The company says a "technical error" is responsible for a "small number" of "The Testaments" that come out early. Independent booksellers are angry.
Josh Christie, co-owner of Print: A Bookstore in Portland, Me., Has signed many a document before a book was published. But few have come up with as many Gilead-like provisions as the explanation for the sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale."
Mr. Christie undertook not only to keep "The Testaments" in a guarded and closed location, but also to prohibit a member of his staff from photographing the book or reading a single passage before the release date: September 10 at 12:01 pm.
And yet, on Tuesday, a full week before the long-awaited release, some Amazon buyers had already received copies of the book, showing messages on social media. That development has made independent booksellers furious, exacerbating Amazon's long-simmering resentment for undermining their ability to make a profit.
"Hey, at least we get a dozen cheap email pins for executing our pre-order campaigns and sticking to sell-out dates," Mr. wrote. Christie on Twitter.
Amazon, the world's largest and fastest retailer, blamed the mistake.
"Due to a technical error, a small number of customers were accidentally sent copies of Margaret Atwood's" The Testaments, "a spokesperson said in a statement." We apologize for this error; we appreciate our relationship with authors, agents, and publishers; difficulties this has caused for them and our fellow booksellers. "
Amazon would not say exactly how many books were released early.
The company's response only aroused resentment from independent booksellers.
Rebecca George, who owns Volumes Bookcafe in Chicago with her sister, objected to the term 'fellow book seller'.
"They are their own monopoly of chaos," she said in an interview. "I really think I think we're in the same class of stores."