Good to see this being discussed! Many indies ARE now on Itch, Kobo, etc, but many others are locked into KU. The 90 day exclusivity lock is something to bear in mind. It can’t always be FAST. It’s a hard road to navigate & indies are doing their best to stay afloat while following the readers. - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

bookspotlight.bsky.social • 20 days ago

Good to see this being discussed!

Many indies ARE now on Itch, Kobo, etc, but many others are locked into KU. The 90 day exclusivity lock is something to bear in mind. It can’t always be FAST.

It’s a hard road to navigate & indies are doing their best to stay afloat while following the readers.

Comments

castle88.bsky.social•20 days ago

One of the reasons I never put most of my books in KU was because - at least at the time - libraries couldn't get them. It's probably negatively impacted how much I made, but that was important to me.

authorgreysonmccoy.bsky.social•19 days ago

Please try to buy books from the indie author or their small publishing house! It helps SO much!

trudieskies.readindiefantasy.com•20 days ago

Yeah my KU books renewed in March, before the boycotts, so I'm stuck here for a while 🤷

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

And you’re not alone! I’m worried about so many authors’ livelihoods. 🥺

purplequeenpub.bsky.social•20 days ago

You can email Amazon at any time and ask to have them taken out. I've done it several times and they usually do it within 24hrs.

cayen.bsky.social•14 days ago

Look into Drivethru, I know they do RPG's but I think they have both a comic arm and a book arm. Let's try to find better sources then amazon.

kaurifish.bsky.social•20 days ago

On the one hand, I'm glad that my readers are so ethical that my page reads have dropped to nearly zero.
On the other hand, ouch ouch ouch ouch.

desiheart.bsky.social•20 days ago

I could not have summed it up better than this post/thread. Thank you for showing up for all of us once again 💕

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

We are in this together! I refuse to let any of us get left behind.

julidrevezzo.bsky.social•14 days ago

My KU enrollments rolled over on most of my titles in March--and I released a brand new book in February before I knew about the boycott! So I'm stuck, until at least summer. 😒 I have paperbacks on B&N and other places--and a few ebooks wide--though can't say it's helped.

(What’s Itch?)

bookspotlight.bsky.social•14 days ago

Itch is an indie gaming website that loads of authors are joining! Here:

https://riengray.medium.com/a-beginners-guide-to-publishing-books-on-itch-io-dea0446f3f5f

julidrevezzo.bsky.social•8 days ago

Ah! Thank you.

tannerhowsden.bsky.social•20 days ago

Been working through this myself lately and have been getting similar results, though weirdly my KU reads have actually gone up.

Very much curious to see how many new authors have gone wide in the next 90 days as KDP Select locks lapse.

rainbowfinch.bsky.social•20 days ago

As a reader I won't buy books on Amazon unless that is the only location I can purchase it from. I will check everywhere else first, I hope more authors are able to spread out to other locations but I understand when they cannot.

moonlitmysti.bsky.social•20 days ago

I’ve started to switch my reading to other platforms but will still support an author on Amazon if that is the only place to find their work.

brianterence.bsky.social•20 days ago

The pay-per-read option from KU works well for me; I've not seen anything similar.
I will move my paperbacks to D2D in time, but my short stories will probably be stuck on Amz as there are no other options.
It's also worth remembering that you'll need an ISBN to move stuff away from Amz, more $$

pemryjanes.bsky.social•20 days ago

Places like D2D and Smashwords provide you with an ISBN free of charge, so you don't need to buy your own.

