

Colbert then chatted with writer Sherman Alexie, who shares a publisher with Colbert and whose book 鈥淭he Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian鈥� is currently listed as taking between one and four weeks to reach customers. Alexie is also a longtime advocate for independent bookstores.

Alexie referenced the book delays when he told Colbert that he is 鈥渏ust happy to be here. If Amazon was in charge of the travel, it would have taken me two to five weeks to get here.鈥�

When Colbert asked Alexie what 鈥渨e as the victims鈥� could do about the dispute, Alexie said, 鈥淣umber one, you don鈥檛 shop there for anything.鈥澛�

Alexie鈥檚 other solution centered on a specific book. Writer Edan Lepucki鈥檚 debut novel 鈥淐alifornia鈥� is being released in July by Little, Brown, which is an imprint of Hachette, and Alexie pointed out that the current Amazon-Hachette standoff is especially rough on first-time writers. Colbert then asked fans to head to his website to buy 鈥淐alifornia鈥� through Oregon鈥檚 Powell鈥檚 Books 鈥渢o prove that I can sell more books than Amazon.鈥� Colbert鈥檚 influence is already being seen 鈥� Lepucki鈥檚 book is currently the top-selling title on the Powell鈥檚 website聽

Colbert is also offering stickers on his site that read 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 buy it on Amazon."聽