i keep seeing authors who are all-in on KU complaining that boycotting amazon means it will mostly hurt small creators and i'm like. idk. obviously aligning onesself exclusively with Amazon puts one in a position to defend Amazon's dominance, and that's not ACTUALLY good for small creators. - ThreadSky

smreine.itch.io • 60 days ago

i keep seeing authors who are all-in on KU complaining that boycotting amazon means it will mostly hurt small creators

and i'm like. idk. obviously aligning onesself exclusively with Amazon puts one in a position to defend Amazon's dominance, and that's not ACTUALLY good for small creators.

Comments

susanestaniszewski.bsky.social•60 days ago

I'm trying to rationalize the idea of cozying up to a mammoth dictator and then ask for protection.

blueharvestmoon.bsky.social•59 days ago

I have two books through KDP, but I will now go through Barnes and Noble. Screw Amazon, even if it hurts my sales.

endicottroad.bsky.social•59 days ago

I understand your reasoning, and you're right. I use Amazon because it's easy to publish a book and costs nothing. And, like it or not, there are a vast number of potential customers on Amazon that are not available elsewhere. Not advertising, just reasoning it out.

sajeguy.bsky.social•59 days ago

I gave up on my Amazon published stuff. Just gave up. Already like ice skating uphill in a blizzard as it is. It's why I haven't republished my original novels when the rights returned to me. Where? On Amazon? No.

chrisky3.bsky.social•60 days ago

There are other websites that service small creators. Etsy for one.

vem-osca.bsky.social•59 days ago

Hearing that indie writers are now putting books up on itchio and that Bluesky has a bookstore makes me think "There are other ways." If Amazon pulled down their content or collapsed, they'd find somewhere else to sell.

beckyjb.bsky.social•60 days ago

I go back and forth. I am all about punishing Amazon. I rarely buy anything from there anymore. I had prime for about a year and canceled it when Bezos didn’t let his newspaper endorse Harris.

But I also know that many hardworking people work for Amazon. I don’t want to punish them.

beckyjb.bsky.social•60 days ago

I still error on the side of punishing Bezos. I’ve never liked how he treats his employees. They are who made him a billionaire. He should show his appreciation and share that wealth with them. Not treat them like 💩.

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

One of my kids once said she refused to tip because servers deserved to be paid a living wage by the employer. The other said, drily, “Ah yes, change the world. One starving waitress at a time.” NO ONE says “daddy I love you to” to Bezos. We just can’t replace that distribution channel overnight.

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

I was consignments coordinator at a local indie. Amazon is BRUTAL to bricks & mortar stores. But for self publishing authors it is a life line. The biggest check I ever wrote to a self publishing author was $3000 for a year’s worth of sales. Most didn’t top $100. 👇👇

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

Blanket boycotts of manufacturers are one thing. Boycott the crap outta Tesla. Blankets boycotts of distributors & retailers are something else entirely. Unless small producers have somewhere else IMMEDIATELY to sell their wares, their revenues will be throttled.

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

Here’s my suggestion: lobby your legislators to regulate giants like Amazon WAY more heavily. Buy locally at every opportunity. Do not EVER, EVER complain about delivery costs or return fees from your local retailers. Amazon hides those costs in exploitative employee wages, they are NEVER free. 👇👇

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

Lean on your legislators to require that Amazon does business by the same rules that local bricks & mortar retailers have to follow. Bezos’ won’t cave. His business is global. Your local federal, state or provincial politicians answer to YOU. Make them listen.

wileykann.bsky.social•60 days ago

WEIRD - I thought you were a 'creative' and you can't find another way?

Tough

I gave up college scholarships to advance the Navy in the 70s

And you can't be bothered to create another way to market

MAYBE you shouldn't have been relying on a single basket

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

I work in distribution now. I wish it was that simple. I really do.

wileykann.bsky.social•60 days ago

Like are you doing work for a biz or org that contracts to help authors reach a wider base - which sensibly for sure - would require placing books at Amazon?

