You can now get stickers that say "I didn’t buy it on Amazon," thanks to Stephen Colbert, who featured local author Sherman Alexie on his show Wednesday. Alexie says Amazon wants a monopoly over the book market, citing the ongoing battle between the retail giant and the publishing company, Hachette Book Group, as the latest offense.Amazon has frozen pre-orders on a number of Hachette books and stalled shipments during a dispute over ebook prices. The move is particularly harmful for new authors, who depend on pre-orders to determine the size of their debut releases, Alexie explained. As an alternative to Amazon, Colbert is partnering with Portland-based Powell’s Books to offer pre-orders for one of the affected novels on his website. Colbert’s audiobook “America Again” was one of several Hachette books subjected to delayed shipping times.In reality, both Amazon and Hachette are big corporations, Alexie contends, so rather than pick sides, he encouraged viewers “to be on the side of the authors.”"Good," Colbert said. "Because I was on my side, but I wanted to make sure."
Stephen Colbert, Sherman Alexie agree: "Boycott Amazon"
Republish Article
You can republish articles in print or online. Simply copy the HTML below, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline, and credit to Cascade PBS. Republishing of the photos or videos embedded in an article can occur only if the photo or video is a copyright of Cascade Public Media ("CPM") and not of a third party. Photos and videos that are a copyright of CPM are not required to appear in the republished article, but if they are used, they must be embedded where they appear in the original article and must include the attribution to the CPM photographer.
- You may reprint in any medium
- You may edit only for tense and timeliness
- If republishing in print you can edit for length if you follow our print republishing guidelines.
- You may write your own headline
- Include a byline and shirttail with credit and link to Cascade PBS
- Include our tracking pixel
- Remove if we ask
Our members' donations make local journalism happen.
Support once for $1
Support monthly for $7
- Cascade PBS Passport
- Mossback members-only newsletter
- Monthly Viewer Guide
Support monthly for $25
- Invitation to quarterly news and original programming video conference
- Annual in-person meet-up with news & programming teams
- Special event perks (reduced price or free tickets, cocktails, etc.)
By Marissa Luck
Marissa Luck is a Tacoma-based writer and editorial intern at Crosscut. She has previously reported on issues of activism, homelessness, and Olympia city news for Works in Progress and Olympia Power &
Marissa Luck is a Tacoma-based writer and editorial intern at Crosscut. She has previously reported on issues of activism, homelessness, and Olympia city news for Works in Progress and Olympia Power &