David vs. Goliath: One woman’s fight against Amazon

A battle is heating up between Amazon and a major publishing house, and a woman in Connecticut is hoping to affect the outcome by boycotting what had been her favorite place to shop.

Ardelle Bryant Cowie says Amazon had been her first choice when she wanted to buy anything – from cedar oil to a toaster oven. And she loves to read.

“I was an early adopter of Kindle. That’s pretty habit forming, so I’ve been whetted at the hip to Amazon all these years,” says Cowie.

Her Amazon library contains hundreds of books.

So, when she heard that the Seattle based internet retailer was pointedly delaying the delivery of books from Hachette Publishing, like those by best-selling authors JK Rowling and Jeffrey Deaver, Cowie was appalled. Amazon has also posted banners at the top of the pages for some Hachette books suggesting customers buy a book from a different author.

While Amazon is not commenting on the situation, the New York Times reports Amazon is trying to squeeze more money out of Hachette for the sale of their books. But, the publishing house is standing their ground.

And now, they’ve got Ardelle Cowie standing with them.

“It seemed to put authors caught in the middle. I don’t think they have any ability to negotiate on their own, so they’re suffering between whatever’s going on between Hachette and Amazon,” says Cowie.

On Friday, Amazon decided to stop selling some of Hachette’s books altogether, including JK Rowling’s latest novel “The Silkworm.”

If Cowie’s interested in that title, she’ll just look to Barnes and Noble. it hasn’t been easy to make the switch to the Nook e-reader, but Cowie says it’s worth it.

She has sent a message to Amazon letting them know she’s boycotting them, but says so far she has received no response.

“Part of my strategy was that I would put things in my wish list and then make the point with them later that I’m not going to buy any of those things so that they could quantify what I’m not buying from them,” Cowie says.

Now that her story is getting some attention, she’s hoping others might join her.

But, Cowie says it might never be enough to really affect the way Amazon does business. She is in favor of legislation to make big businesses play nice with the little guys.