I don't think many, in Amazon's early years imagined that Bezos would be such a twat

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

Your last point: 🎯 Spot on. Or so indescribably greedy.

wileykann.bsky.social•60 days ago

Hey, if your yacht can't have a yacht - what's there to live for?

duh..

wileykann.bsky.social•60 days ago

you work in distribution... meaning for a cooperative of some sort, or at Amazon?

katspens.bsky.social•60 days ago

Not at Amazon, no. I have a day job, but I’m also a writer, and also a former bookseller and our local indie’s biggest champion.

terrihonk.bsky.social•60 days ago

But you can replace it. Even slowly, you can.

shereadsalot17.bsky.social•60 days ago

Completely agree. Worked w/ & networked w/ a lot of authors in the writing community. Amazon/Kindle/KU's been screwing authors for YEARS. When Amazon does fall—and it will for aligning itself w/ the axis of evil—the ones who will get hurt the most is authors. So might as well jump ship (1/2)

shereadsalot17.bsky.social•60 days ago

than stay in a toxic relationship with Amazon/Kindle/KU. There are alternatives out there like Kobo (haven't tried Kobo myself but way better than supporting billionaires)

alb22.bsky.social•60 days ago

Also, if that were true Bezos wouldn’t be a billionaire while those small creators are making ends meet. Will boycotting Amazon hurt them? Sure. I mean, it hurts ME to figure out other places to buy certain things … but I’m doing it for the good of democracy and our country’s freedom.

skywalkerleah.bsky.social•59 days ago

Etsy

ayeshabarb.bsky.social•60 days ago

I'm going direct to websites to get most of my stuff now. Only thing I can't figure out it e-books.

morgalyn.bsky.social•59 days ago

Some publishers are creating their own ebook stores, and there's ebook support for independent bookstores that is starting to roll out, depending on where you live.

If it's just how to get a book you want to read and you're not concerned about directly purchasing, a lot of libraries do ebooks now

ayeshabarb.bsky.social•59 days ago

Thanks for the tips! I'll have to look into this!

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

for a long time authors have absolved themselves of any responsibility for the ethics of Kindle Unlimited & the largely negative impact its creation has had on the market (for readers and writers)

and now people say "boycott Amazon bc it's a HUGE problem" and authors are like "but daddy i love him"

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

this is a really difficult business and the market is always really difficult but it was also extremely predictable that locking people into this ecosystem could only be temporarily advantageous for anyone but Amazon, yk?

facing the Goliath of Amazon has been inevitable.

wndlb.bsky.social•60 days ago

Is Kobo any better?

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

IMO, yes. Kobo's subscription service doesn't demand exclusivity from participating authors. They're not trying to be anti-competitive.

I quite like my partnership with Kobo.

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

i have so many thoughts i can't seem to get into order about his. but basically, even if you've been all-in, i still think it's in your best interests to NOT defend Amazon against collective action. i still think it is your enemy too.

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

you know, like, you can try to befriend the 20ft crocodile in your backyard pond because it has eaten everyone but you, but it's still a 20ft crocodile, it's incapable of bonding like mammals do, and it's not your friend, and you shouldn't mistake its tolerance of you for domestication.

allysaurus42.bsky.social•60 days ago

Yup. I’m reallocating my personal purchasing dollars, and I’m happy to see people taking on the crocodile. Meanwhile, the crocodile still feeds my family and given my personal realities, there are no other choices. Super fun 🤪. But defending the croc never crossed my mind.

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

otoh if we all work together, maybe all of us can start wearing crocodile skin boots at some point, and the pond will maybe be healthier for it

maybe that metaphor totally fell apart as soon as i started it

an y way

oma-trisha-f.bsky.social•59 days ago

So people who are just getting started & can't afford to pay to self-publish or publish their manuscripts with other companies that charge money for this service don't deserve to be heard? Is that what you're saying? I'm trying to make sure I understand the message. No snarkiness intended at all.

byvermillion.bsky.social•60 days ago

This makes a ton of sense! Any crit or action against Amazon will hopefully mean changed practices and better $/rights/whatever for indie authors. Yeah it could mean lower royalties in the meantime but…

adria88.bsky.social•60 days ago

The metaphor works just fine.
Monopolies are death to creativity and commerce.