When it comes to short stories, I'm not sure how well they would do outside of a platform like KU, if you try to sell them individually.

brianterence.bsky.social•20 days ago

I'm putting the short stories into collections, long enough to be a paperback and then I'll release them on D2D. I'm still a newbie, so don't have that many stories yet.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

My short stories that I sell on Kindle are also moving now on Itch! Short stories for the win! 💪

joycereynoldsward.bsky.social•20 days ago

I've been able to sell short stories wide. I never put them on KU. They don't move there and it's not worth the fretting about piracy that could impact your Amazon account. If anything, I've sold more shorts through my D2D account than my Kindle account.

brianterence.bsky.social•20 days ago

That's good to know, once my KU restriction ends, I'll explore D2D, thanks for the info.

xkaly.bsky.social•20 days ago

When I'm interested on a book I ask the author for Amazon alternatives to buy their book from.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

And we appreciate that!! ❤️

smalltowncreepy.bsky.social•20 days ago

Kobo plus works the same as KU as far as I can tell.
You don't need an ISBN to publish on Kobo

sgwolfeauthor.bsky.social•20 days ago

Don’t forget that Kobo+ is a new competitor to KU. When I published my latest story on @draft2digital.bsky.social i enabled the Kobo+ setting. No page reads there yet but I’m cautiously optimistic.

joycereynoldsward.bsky.social•20 days ago

Nope. D2D also provides its own ISBN for ebooks unless you want to buy your own.

brianterence.bsky.social•20 days ago

I've never encountered any issues with ISBNs, it was just I was told by a much more experienced author that I should purchase my own for paperbacks so as to retain control of the IP.
I've only just released my 1st paperback so I'm kind of making it up as I go.

joycereynoldsward.bsky.social•20 days ago

Paperbacks are a different story. I buy ISBNs and publish mine through Ingram. It's not so much an IP thing as it is that if you buy from Ingram, it's more expensive and they're listed as the publisher. Cheaper to bite the bullet and buy ISBNs direct (if you're in the US).

joycereynoldsward.bsky.social•20 days ago

I distribute paperbacks through Ingram because that gets me worldwide distribution and into bookstores. It can be a pain with returns but...Ingram, right or wrong, has a better image.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

You don’t need an ISBN for Itch and I thiiink Kobo gives you one? @ormakal.bsky.social and @danifinnwrites.bsky.social might know more!

danifinnwrites.bsky.social•20 days ago

Correct. All the self pub sites give you an isbn and itch doesn’t require one.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

You star! ❤️

ormakal.bsky.social•20 days ago

Kobo and D2D will give you their own ISBNs, and google offers their GGKEY similar to Amazon's ASIN

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

Okay but GGKEY just sounds cute 😂

ormakal.bsky.social•19 days ago

LOOK AT MY GGKEY! Isn't it cute?

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ormakal.bsky.social•20 days ago

Kobo and Everand both have subscription offers similar to KU, and which doesn't require authors to be exclusive to them. As Dax said, every retailer and aggregator is happy to provide authors with their own ISBNs, so that shouldn't be a consideration in moving from amazon.

daxaeterna.ink•20 days ago

Itchio does not require an ISBN. Every other place that you can self-pub will provide a free ISBN, too. Draft2Digital is a good means of getting on many other platforms quickly and doesn't require authors bring their own ISBNs.

acain.bsky.social•20 days ago

I'm looking to use D2D after my latest KU run ends... but its going to be a little while...

purplequeenpub.bsky.social•20 days ago

You can email Amazon at any time and ask to have them taken out. I've done it several times and they usually do it within 24hrs.

brianterence.bsky.social•20 days ago

Thank you for putting this out there.

codyskoff.bsky.social•20 days ago

Would this just be exclusive to eBooks? Because I've been debating on where a good place would be that also does physical books without me having to pay a crap load of money just to have my book printed and distributed.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

Ingram has a really dodgy reputation at times for shipping and customer service too. It’s something we actively discuss in the Discord if you want to join! Lots of folks are coming up with suggestions!

dvewlsh.com•20 days ago

You can email Amazon with a list of ASINs and ask to have your book removed from KU.

Works best if you haven't used promotional dates for that 90 day period.

