, the Authors Guild, American Booksellers Association, and Open Markets Institute urge the FTC to look into Amazon’s “monopoly in its role as a seller of books to the public.” The three organizations accuse Amazon of dominating “almost every aspect of the book market,” citing data that the company sells over 50 percent of all physical books in the retail market, 90 percent of physical books sold online, and over 80 percent of all ebooks on the market.
As alleged in the letter, Amazon’s dominance in the publishing industry, plus its full control over the bookselling process, means “nothing is stopping it from using its control to harm publishers, booksellers, readers, and authors as it continues to line its own pockets.” Amazon, which first started out as a website for selling books, has grown to become a major player in the publishing industry, creating its own Kindle e-reader and operating a self-publishing platform.