Partly the author's fault. He could publish his book simultaneously through smashwords (the only caveat is you have to make sure other distribution channels don't undercut Amazon's price... that's an important part of Amazon's rules), to avoid Amazon being the sole source of the book.
Fault? He is getting free publicity to the point he is even on the front page of HN (not that he care about this specifically). Show me the last time this happened with a French book up for a prize.