When I went wide I did this and they just... Did it.

ianpattersonauthor.bsky.social•19 days ago

I want to break away from Amazon, but I'm spending my energy focused on getting my second book out first. Then maybe I'll have the headspace. My print books are available wide at least, and through local bookstores, but I know that is too expensive for a lot of people.

faray.bsky.social•20 days ago

I'll go where my readers are, but right now the overwhelming majority of MM readers are still in KU, so I truly don't know what to do here.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

Yup :( and you’re not alone!! There’s a huge LGBT community on KU because it was a starting place for so many.

faray.bsky.social•20 days ago

Yeah, especially when it comes to indie. They are willing to give us a shot BECAUSE we are in KU. tbh the boycott has had very, very little impact on that. There simply isn't a replacement right now, so mostly I've just lost money in service of helping no one.

isobelstarling.bsky.social•20 days ago

My page reads are down by 60% on the books I have in KU and my other books that are wide - also on Amazon but elsewhere, like Kobo Plus - the sales are low. It's like people just stopped buying anywhere -as if the current anxiety in the world has paralyzed people, they're scared to spend a cent

janbats.bsky.social•20 days ago

As a European, the only way i can sell my (self-published) YA hopepunk/solarpunk novel in the US is through Amazon...

ruthmiranda.bsky.social•19 days ago

I'm in Europe and I sell my books both through the 'zon and through D2D which allows me to have books in the US through Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, etc

janbats.bsky.social•19 days ago

Tx Ruth!
I'll have a look.

scarlettchase.bsky.social•20 days ago

I think we should spread the word on how to better boycott Amazon. It's so wide many people don't even know about this. I know I didn't. Amazon gets most of their revenue from AWS and the companies using it so it could be a good alternative while staying on KU to support KU stuck authors

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audaciousness.bsky.social•20 days ago

Love to find ebooks on indie sites (either directly from the author or through sites like Ko-Fo, Itch, etc). If I can't get it independently, then my only other option is the library or a physical copy from a local shop.

acktar.bsky.social•20 days ago

as soon as I can I am unlocking from Amazon lol

it made sense seven months ago but now it does not for me

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

And it takes time! I’ve uploaded 15/22 of mine to Itch but I can’t do it instantaneously!

acktar.bsky.social•20 days ago

I do have an itch page already but it's my landing spot for my video games
tbh game 3 is still a ways away so this might help it see action

jdcuneganbooks.bsky.social•20 days ago

My books are on B&N and Kobo, too! But Amazon still accounts for the *vast* majority of my sales, and I need to look into Itch.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

My books are on BN in paperback but rarely ever sell there :/

jdcuneganbooks.bsky.social•20 days ago

I occasionally try to tell people they can get a discount on my books there if they have a membership, but that message hasn't stuck. 😅

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

So readers, if you want authors on Itch and Kobo and Barnes and Noble, etc, make sure you buy off there! Too many authors have told me that they’ve since made their books widely available but the drop off in sales from the boycott hasn’t meant sales are rising elsewhere - sales have just STOPPED.

mcburnellauthor.bsky.social•20 days ago

Certainly been my experience.

shannonfallon.com•19 days ago

I wonder if there's also impact from people doing a no-buy or low-buy year. Or just a lot of people spending less at the moment because of economic fears

seanmcdhorror.bsky.social•19 days ago

Shop Bookshop and support local bookstores.

https://bookshop.org/lists/indie-horror-for-the-masses

isobelstarling.bsky.social•20 days ago

I agree. My page reads are ⬇️ by 60% on the books I have in KU & my other books that are wide - also on Amazon but elsewhere, like Kobo Plus - the sales are low. It's like people just stopped buying anywhere -as if the current anxiety in the world has paralyzed people, they're scared to spend a cent.

ruthmiranda.bsky.social•19 days ago

this is true, i haven't had a sale in quite sometime, and i've been wide for years. but my overall sales have gone down more than 40% at this point, not just on Amazon but EVERYWHERE

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

So please, my darling book community, show up for your authors when they do make the jump from the Zon. Indies hate the skewed market just like you do! But most of us are broke and if readers don’t look elsewhere, the options are few.