nottodayjemma.bsky.social•60 days ago

Are you kidding? I'm stealing that metaphor for future use. It's kinda beautiful.

boontonkat.bsky.social•60 days ago

It works 🤙🏼

jonish99.bsky.social•60 days ago

Doesn't matter, the thread got me there 😀

grey-books.bsky.social•60 days ago

Have also seen a very racist component to how people talk about KU authors, I'd take that into consideration also. So many of the Black authors I know are in KU though I usually buy their books because I don't have KU but I do know it pays their bills where they might not be able to otherwise.

greased7.bsky.social•60 days ago

Supporting small creators on Amazon is fine. It's the big conglomerates that aren't so good.

sirbustergoodoup.bsky.social•60 days ago

Anybody that puts all eggs in one basket deserves to get cracked!

seanmcdhorror.bsky.social•60 days ago

Literally authors saying, “Dint touch my crumbs!”

defdiz.bsky.social•60 days ago

I pulled my shit off. I will publish to my own site instead and try to figure out how to get my books printed cheap as possible.

jude-hsiang.bsky.social•60 days ago

If you can't find a way to purchase directly from the creator, just wait a day and buy it. If there's a longer boycott, plan ahead. If they can only sell via Amazon, is it a product you really want?

authorandie.bsky.social•60 days ago

I just went wide. Authors, Draft2Digital for eBooks, and IngramSpark for paperbacks. That's what my research prompted me to do. Waiting to hear on https://bookstore.org, am on Storygraph now, and dropped Amazon exclusivity. F the oligarchs. Want mermaids and magic? Check out my profile. The link is there.

mercureabrand.bsky.social•59 days ago

I did exactly the same! Of course publishing with Ingram you need your own isbn which you have to pay for, but honestly I prefer to pay the 200€ and own my isbn instead of Amazon providing one of which I have 0 control over

authorandie.bsky.social•59 days ago

I bought a pack of ten when I first published in 2017 (Love Your Scar - not fantasy), so they were languishing, waiting for me to get my butt in gear and write more. Good for you for going wide. It's more work for us, but as you say, we have control over our creations.

mercureabrand.bsky.social•59 days ago

I made the mistake of publishing my first book's ebook solely on Amazon. For the second one I went straight to D2D and the difference in the treatment of authors is huge.

greenowl.bsky.social•59 days ago

Self-pub worked for Amazon bc the self-pub authors, their families & friends would buy lots of Amazon products in loyalty & give Amazon lots of data to sell. But when lots of them didn't make much $, Amazon's last ditch effort to keep them around was to create a Gladiator-Mafia style book club.

greenowl.bsky.social•59 days ago

But now folk are getting tired of it & Amazon's near monopoly on the English e-book market is stagnating it. Amazon just angered Kindle customers on e-books, fighting w/ Google. & Amazon tortures authors & small presses on the print side. So diversification is self-pub authors' best bet.

queenbeeonita.bsky.social•60 days ago

As an alternative for small business owners that need platforms to sell through, Shopify performs well, grows alongside you, and is not AMZ! Authors can sell eBooks through their platform:)

drkcain.bsky.social•60 days ago

Thank you!!

sm-greenarts7.bsky.social•60 days ago

Any author should also have their own website to sell their work and not rely on Amazon it is possible to do so and you should in case there is something wrong with their site and your fans need access

isobelstarling.bsky.social•60 days ago

I wish it was that easy. Many of us do have direct sales stores but readers rarely purchase from there. Leading readers away from the big retail sites to direct sales is really hard work. Readers like the familiarity of their regular site and the one-click process.

kitvaria.bsky.social•58 days ago

A lot of the direct sale sites also have limited payment options. I for example don't own a credit card (not common here, I only ever miss it for the occasional online shopping) and plenty of the small shops didn't offer Paypal.

sm-greenarts7.bsky.social•60 days ago

No reason why you can't offer both even if you can't leave Amazon give your readers a choice they might surprise you.

