Well here's a fresh approach. Is the plea a publicity-angle, or is Clarke genuine. It will certainly bring him media hype - I just wish I’d thought of it…Author Jaime Clarke's new novel "Vernon Downs" will be available on Amazon in April of 2014, but readers can get a copy this December. His request: Buy it straight from the publisher, not from Amazon.
In his Web site Clarke encourages us to back indie publishers and ignore the hostile cost-cutting campaigns of Amazon that, he says, are good for consumers but damaging to the livelihood of publishers and authors.
Clarke is co-owner of an independent bookstore in Boston.
"As a bookstore owner, I see small presses come and go -- they usually publish a book or two and then fold after running out of money," Clarke writes. "For many small publishers like Roundabout, Amazon accounts for a large portion of sales, but the publisher realizes very little of the purchase price owing to Amazon's discounting policies."
