Is Amazon Failing to Report Book Sales?
Urgently re-posting the news: evidence that Amazon may be failing to report book sales correctly. Warning: I personally have not noticed anything amiss in my book sales reports.
I have no evidence that something like this is actually going on. But that such
reports circulate on Internet, apparently providing convincing facts, is
surely a matter for concern.
This article first came out last year on author Jeanette Vaughan's blog:
September 28, 2012
Do Amazon and Createspace rip off Indie publishers with failure to correctly report sales?
Guest post by John. R. Clark, Managing Editor at AgeView Press
When AgeView Press Indie pubbed the book FLYING SOLO in
May of 2012, the author, Jeanette Vaughan immediately began tracking
sales. She heard from excited friends and family who immediately
emailed when ordering their copies. The first sales were off of Createspace’s e-store with
the title ID number given to the author. Then, through Amazon, a week
later, when the book went live on the site. Finally on Kindle, when
the ebook format was completed.
Where, oh where are my royalties?
...
Initially, things appeared kosher. People exclaiming that they had
ordered the book, were showing up within a day or two on the electronic
royalty reports with a reasonable accuracy. But by June and July,
sales discrepancies were noted by the author from customers claiming
that they had purchased the book directly through Amazon, not an Amazon
affiliate. Many of these sales were simply not listed.
...
The first note of apparent discrepancy came when a dear friend of the
author ordered three copies of the book from Amazon in June. These
books were ordered all at the same time, from Amazon.com direct. Yet,
that cluster of three sales was never posted as such. Another
instance in early July involved the same issue. Again, a customer
ordered three copies, yet no sales were trackable through Amazons
channels for three sale purchased on the same day.
...
Meantime, the author was making public appearances, being featured
on blogs and radio, and rounding with book signings. During the months
of June and July, no expanded distribution channel sales were posted on
the royalty report, yet customers were emailing the author letting her
know how much the book was being enjoyed overseas. More than 15 five star reviews for the novel were posted on Amazon.
What should have shown as a surge of sales, as the book peaked, never
appeared on the royalty reports.
...
By August, it was clear there were gross in accuracies. The 30 copies ordered from Barnes and Noble never
showed up. Few if any sales were listed for August. Yet the author
had confirmation of over 4,000 copies in distribution worldwide. The
crowning blow came in September. A plan was devised. A friend,
agreed to help with the investigation. She ordered a copy of FLYING
SOLO on September 7th, taking screen shots of her order and confirmation
of payment directly from Amazon. She printed out here receipt
showing date and time of purchase. The book arrived on September 13,
to San Jose, California. Photos were taken. The sale was
complete. Copies of all screenshots and receipts were scanned and
sent to the author. By September 20th, no sales were shown at all on
Createspaces report. Phoning Createspace, the author was informed
that no sales were showing for Amazon for the month for that title.
...
What options does that leave the Indie
publishers? How can they possibly track the success of their
marketing efforts. Is the publishing world doomed to be controlled by
the big six?
...
Rise up Indie authors! Repost this story! Tweet it,
facebook it. Make it go viral. Print it and send it to your local
newspaper and the Associated Press. This abject fraud is outrageous and MUST STOP!
John R. Clark, Managing Editor, AgeView Press
For the full story, go here.
I have no evidence that something like this is actually going on. But that such
reports circulate on Internet, apparently providing convincing facts, is
surely a matter for concern.
This article first came out last year on author Jeanette Vaughan's blog:
September 28, 2012
Do Amazon and Createspace rip off Indie publishers with failure to correctly report sales?
Guest post by John. R. Clark, Managing Editor at AgeView Press
When AgeView Press Indie pubbed the book FLYING SOLO in
May of 2012, the author, Jeanette Vaughan immediately began tracking
sales. She heard from excited friends and family who immediately
emailed when ordering their copies. The first sales were off of Createspace’s e-store with
the title ID number given to the author. Then, through Amazon, a week
later, when the book went live on the site. Finally on Kindle, when
the ebook format was completed.
Where, oh where are my royalties?
...
Initially, things appeared kosher. People exclaiming that they had
ordered the book, were showing up within a day or two on the electronic
royalty reports with a reasonable accuracy. But by June and July,
sales discrepancies were noted by the author from customers claiming
that they had purchased the book directly through Amazon, not an Amazon
affiliate. Many of these sales were simply not listed.
...
The first note of apparent discrepancy came when a dear friend of the
author ordered three copies of the book from Amazon in June. These
books were ordered all at the same time, from Amazon.com direct. Yet,
that cluster of three sales was never posted as such. Another
instance in early July involved the same issue. Again, a customer
ordered three copies, yet no sales were trackable through Amazons
channels for three sale purchased on the same day.
...
Meantime, the author was making public appearances, being featured
on blogs and radio, and rounding with book signings. During the months
of June and July, no expanded distribution channel sales were posted on
the royalty report, yet customers were emailing the author letting her
know how much the book was being enjoyed overseas. More than 15 five star reviews for the novel were posted on Amazon.
What should have shown as a surge of sales, as the book peaked, never
appeared on the royalty reports.
...
By August, it was clear there were gross in accuracies. The 30 copies ordered from Barnes and Noble never
showed up. Few if any sales were listed for August. Yet the author
had confirmation of over 4,000 copies in distribution worldwide. The
crowning blow came in September. A plan was devised. A friend,
agreed to help with the investigation. She ordered a copy of FLYING
SOLO on September 7th, taking screen shots of her order and confirmation
of payment directly from Amazon. She printed out here receipt
showing date and time of purchase. The book arrived on September 13,
to San Jose, California. Photos were taken. The sale was
complete. Copies of all screenshots and receipts were scanned and
sent to the author. By September 20th, no sales were shown at all on
Createspaces report. Phoning Createspace, the author was informed
that no sales were showing for Amazon for the month for that title.
...
What options does that leave the Indie
publishers? How can they possibly track the success of their
marketing efforts. Is the publishing world doomed to be controlled by
the big six?
...
Rise up Indie authors! Repost this story! Tweet it,
facebook it. Make it go viral. Print it and send it to your local
newspaper and the Associated Press. This abject fraud is outrageous and MUST STOP!
John R. Clark, Managing Editor, AgeView Press
For the full story, go here.
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message 1:
by
Dixie
(last edited Mar 18, 2013 11:38AM)
(new)
Mar 18, 2013 07:24AM
I'm curious, even though not many of my books have sold, there are a lot of used copies listed for both far below the price I am asking and as much as triple my asking price, but with all those cheaper options, why would anyone order the ones listed directly from createspace to Amazon? How would I ever know when my book sells as a used copy an are these sellers getting the books from createspace at my discount price too? I know I can sell them in person and often do, but almost never online except the kindle version.
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Dixie wrote: "I'm curious, even though not many of my books have sold, there are a lot of used copies listed for both far below the price I am asking and as much as triple my asking price, but with all those che..."Yes, I've been wondering about that too - noticed something similar for my books...but I don't have any answer!