kate-wood.bsky.social•59 days ago

If an author is KU-dependent, they can't - the exclusive license for e-books extends to the author's own site.

neijayah.bsky.social•60 days ago

as a German who mainly reads in English, I would prefer if every author can sell books from their own website. Right now, I have books I want to read, but they are nowhere to be found, except in physical form. I'd rather open accounts with 10 ebook stores than purchase at Amazon again.

izypee.bsky.social•60 days ago

I am sad I can no longer access my favorite authors' books but I am not sad I am giving up Amazon. "If I don't have it, I don't need it".

emcsky.bsky.social•60 days ago

I haven’t been using my kindle for the past month and I’m about to drop KU. Authors who want to stay exclusive to KU are only going to have access to people who fine with oligarchy, but they don’t read, so 🤷‍♀️.

mthrntr49.bsky.social•60 days ago

Fuck amazon and fuck bezos and fuck all others for enabling this abuse and enriching an oligarch cunt.

elfin9.bsky.social•59 days ago

I have mixed feelings about Amazon (my feelings about Bezos are not mixed & all bad). They don't treat their employees well, but huge corporations seldom do. They treat their customers like gold. If I were poor, had an inflexible job, & lived in an area with few stores, Amazon would be a blessing.

mxjaxxx.bsky.social•58 days ago

This is one of the many reasons I left a Sapphic Book Lovers Facebook group. Gave big time bootlicking and scab energy in the page and wouldn't let me tell people how to convert Kindle downloads to PDF to own. No thanks, that's gross. If you pay for something, you should get to own it.

summerwoodgames.bsky.social•60 days ago

for me as a reader the most frustrating and clearly harmful part of KU is the exclusivity that extends to keeping books out of libraries' hands. I can't afford to buy many books personally but I do a *lot* of materials requesting at my local library! KU ebooks can't be purchased

elensule.bsky.social•60 days ago

This 100% I can't (and don't *want*) to buy many books but I read hundreds a year at the library. There are lots I would love to read but can't bc of KU exclusivity

terrihonk.bsky.social•60 days ago

I didn’t even know that. How gross!

morgalyn.bsky.social•59 days ago

It's because a lot of it is self-publish to ebook with Amazon having sole rights.

We need another player in distribution of self-publishing, because right now Amazon is the main place people are getting paid that don't meet traditional publishing's remits.

kitvaria.bsky.social•58 days ago

In the German market Tolino has about a 50% share now. It takes time, and people / companies working together, but it is possible.

Here the booksellers use the same system, so you can buy your epub wherever and read it on whatever. No specific branded formats or e-readers.

terrihonk.bsky.social•57 days ago

That’s so good to hear! Thanks.

terrihonk.bsky.social•59 days ago

Yep. And we won’t get another player while everyone keeps giving money to Bezos.

summerwoodgames.bsky.social•59 days ago

I mean Kobo Plus exists, and could easily be competitive. It's cheaper and doesn't have the same exclusivity. I don't know what it's like for authors though

crown75.bsky.social•60 days ago

🙌🏼

againphoenix.bsky.social•60 days ago

We know we’re losing our country; with that in mind we have decided to boycott all American corporations
as a new way of life.
Sourcing from Canada & Mexico.
Because P2025 will have us unable to shop, pay rent/mortgage anyway.
It also intends to get rid of 90% of the populace. READ IT!

winedog.bsky.social•60 days ago

Because Amazon isn’t taking exploiting them in the first place? That argument is invalid.

ms-lj.bsky.social•60 days ago

Leave AMAZON they designed it to manufacture your consent to steal from YOU.

deryckeleven.bsky.social•60 days ago

I'm currently only selling my ebooks via Amazon but am considering switching to another platform. I don't make enough sales to know if I'm actually getting any from people who don't know me (or "know me"). I didn't encourage anyone to buy my ebooks during the boycott.

