Hitting where it hurts

Yesterday, on Twitter, a well-known author was advocating a boycott of a well-known internet retailer.

The story about the boycott is here. The well-known author is Mark Haddon.

Let me make it absolutely clear that I have nothing but respect for Mark Haddon. However, I'm not convinced that a boycott is going to help here.

After his initial tweet:

The Xmas anti-Amazon campagin is gathering momentum. They stand to lose £500,000  http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/20/amazon-anonymous-campaign-veto-christmas …

I responded with this:

Potentially much collateral damage on this one. Marketplace sellers, self-published authors to name but two categories.

He said:

No one is suggesting not buying any presents just buying them elsewhere.

Which, I hope you'll agree, I wasn't suggesting that anyone was suggesting. So I pointed out:

I wasn't suggesting that anyone was suggesting not buying presents. Just pointing out that boycott hurts more than just Amazon

He countered:

as does not boycotting amazon. but there is a good reason for resisting amazon before they eat everyone up.

And I wrote:

which is all very well if you have a publishing deal. self-published independent authors might feel differently

To which he replied:

amazon has a near-monopoly on the self-publishing market. so authors who self-publish feel feel more warmly about them.
that doesn't stop them being terrible employers & tax cheats who try & destroy anyone who stands in their way.

I felt the first of those was a little cheeky so I wrote:

it's difficult not to feel more warmly to an organisation that will help in your career than to those who ignore or condescend
...and mainstream publishers are very good at acting as though theirs are the only works of quality. amazon more open.
sure, their salaries are low and their tax is very 'efficient' - but that applies to a good chunk of the high street too
which is not to condone, merely point out that the competition doesn't exactly smell of roses either

And he finished with:

we should perhaps leave this subject for now. i'll be writing a lot more about it later in the year...

And me (too desperate for the last word):

I already had! I think you're one of the good guys. Just be careful where you wave that boycott stick.
Writing a lot more about it? If you want to write it as a debate, I hereby volunteer to put the argument for the defence.


I don't think he'll take me up on the challenge

...which is a shame because I think his position is deeply flawed.

And, simply because he's written a number of excellent and well-received books, doesn't mean that he should have more of a chance to influence the public perception of the state of retail than the next person (i.e. me).

But it sounds like he'll have the opportunity to write 'a lot more' about his view.

So I hereby repeat my challenge. Bring it on. Tell me how boycotting one company is going to help anyone at all in any way. And let me answer, point for point.


Here's a taster of some of the counter-arguments

You're going to have to accompany the boycott with a list of which retailers are acceptable and which ones aren't. We can't get everything from John Lewis, you know.

And I don't want to start rating companies for how well I think they treat their staff and whether their tax efficiencies are more or less aggressive than any other company's.


Retailers don't owe anyone anything

And it's a rather tired argument to suggest that any company should pay any more tax than it's legally obliged to. I'm not defending the position - but the change must come from government. You can't expect a company whose duty is to its shareholders to pay a penny more in either tax or salary than it needs to in order to comply with the law.

Some might do so. That's up to them.


Here's the cheeky bit

The boycott has to cut both ways, of course. If any author feels so strongly that they want to boycott a retailer - and wants to persuade others to do the same - let that author pull his/her own work from that retailer.

Otherwise, how can we take them seriously? If you expect customers to shop less conveniently and (perhaps) more expensively, then lead from the front.


P.S.

I don't mind whether you buy my books from Amazon, from me - or from any retailer you like the look of. All readers welcome and appreciated.

http://www.petertarnofsky.co.uk