French bookstore groups raise protests that books published at their own expense were selected as candidates for literature awards

By Arslan

A book self-published by Amazon's on-demand publishing service " CreateSpace " without being through an existing publishing company was selected as a candidate for the French literary award " Renodor Award ". It is an event that makes us feel the shape of a new publication indeed, but an organization representing an independent bookstore across France has raised protests against organizations that manage prizes and Amazon .

SLF: Syndicat de la librairie française | Le SLF alerte les jurés du Prix Renaudot sur les conséquences de la sélection d'un livre autoédité par Amazon |
http://www.syndicat-librairie.fr/le_slf_alerte_les_jures_du_prix_renaudot_sur_les_consequences_de_la_selection_d_un_livre_autoedite_par_amazon

French bookshops revolt after prize selects novel self-published on Amazon | Books | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/15/french-bookshops-revolt-after-prize-selects-novel-self-published-on-amazon

It is protesting that a group that represents French bookstores " Syndicat de la librairie française " (organization of a French book store) tells the judges who elected the candidate for the Renault award a threat to the book We should protect the book, not protect things. "

Amazon is listed as a leader in that "threatening a book". Amazon, which continues to revolutionize retailing, sometimes criticizes as destroying the existing publishing industry and its surrounding ecosystems. And the particular problem in this case is that the books published through CreateSpace are trying to win a prominent literary award.

In the 2018 Renodor Award candidate, 17 works are chosen, one of them, "Bande de Français" by Mr. Marco Coskas is a work in the midst of a whirlwind. According to Couscous who is an Israeli Frenchman, there is a certain reason why he had to announce this work at CreateSpace. All works published by Mr. Cocus in the past were published by existing publishing companies and were lined up in bookstores via traditional sales channels, but I would like to publish "Bande de Français" from any publishing company I did not get the intention to do. So Coskas said that he was forced to announce his work through CreateSpace.

CreateSpace is a service that binds books sold on e-book media like Kindle by binding on demand and selling them. Originally managed by BookSurge and CustomFlix startups, Amazon purchased both companies in 2005 and incorporated it into their service.

CreateSpace: Sell Your Books, CD, DVD Through Self-Publishing Services
https://www.createspace.com/AboutUs.jsp

As a result, it came to be chosen as a candidate for the Renault award, but if there is no mechanism of CreateSpace this work will not come out to the world, Mr. Coscus could not have been able to continue his activities as a writer It was driven to. However, from the bookstore side, there is a situation that Amazon sells monopolistically through CreateSpace, " You can not put a work that won the prominent prize at the shop ". A bookstore organization that decided that the situation could not be overlooked was said to have protested against Amazon, which is threatening the existing bookstore, as well as the Renault Award that chose books published in a way that was not a traditional mechanism That's it.

Bookstore organizations said about Amazon: "In addition to wanting to become the main entity of the book market, by excluding competitors, creating unfair competition, avoiding taxes, replacing publishers, agencies, bookstores all by themselves It is trying to be the market itself. " Also, to the operators of the Renault award, "adding Bande deFrançais" to the candidate list "It is disadvantageous not only to the author itself but also to the bookstore, which is the future of book publication and distribution It is an unlucky sign for Mr. Coskas "and claims that Coccas's work should be excluded from the list of candidates.

By Claire

On the other hand, Mr. Coskas said, "I am delighted and proud" about being elected as a candidate, and that bookshop groups are seeking to eliminate Mr. Couscous as "lack of fair play spirit, of course threatening There is a criticism. Coskas also insists that bookshop groups should not be angry with writers. On the handling of Mr. Cocus's book, he pointed out that the publisher who "made a mistake" is the one to be blamed, and further stated that there is a trend of "anti-Israel" existing in France It is.

Cocus also said, "I understand the situation the bookstore can not oppose the publisher, but it does not make sense to protest against Amazon they published my book, Amazon provides a much more flexible contract to the writer than publisher.In addition, Amazon does not give an opinion on the work, which is important, they do not concern the content I wrote. I will not ask for money for publication but will receive the margin when the book is sold. Do I need to complain about this situation? ", He gives an opinion to the existing publishing industry .