Wherever possible please buy your books directly from authors and/or publishers. Even ebooks (then Amazon can't delete them either). We make a better cut and you get the same thing or better, plus Bezos and ilk don't get richer. Win win win.
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Try https://Libro.fm You can choose your local Indie store to support. It's super easy to change stores if you want. I have a few I like to cycle through.
I ran into this dilemma just the other day looking for a book. Unfortunately there are no independent book stores in my area. Finally caved and ordered it. I didn't know the others were options. Thanks for putting this out there, I'll start doing this.
Independent authors, publishers, and bookstores need a collective system of distribution. And a network of printers, so you can order from another country but it's printed in your country. Shared resources and collective funding. Each sale puts a tiny percentage in the pot to finance the work.
Yes, but do they distribute from a central location? I'm talking about local level operations all working together. I confess, I'm not familiar with Ingram Spark, but I'm intrigued to know more.
Your website says you're a whiskey-soaked swear monkey. And Australian? You sound like a special sort of mischievous. I've not read your work before. What book would you suggest to start?
I wish Amazon wasn't so central to self-publishing. It's the only place to access a few of my favorite ones.
Also: I have used alibris to buy books and i think they just link to other sellers. Also: it seems that (any online place?) may be "printing on demand" books (meaning the text/book is actually available for free like on Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg and they take) so watch out for that.
My wife and I are off Amazon other than to identify sellers then we buy direct. It actually costs the same or even less. There is no free shipping from Amazon they just include it it the price of the item.
Does the same work for e-books? Being paralyzed, I can’t hold a physical book. I generally stick to the library but often my library doesn’t have what I’m looking for. Genuinely curious and happy to support.
I love buying books from private booksellers. I just recently got a copy of Black Sunday in permabond and it cost me $4.52. sorry I'm a geek. But yeah I totally agree.
right there with you, man!
i have 3 books of humorous nature essays (think will cuppy but shorter pieces). so far i have had little success in marketing them off amazon. if you could please share what works best for you, i'd very much appreciate it! thank you.
You should.
Anyone feeling the need to gather more than a billion, has decided not to help society.
They could live quite comfortably off $100 million (and still keep an extravagant lifestyle). But they choose not to give those excess $ to help people in need.
They suck as human beings.
Did my final deletion of Amazon today! Took me a bit to ensure I removed as much as possible. Will miss Prime Video a wee bit. But totally feels awesome.
I know it doesn’t necessarily help you but most libraries use Libby to lend electronic versions of books for 2-3 weeks at a time. All you need is a library card which you can usually get online.
NON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Achetez vos livres chez les LIBRAIRES ! Plus de libraires = plus d'éditeurs et plus d'auteurs.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy your books from BOOKSELLERS! No more booksellers = No more publishers and no more authors.
I used to see their vans often, now it's rare in our neck of the woods so something is going down or people are No Buy 2025 and no longer shopping like usual.
What can you do if you’re in Europe? The tax and customs charges can double the price of physical books. https://Bookshop.org don’t operate outside of the UK and the US, as far as I know. It’s a massive pain.
Ooh shipping! I forgot to mention shipping. So, buying a book from my friend’s publishing company, it costs say, £10.95 for the book, £9 for shipping - and then customs rinse me for another £12.50. Grrrrr.
Yeah, id love a signed copy of the new book but i just know the postage to the UK will be horrendous and cost-prohibitive - ive had the same issue when trying to buy CD's and merch from Aussie bands :(
I looked into that bc I wanted 2 Caimh McDonnell books. Amazon was $15 less expensive than Caimh’s website because I already pay for Prime. I got no beef with Jeff Bezos. He worked his ass off for many years building Amazon. I don’t begrudge his success and I don’t like the reference to “ilk.”
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Also, for anyone considering buying a kindle- don’t! It makes finding ebooks difficult when you decide to stop buying them from Amazon. Alternative ebook sellers often don’t have compatible formats for kindle. Looking forward to switching to a kobo asap.
