E-book Distribution

It’s already August—happy birthday horses!—yet I’m still back in April… of 2023. Needless to say, it’s been a very busy year with a radical change to the distribution of the e-book version of The Beaumont Egalitarian Society.

As of this month, my book will no longer be part of Amazon’s KDP Select program. Instead, it will be distributed widely.

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From August 1st, readers will no longer be able to read The Beaumont Egalitarian Society on Kindle Unlimited (KU). Readers can still purchase the e-book through Amazon for their Kindles, it just won’t be available on Unlimited for a free subscription. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. The good news for those who may have been mid-read, if you’ve already downloaded it through KU, you can still read it anytime you like.

Instead, you will now also be able to purchase the e-book on other e-readers, including Kobo (which you were able to do so before; I removed it the other day, but it is now re-published!). Retailers beyond Amazon will be able to sell the e-book and libraries will now be able to carry it (I’m currently changing the rights on the National Library of Australia to allow downloading and make it easier to access for readers).

Why the change?

Whilst I was bringing in a lot of reads last month on KU, the current exclusivity rules using the program outweigh both the benefits and my anxiety. If I were to keep my book in the program, I could not legally have it sold or distributed anywhere else, or risk my royalties being confiscated AND my book being permanently banned from Amazon. Yikes, not fun.

Given that authors are required to submit any work published on Australian soil by law (Libraries Act 1984), I’d rather comply with my country’s rules than a company’s policy (both, preferably).

What is worse, though, is the current trend of readers pirating books. Recently, an ARC reader (someone an author gives their book to prior to release in exchange for early reviews) uploaded a copy of an e-book to an illegal site. They’re not the first to do so, with many readers copying books from Kindle Unlimited and uploading them to pirate sites. This is annoying, as authors (particularly indie authors) rely heavily on each sale; people aren’t stealing from big brands, they are stealing from authors who are already giving all their savings to their dreams.

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But what’s more, authors are punished further by Amazon if their e-book is found anywhere on the internet, including pirate sites. Even though authors did not upload the content nor give permission for such distribution, they are still held accountable and run the risk of having their books and accounts removed. Sounds fair, huh? It doesn’t apply to traditionally published books, though, which can be on both KU and distributed worldwide.

A petition is circulating asking Amazon to please reconsider this policy and grant independent authors better protection and rights. If you would like to help authors take better charge of their work, please consider signing the movement.

This is by no means an attack on Amazon. Without them, my dreams of being a published author would have never come true. And whilst yes, they are a big business and most likely don’t care about little old me, I will still be forever grateful for that. But I also believe in my work and my value.

You can sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/ku-equal-rights-for-indie-authors

(Currently 818/1000 signatures).

Sharing and spreading the word would also help greatly.

Some good news…

It hasn’t all been yelling for change this week.

I’m excited to be packing an order today (thank you!). I finally get to break out my little packing box of goodies and you can bet I’ll probably go a tad overboard. But using a custom logo wax seal isn’t too much, right? Right?

Yesterday’s disastrous attempt at designing bookmarks has also resulted in a new venture. I wanted to make something specific to my novels, but unfortunately, the vision in my head did not come to fruition. Apparently, carving wood is actually hard. Who’d have thought that?

More details will come, of course, but good news for fellow vintage lovers: the theme will now stick until new character art can be sourced from someone who can actually draw and paint (aka not me). I hope you like them; they are just a small token of my gratitude. Previous purchases through me will also receive a little goodie bag as soon as I sort everything out.

For now, please bask in the unholy glory of my first and last attempt to paint my own designs :’)