Ahhh Prime Day. The day when your Facebook and Twitter feeds are flooded with free Amazon advertising by excited friends grabbing great deals, and the day when the rest of us grumble silently to ourselves and blog.
I can't necessarily say that Amazon has been a net negative in the world--they're certainly convenient, which counts for a lot, and they've increased access to literature to a lot of Americans who simply weren't reading before but now have found the time or energy to pick up an audiobook or ebook, and they generally treat their customers pretty well. And I also can't necessarily say they've been a net negative for the publishing industry, with the marketplace creating a very wide and accessible distribution platform for publishers and the surge of ebooks giving writers and houses alike some fat margins and royalties--at least so far.
We should always be wary, though, when one company has this control over the market. Amazon does occasionally get angry, and then they do, it results in things like pulling Macmillan titles over price disputes, holding POD publishers hostage to make deals with BookSurge, or breaching contracts to force authors to give their books away for free. This is to say nothing of the not-so-subtle placement of their New York brick-and-mortar store or their much-publicized feud with Hachette.
Maybe it's just the liberal sensibility in me that says to beware of Amazon, but just like Barnes & Noble did to indie bookstores all over the country, so too does Amazon have the power to do with indie publishing houses, who derive a significant portion of their sales through its marketplace. Right now it's not in Amazon's best interests to get rid of these publishers, but we should never depend on the kindness or the aligned incentives of Amazon to keep the infinitely smaller indie publishers safe.
What I'm trying to say is on Prime Day, sure, go watch some TV, or go order yourself a new clothes hamper. But if you want to buy a book, support your local independent bookstore. Don't give Amazon all the power; make sure indie publishers have the ability to sell elsewhere.