I live in Canada and switched to a Kobo ebook (libraries were closed for a while) I down load books directly from my library (overdrive) free I assume authors get a % somehow
Canada here, I will be buying my books from now on in French from Archambault in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Many great Canadian French authors and also from France. Many English books translated by French authors. Also from other countries but not the US market.
Totally agree. Never ever Amazon. Even better, join your local library and borrow the books you want. Through inter-library loan if necessary. Librarians will find them for you
In this world that we expect things delivered to us next day, Amazon has a grip over us in almost every good. Getting off Amazon for some people is like weaning off of drugs; it’s a slow process of behavior change
They will track everything you do. Talk to your local librarian or local book shop owner- many shops have email lists with new book reviews and lists that gollow a theme or your preferences. There are also discounts with some of the emails.
I listen to ebooks while working (allows me to concentrate) and have switched to https://Libro.fm where my purchases are through my local bookstore Village Bookseller. It’s been a smooth switch from Audible and Kindle.
I still remember that one author 10+ years ago got her books yanked from Amazon because she had "too many new readers". They claimed she was using a reader farm.
Trying to get into that habit. It's super easy to put your own epubs onto a kindle as well, using the app on your phone, so I'm trying to do that more since I already have it and like it (and have no space for physical books).
I buy my books at my small local bookstore or via the bookstore dot com virtual local shop so my little bookstore can stay in business. Most are full price. Supporting small businesses is a choice not everyone can make
Plus, when you have some spare time, buy some Amazon basics stuff, open the boxes and then ask for refund. They'll have delivery costs, returning costs, repacking costs, and will have to sell the product as used
Here is an infographic of Amazon owned companies . It’s pretty big so it’s going to be fairly difficult to avoid Amazon altogether. It’s worth trying though.
I do a mix but to save on shelf space for physical books I routinely do a purge and sell books I felt lukewarm about or DNF to my local used bookstore. I also tend to read ARCs and buy copies of my favorites
I'm buying "On Tyranny" in batch quantities to give away for free and those I'm ordering purposely via Bezos (for now). I just genuinely want him to see THAT book at #1 on his own site.
All other books I'm using thriftbooks and will look into these author-direct options! Thank you for the tip
Are files on https://bookshop.com epub? I tried https://ebooks.com and it says "download epub" but it's really an ACSM file that I haven't been able to convert even in Calibre.
I shop local have canceled Amazon and all others. They have sold is out. They crushed our small busineses with greed and cruelty poisoned our food and water and stole our lively hood now they want to enslave us too! Been warning for years! Only we can turn the tied on them BOYCOTT till Trump goes
I live for the little free libraries in my neighborhood. I give, I take and love the variety. Free books for all. Pass them on don't hoard the books you buy, it could mean the world to someone who can't afford to buy.
I wanted to seize the means of production when it came to my comics and will be hand making my first printing using a Xerox machine. I wish to answer to nobody and this seems like the best way.
Thanks Barb,
Usually buy books from abebooks or thriftbooks.
In looking at the https://bookshop.org website, it highlights books by Tulsi Gabbard and Candace Owens.
All for variety but wondered if this was typical for them to actively promote the far right writers...
Thank you. I am approaching this from a different angle. I am looking for a way to sell/publish serialized short stories in both written and voice format.
I can't help but wonder if someone couldn't launch like a centralized author list that directed you to author websites, or better yet, just let authors sell on the site for free/donations.
Like, what does Kindle actually do that deserves billions of dollars of profit?
I've been considering this for quite a few years since Amazon never promotes my book (also making it hard to find in searches) & thus I get very few sales.
Yes! For ebooks and audio I have long refused to use Amazon but for physical books I try to go into the local brick and mortar store bc I fear for their futures ❤️🩹
I get my leisure reading (ebooks and audio) on hoopla or cloud library. That way, the authors can get the data on which books are popular etc. And they're free to me. Win/win.
