Publishers bypass Amazon with cooperative shipping venture

A group of independent publishers who met monthly to compare notes through 2021 and 2022 formalized their collaboration in early 2025, betting that collective buying power could raise all boats in an industry squeezed by tariffs and tight margins.

Everyone agrees that Amazon's dominance in book distribution is an unshakeable reality for independent publishers. But a new cooperative, born from quiet conversations starting in 2021, is actively proving that assumption wrong. What began as monthly check-ins between four publishing executives has blossomed into a legally incorporated venture with eight members and a plan to build an alternative shipping and printing network. This isn't about negotiating *with* Amazon, but about building a future *without*...