Into The Deep

From: Book Porn

In a few years all the United States Government has to do to ban books (new books, at least) is shut down Amazon... which, from recent disclosures about the NSA's arrogation of the "interwebs," wouldn't be very difficult.

"Yesterday Amazon.com quietly began discounting many bestselling hardcover titles between 50% and 65%, levels we've never seen in the history of Amazon or in the bricks-and-mortar price wars of the past.

     The books are from a range of major publishers and include, for example, Inferno by Dan Brown, which has a list price of $29.95 but is available on Amazon for $11.65, a 61% discount; And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, listed for $28.95, offered at $12.04, a 58% discount; Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, listed at $24.95, available for $9.09, a 64% discount; and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, listed at $17.99, available for $6.55, 64% off. A notable exception is The Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling, using the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, which is discounted 42%….
     Some have speculated that Amazon is also emboldened to engage in dramatic price cutting—which hurts traditional bricks-and-mortar stores and feeds consumer perception that a fair book price is lower than its cost—by the Justice Department's victory against five major publishers in the e-book agency model case as well as Wall Street's acceptance of continued losses by Amazon for now in the expectation of retail domination—and major profits—eventually."
— Shelf Awareness
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