globetrottergolfer.bsky.social•60 days ago

BTW
Market was up Friday

Google

Pepsi

Coca Cola

PBS

The Smithsonian Inst

Disney
GE
Intel
PayPal
Amazon
Target
Chipotle
Comcast
Ford Motor
Citigroup
JPM Chase
Molson Coors
Lowe’s
Walmart
McDonald’s
GM
JohnDeere
Harley Davidson
Jack Daniel’s
Boeing
Meta
Amtrak
Accenture
Deloitte
Goldman Sachs

mercureabrand.bsky.social•59 days ago

It's already been said above but draft2digital is 100% recommended. You can choose where they will provide your ebook among the platforms you see on the picture

deryckeleven.bsky.social•59 days ago

Thanks!

nerdiestviking.bsky.social•59 days ago

I started spreading mine around. I currently have it on B&N and google books, so still corporate giants, but its a start

spladayum.bsky.social•60 days ago

I'm not boycotting all of Amazon, but I am reducing its footprint in my life. I stopped KU years ago and I'm not starting again as a reader.

mindy103.bsky.social•60 days ago

Why not Etsy?

isobelstarling.bsky.social•60 days ago

Etsy doesn't have a book store, it's a marketplace for lots of products. The royalty payment isn't fair, and the site is full of AI slop. Indie already have lots of dedicated book retail sites to sell on that aren't Amazon and we can create direct sales stores for our websites.

blodeuweddcrone.bsky.social•60 days ago

📌

tridact.bsky.social•60 days ago

And people don’t see what Amazon does behind the scenes - contacting small businesses with a message of “join us or we will crush you,” and using a variety of unethical tactics to do so

swamiquest.bsky.social•60 days ago

Witness the TV ad buys from Amazon where they message the same PR - amazon isn't really a voracious corporation, they b just a crash pad for little business peeps.

Bull shyte.

impavid.us•59 days ago

Fully agree, and i left KU quite a while ago. However I have lost almost all readership as a result. Readers NEED to get serious about supporting authors on other platforms if we are going to be able to break their dominance

impavid.us•59 days ago

I have a day job and I don't depend on income from my books to survive - but a lot of authors do, and they literally cannot afford to leave AZ. Readers need to show that they will support authors on other platforms

mogadontrenchcoat.bsky.social•60 days ago

if an author solely uses amazon then they're automatically blocking users of all ebooks but kindles from reading them (without illegally jailbreaking books). that's a choice. don't care about me, i won't care about picking up your book. that simple.

wesradmanwrites.bsky.social•59 days ago

There is no defense, there are other options. Convenience is not a good reason to bury your morals.

dannikadark.net•60 days ago

I really hope https://bookshop.org turns out to be a strong competitor once they begin selling ebooks.

KU/select was initially pitched to new authors for "visibility", but the exclusivity was meant to drive people into their ecosystem by using authors ad rewarding them with more visibility.

seanmcdhorror.bsky.social•60 days ago

I’ve been pushing Bookshop hard.

dannikadark.net•60 days ago

It's been a sacrifice to stay wide; I gave up a lot of income when the mad rush into KU took hold and all those borrows counted as sales on the bestseller list. So I know how authors in KU feel now that they're staring at this decision.....

dannikadark.net•60 days ago

But competition is a healthier market, & that was not set up to be competition. We have no control over the market or where readers shop. All we can do is pivot. If readers go elsewhere, I hope they seek out indie authors & support them....

dannikadark.net•60 days ago

I don't think authors will have trouble pulling out of KU if they knew where readers were going, but there's no one place. Maybe there shouldn't be.

At the end of the day, we can't tell readers where to shop any more than they can tell us where to sell.

gideonstevens.bsky.social•60 days ago

I can tell you where they do shop. Between Amazon, Apple, B&N, and Kobo - the clicks all go to Amazon. (YMMV). Apple has gained a little lately - some people like to read on their phone - but is still statistically insignificant. Not being available on Amazon is like being on p.2 of Google results.

democracy4all67.bsky.social•59 days ago

Indeed... I've noticed that a lot of people don't look at the big picture of a situation, or have the ability for critical thinking.

lyn54.bsky.social•59 days ago

Fuck Amazon and bezos!

paracactus.bsky.social•59 days ago

I've also seen so many cycles of KU working great for a subset of authors for a time, then amazon changed something, and their income crashed.