For space reasons I tend to buy most of my books in ebook form nowadays, usually from Kobo. I convert them to normal epub afterwards, so I have a permanent copy. If publishers offered reasonable way to buy epubs directly, I'd do that.
Only readable on computer screen, sadly, which makes it an instant no-sell for me. I want to be able to read book on my ereader, which means epub or something I can convert to epub.
Also, without that I have no guarantee of something I have "bought" just vanishing at some future point.
I started doing that and then I also switched to Kobo. I also talk to everyone who will listen about the benefits of other brands of ereaders. I use ereaders mainly because I have medical issues and space issues, it helps
I stopped by a couple of antique malls near me and in the book section there were TONS of books that have been banned in FL public schools. When you can, check out places like this and buy some good books! It’s a treasure trove!
I try to buy from my local small business bookstores. It's going to be difficult detangling from the Amazon organization. I'm a prime member and use Goodreads, Kindle, etc. But try we must!
I'm trying to get books on tape without Audible. Have tried Libby, Hoopla and Libro. Any other suggestions? It seems Audible has exclusive rights to lots of authors.
Does kobo have to abide by book bans if book bans are made federally? (Why i think amazon is getting ready to get rid of your ability to download the books you BOUGHT onto your computer so they cant be deleted be amazon/kindle later, so they can take banned books youve already purchased from you).
I think Kobo can play epub books which are side loaded. I think Nook could as well. They wouldn't know to delete those. They might delete stuff from their bookstore.
Comments
Author website
Publisher website
Independent bookstore
https://Bookshop.org
For ebooks:
Author website
Publisher website
https://Bookshop.org
Or, of course, your local library.
https://alanbaxter.com.au
I wish Amazon wasn't so central to self-publishing. It's the only place to access a few of my favorite ones.
LibraryThing
https://ZVAB.com
IberLibro
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AbeBooks
Use any channel but Amazon.
Henniker Book Farm
https://www.hennikerbookfarm.com/
Old Number 6 Book Depot
also in Henniker
Gibson's Bookstore
Concord, NH
https://gibsonsbookstore.com/home
Toadstool Bookshops
Peterborough, NH
https://toadbooks.com/home
Main Street Bookends of Warner
Warner, NH
https://www.mainstreetbookends.com/
i have 3 books of humorous nature essays (think will cuppy but shorter pieces). so far i have had little success in marketing them off amazon. if you could please share what works best for you, i'd very much appreciate it! thank you.
Anyone feeling the need to gather more than a billion, has decided not to help society.
They could live quite comfortably off $100 million (and still keep an extravagant lifestyle). But they choose not to give those excess $ to help people in need.
They suck as human beings.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy your books from BOOKSELLERS! No more booksellers = No more publishers and no more authors.
I'm a bit later to the party, but I didn't order anything for Christmas through Amazon (nor anything since).
Same with amazon. I have not cancelled, but I just use it as a look up. Look up the item, buy directly from vendor / seller on their website!
There are many to choose from and most have incentives on free books or free mailing!
https://bookshop.org/
?
I am bookmarking Bookshop! Thanks for the links!
Apply the same to other merchandise not just books.
#BoycottAmazon
With ebooks, post-purchase edits are totally possible.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/arts/dahl-christie-stine-kindle-edited.html
(Obviously the best choice is independent local bookstores)
All other books I'm using thriftbooks and will look into these author-direct options! Thank you for the tip
What are your thoughts on https://abebooks.com and https://thriftbooks.com?
website seems pretty functional
Usually buy books from abebooks or thriftbooks.
In looking at the https://bookshop.org website, it highlights books by Tulsi Gabbard and Candace Owens.
All for variety but wondered if this was typical for them to actively promote the far right writers...
Like, what does Kindle actually do that deserves billions of dollars of profit?
#boycottbezos #boycottamazon
Also, without that I have no guarantee of something I have "bought" just vanishing at some future point.
https://epubor.com/3-ways-to-remove-drm-from-kindle-books.html