Book retailer Books-A-Million has joined with Barnes & Noble and notified DC Entertainment that they are removing the 100 graphic novels from their shelves that DC plans to sell exclusively through the Kindle Fire. The move follows B&N’s actions last week, when the national bookselling chain announced it would cease to sell the books because of DC's exclusive deal with Amazon.
On September 30, DC announced a plan to sell 100 of its topselling, classic graphic novel backlist titles exclusively through Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet. While the deal was apparently only intended to last for four months, it’s causing DC a lot of retailing headaches. B&N objected strongly to the move and has removed the 100 graphic novels from the shelves, citing a policy that it will not sell a book unless it can sell it in all channels.The 100 DC graphic novels include some of the most acclaimd and bestselling comics works on the DC backllist.
Now Books-A-Million is following suit and removing the 100 DC graphic novels from its shelves as well, until the books are made available to all retailers in all formats, digital and print. Books-A-Million operates about 211 stores in 23 states.
In a release issued by Books-A-Million, president Terry Finley said, "due to DC Comics plan to sell the digital format of their top 100 graphic novels exclusively through Amazon’s Kindle Fire, BAM Stores are currently removing physical copies of these titles from our shelves.” Finley said that supporting any publisher that “selectively limits distribution of their content,” is not in the interest of BAM customers. “We will not promote titles in our stores showrooms if publishers choose to pursue these exclusive arrangements that create an uneven playing field in the marketplace.”