Remember: we’re trying to find new publishing avenues too! 💕

jheijndermans.bsky.social•20 days ago

I've never been on the Zon with my own work, so I've been transversing the indie landscape with successes and duds and thuds. Don't despair, even though it's a lot of having to put faith in things that don't work out.
So far, I've loved https://Itch.io the most!

acain.bsky.social•20 days ago

Its been a very slow month on everything other than my free story on Royal Road...

elizabethbarone.com•19 days ago

Side question: Are that many people buying books on Itch? It seemed like a ghost town when I looked into it a couple weeks ago.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•19 days ago

It seems to be picking up! @danifinnwrites.bsky.social and @ormakal.bsky.social and @daxaeterna.daxmurray.com know all the ins and outs cos they got me to finally open one ahah. I’ve sold a few so far there!

elizabethbarone.com•19 days ago

That is awesome! New avenues are always a good thing. I've been working on a mega list of ways readers can boycott and still support authors, and I'll add Itch!

bookspotlight.bsky.social•19 days ago

You can also join in the discord where we’re all trying to find the best routes 😂

elizabethbarone.com•19 days ago

Oh good! I left Facebook several years ago and have been on hiatus, so I don't have much of a writing community anymore. Can you pretty please invite me? elizabethbarone

djstu.art•20 days ago

Some of us (myself included) have done the work for them and taken our work off of Amazon altogether. Too many readers are talking the talk of the Amazon boycott, but not walking the walk of using other outlets. They're gonna need to figure out how to wean themselves off of Bezos's teat. (Ew.)

ormakal.bsky.social•20 days ago

I do feel for authors locked onto KU, but in the end, that was their choice, and if they want to leave, a mail to amazon customer service is all they need. No need to wait for the 90 days to be up.

Even though I'm wide, amazon used to be the lion's share of my earnings.

ormakal.bsky.social•20 days ago

But not anymore, and I'm actually happy that I'm getting sales on itch-io and Ko-fi.

Being exclusive to amazon is very similar to being in an abusive relationship, and leaving takes much the same sort of courage.

graysonbell.bsky.social•20 days ago

I've cancelled Kindle Select enrollment for all my books. By the end of April, I'll be able to republish all through Draft2Digital. Eventually, I'll also republish the print editions through IngramSpark, but that will require some effort to reformat. Eventually, all my books will be available wide.

luxindulgences.bsky.social•20 days ago

I'm gonna go throw together a Medium article about this. BRB

luxindulgences.bsky.social•20 days ago

@bookspotlight.bsky.social
Threw this together to get the word out.
If anybody else wants to write similar articles, please do. I self-promote at the end but the points are worth sharing, promise!
https://medium.com/@MissScarletWinters/readers-help-a-writer-out-d4c13ea9fa12

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

You legend!

luxindulgences.bsky.social•20 days ago

Rising tides, all of us on ships (where we happily ship our ships)

bfgalligan.bsky.social•20 days ago

You can also just ignore exclusivity if they don't release you quickly enough, but here's the link to make a request. Once you delicense, it should have immediate effect, even if they slow walk actual removal.

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GBJCKVEPSBYVRQBC

maximejaz.bsky.social•20 days ago

Amazon gets the bulk of their income from AWS, so boycotting small indie authors will not even scratch their revenue surface, let alone make them care. I'm on KU because that's where my readers are and because publishing from Eastern Europe, this is the most affordable way for me.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

So many international authors are caught up in the chaos and I’m worried about everyone being impacted :( hang in there homie!!

maximejaz.bsky.social•20 days ago

I won't give up. ❤️ I love my characters and writing their stories.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

maximejaz.bsky.social•20 days ago

No, you! You've been here for us, and for me from the start. ❤️‍🔥I'll never forget your support.

bookspotlight.bsky.social•20 days ago

Back at ya 💖💖

graysonbell.bsky.social•20 days ago

Stop being humble. You are amazing Maxime!! ❤️

maximejaz.bsky.social•20 days ago

That being said, I'm all about people doing what suits them best, and not judging. I'm all for exploring other platforms, but so far, none of them allow me to get royalties as easily as on amazon, due to currency and bank account restrictions. (sad sigh)

rmnswordsmith12.bsky.social•20 days ago

Authors can also publish their books on D2D (who bought Smashwords), where readers can then buy them in just about any format they want. It’s a great alternative!