Like idk, I'm not an author, but it seems like such a volatile gamble...

deekay6.bsky.social•60 days ago

Buy directly if you can.

bawalker.bsky.social•60 days ago

Shift your patronage to Etsy then! Or better yet buy from local, small businesses

snowfairyofbonair.bsky.social•60 days ago

They can switch to etsy

materaki.bsky.social•60 days ago

I agree! But Amazon exploits them. We need a new platform

hanni68.bsky.social•59 days ago

This is hurting everybody across the board. Better take our lumps now rather than draw it out. We all need to have a major shift. Be prepared to support one another, grow food for your communities if you can. Centralized consumption has brought us to this point. And realize you are not alone.

banditt70.bsky.social•60 days ago

Go to the creators’ websites! Amazon is a hub ! We don’t need it

hsrivney.bsky.social•60 days ago

I’m pulling out of KU and going wife.

noncompliant1.bsky.social•60 days ago

Ask a musician how all that worked out for us with Spotify.
It didn't. We're all broke because you can't make money off music anymore (unless you're Taylor Swift or Beyonce which most of us are not).

dandhara1.bsky.social•60 days ago

Well Taylor hold back her music from the platform for three years so small artists could be better paid

isobelstarling.bsky.social•60 days ago

And that didn't work because smaller artists are still paid peanuts.

noncompliant1.bsky.social•60 days ago

That wasn't a diss to TSwift. The problem is fully streaming companies. Current Spotify policy is to not pay artists with under 1000 streams.

noncompliant1.bsky.social•60 days ago

I expect that relying on Amazon Unlimited will eventually cause author pay to continue to dwindle.

dandhara1.bsky.social•59 days ago

I know. I was just sharing information. Spotify is really ripping off the small artists with that

lifelearn.bsky.social•59 days ago

Don’t put all your egg in one basket

g-luckylady.bsky.social•60 days ago

So quit being lazy and look up the fucking product online and buy directly form them if they are so worried about hurting the small businesses. What they are really worried about is giving up convenience. That is what it’s really about. Freedom has a price.

kathstuff.bsky.social•60 days ago

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

ameleh.bsky.social•60 days ago

The marginalized are necessary for capitalism to work. If those small creators making a pittance that fuels billions for Bezos left, it would be interesting to see what happens. Etsy isnt perfect but its better

jangmigasi.bsky.social•60 days ago

I don't care. The only thing that's going to make Maga wake up is the foreseeable consequences of their own actions. It's a shame that *all of us who didn't ask for this* are going to suffer as well, but this is not the America I want to give my children.

gabriel-nightshade.bsky.social•60 days ago

Unfortunately change rarely comes without a chunk of discomfort and a bit of pain.

jpohlmanwriting.com•60 days ago

I'm a small, mostly-Amazon author and I'm fine w/the boycott.

I'm still locked into some exclusivities, but going wide just takes some backend work and is totally a good idea.

It just...Ugh, takes a lot of backend work lol

smreine.itch.io•60 days ago

I feel ya. Most of my books are wide, and I have a LOT of books. Updating files means...so much work. Thousands of buttons to click across multiple sites. Doing all the back-end distributor stuff is my least favorite publishing-related chore.

jpohlmanwriting.com•60 days ago

Yep.

But it's gonna be worth it to be free of Amazon.

scandalfrombohemia.bsky.social•60 days ago

It's on my list of things to do; I just haven't gotten there yet because I know it's going to be a huge learning curve to figure it out

jpohlmanwriting.com•60 days ago

It's mostly reminiscent to when you set Amazon up, it's just little things that'll get ya.

Like, Amazon let me use a landscape-style cover for an E-book, but Draft2Digital required a traditional portrait cover, so I needed to recheck my art.

Itch has file size requirements that required tweaking.

thisismyquest.bsky.social•59 days ago

“hurting small creators”? total bs. I look for things on Amazon, and then look up the supplier, and buy directly from the supplier. skip the middleman!

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