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Barnes & Noble is getting positive press this week about their decision not to carry the upcoming O.J. Simpson book, If I Did It, in their stores. Victims advocates are praising the decision. BUT, Barnes & Noble is going to sell it by special order and online on their website.
So, basically, they ARE selling it. They are fine with making the money on it, they just don't want to upset the upper-middle class customers that frequent their stores. Probably a brilliant business decision, but what kind of message does this send about the ethics of the company?
From CNN:
NEW YORK—If you're hoping to buy the new edition of O.J. Simpson's "If I Did It," don't expect to find a copy at Barnes & Noble. Citing a perceived lack of customer interest, the chain said the book would only be available by special order or for purchase online through Barnes & Noble.com."Our buyers don't feel there will be enough of a demand to carry it in our stores," Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
A rival chain, Borders Group Inc., said Tuesday that it would stock "If I Did It," a ghostwritten, fictionalized account of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. But spokeswoman Ann Binkley said Borders "will not promote or market the book in any way."
"We think it will have some interest in the first week or two, then die down," said Binkley, who added that Borders, which for the original book had planned to donate profits to charity, will not do so this time.
Simpson's book was first scheduled for publication last November by ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins, with an announced printing of 400,000. But "If I Did It" was dropped in response to widespread outrage. ReganBooks founder Judith Regan was later fired and her imprint disbanded.
"It is Barnes & Noble's decision, not my decision, and the marketplace will determine whether they are right or not," Eric Kampmann, the owner and president of Beaufort Books, the new publisher of "If I Did It," told the AP. "But I think it's sad if they're making their decision based on the HarperCollins experience, which was a totally different situation."
Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded rights to the book to Goldman's family to help satisfy a $38 million wrongful death judgment against Simpson.
Beaufort, a small New York-based publisher, is reissuing "If I Did It" in October, with Simpson's original manuscript intact and commentary included. The Goldman family is calling the book Simpson's confession—the same description Regan offered in justifying the original publication.
"If I Did It" is still being criticized, even if Simpson is not profiting from it. Denise Brown, Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, has accused Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, and other family members of hypocrisy for publishing a book that he had called "disgusting and despicable" when Simpson first planned to publish it.
Simpson has maintained his innocence in the 1994 killings in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. The former actor and football great, who now lives near Miami, was acquitted of murder in 1995.
Frankly, I would have admired B&N more if they either decided to sell it ("Free speech rules, even if it's offensive!") or decided not to sell it ("We're not going to give this killer a platform!"). Choosing one way or another would have indicated a values based decision.
Borders made a values based decision to sell, and that's their right. But, this half-assed approach taken by Barnes & Noble shows the company trying to have it both ways.
Like my mentor says, "You can't be kinda pregnant."
