December 28, 2004
Never seen a bandwagon I didn't jump on
Amazon.com is in disgrace among progressive lit-bloggers; I assume that Amazon.ca, to which I usually link, is more or less the same company. If anyone knows of any reason why they should get a reprise, speak now or ... well, speak later. In the meantime, I will find other links for books. I wish there was a Canadian equivalent to Powels or Booksense; it seems only marginally better than linking to Amazon to link to Chapters. Maybe I will just link to the publishers, and (tacitly) encourage any interested readers to order books through their local independent bookstore, should they be lucky enough to have one. I try to give most of my own business to our university bookstore: it is independently run, by wonderful people who read and love books themselves. A resource we need to appreciate and protect.
Scribbled at December 28, 2004 07:42 PM AST | Hmmm? (6) | TrackBack (0) | Link Cosmos | More? books/readingThanks for this - it helped move me off the fence about becoming an associate for Amazon. I always felt uncomfortable about their undercutting the local booksellers, yet I'm a sucker for a good deal, especially the free shipping. You might check out ABE Books, based in Victoria BC and now international - http://www.abebooks.com/
Scribbled by Marja-Leena at December 28, 2004 09:53 PM | PermalinkFor Canadian lit, I'd recommend Northwest Passages (http://www.nwpassages.com). Of course, I'm a bit partial as I helped found it in 1996 and am still one of the people who runs it, even though I now live and teach in the US. NWP is an independent online bookseller that specializes in Canadian fiction, poetry, drama and lit crit. We operate out of Kamloops BC.
Love your blog.
Paul
Scribbled by Paul Martin at December 28, 2004 11:33 PM | PermalinkI'm not rushing to cut off my Amazon links, mostly because I know that visitors simply use it as a convenient way to see what I'm talking about. I really don't see any of the big chains as better than the others, unfortunately -- they've all colluded at the death of local booksellers, political donations aside.
It's nice that you have a good bookstore at your institution. Treasure that because it is rare!
Scribbled by Ancarett at December 29, 2004 08:47 AM | PermalinkThanks, both of you. I hadn't known of Northwest Passages, Paul. Marja-Leena, I had heard of Abe Books but had thought they only sold used books. Thanks for getting me to take another look.
Scribbled by mj at December 29, 2004 08:50 AM | Permalinkmj
What about linking to the catalogue of a teaching institution or a public library?
Or linking to a page of links where you offer readers a choice of avenues to pursue? You could incorporate comments about which of the avenues you favour.
I know that this is not the same as linking directly to an entry about the book or CD or whatever you may be discussing. It does however bring home the politics of distribution. I think, if I read the entry correctly, you are aiming at sensitizing readers through your own linking practice.
There are also those readers that may use the site of a big online distributor much like Books in Print. Not to order but to consult. Of course those readers are also likely to conduct a search while keeping your enlightening entry at hand (close to eyes and ears).
Thanks for reminding me of the distance between the pointing and the purchasing.
Scribbled by Francois Lachance at December 31, 2004 10:58 AM | PermalinkYes, Francois: I'm looking to sensitize readers, I suppose, but more, to reflect my own politics. Too bad Books in Print is a subscriber service. I think I will stick with some combination of the publishers' and/or the authors' pages. But I like your idea about offering different avenues; perhaps a mini-project for the sidebar.
Scribbled by mj at December 31, 2004 12:45 PM | Permalinkhttp://webteam.unb.ca/cgi-bin/MT-2.21/mt-tb.cgi/1191
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