Why my eBooks are no longer at Amazon
Hey folks,
I doubt anybody has noticed, but my eBooks are no longer for sale at Amazon. Basically, the problem is similar to the Hatchette dispute: pricing. Here's the history.
My eBooks were originally for sale at $5.99. Like most eBooks and independently published books, sales were super good for the first few months, then tapered off a bit, then, after two years, slowed to a trickle. That is to be expected. I'm happy with how both have done to be honest. I bought a car (used, but hey) with one of the eBook's royalties and pretty much wasted the other on frivolous delights like rent (for a few months).
So, if eBooks naturally decrease in sales, why is there a problem with Amazon? Because Amazon discounted my eBooks, meaning that the new, lower price for my very modest sales reduced my author royalty. Yes, I will concede that the Amazon price cut led to a brief mini-surge in sales (for a month or two), but then it went back to a trickle.
And that's the problem: do I then need to discount my eBook even further? And how much is an eBook worth? Every author will tell you the same thing: my iPad/iTunes sales have started to consistently beat my Amazon sales for the past two years, so why let Amazon reduce my royalty?
Amazon doesn't care about the publishing industry or authors: it just wants to control commerce so it can discount everything and anything so it can grow to control more commerce. Its the Wal-mart approach, which is funny - I've never bought an actual physical book in a Wal-mart, nor would I cry if a book of mine was not sold in one.
I recently returned my prices to the original $5.99 listing and iTunes and Nook agreed, but Amazon immediately slashed my price to the $3.99. Thus, until that changes, my old books won't be there. Any new book may be published at Amazon, but the second they cut the price, I'll unpublish. A lower price may move more books and make Amazon look amazing to consumers, but royalties to authors are the lifeblood of writing: not bargain bin discounts.
Bottom line: if you have a Kindle you can buy the eBook in MOBI format at Smashwords here. Then you can download it, email it to your Kindle, and you're good to go. Both books are still available for Nook at BN.com and iTunes for iBooks.
I doubt anybody has noticed, but my eBooks are no longer for sale at Amazon. Basically, the problem is similar to the Hatchette dispute: pricing. Here's the history.
My eBooks were originally for sale at $5.99. Like most eBooks and independently published books, sales were super good for the first few months, then tapered off a bit, then, after two years, slowed to a trickle. That is to be expected. I'm happy with how both have done to be honest. I bought a car (used, but hey) with one of the eBook's royalties and pretty much wasted the other on frivolous delights like rent (for a few months).
So, if eBooks naturally decrease in sales, why is there a problem with Amazon? Because Amazon discounted my eBooks, meaning that the new, lower price for my very modest sales reduced my author royalty. Yes, I will concede that the Amazon price cut led to a brief mini-surge in sales (for a month or two), but then it went back to a trickle.
And that's the problem: do I then need to discount my eBook even further? And how much is an eBook worth? Every author will tell you the same thing: my iPad/iTunes sales have started to consistently beat my Amazon sales for the past two years, so why let Amazon reduce my royalty?
Amazon doesn't care about the publishing industry or authors: it just wants to control commerce so it can discount everything and anything so it can grow to control more commerce. Its the Wal-mart approach, which is funny - I've never bought an actual physical book in a Wal-mart, nor would I cry if a book of mine was not sold in one.
I recently returned my prices to the original $5.99 listing and iTunes and Nook agreed, but Amazon immediately slashed my price to the $3.99. Thus, until that changes, my old books won't be there. Any new book may be published at Amazon, but the second they cut the price, I'll unpublish. A lower price may move more books and make Amazon look amazing to consumers, but royalties to authors are the lifeblood of writing: not bargain bin discounts.
Bottom line: if you have a Kindle you can buy the eBook in MOBI format at Smashwords here. Then you can download it, email it to your Kindle, and you're good to go. Both books are still available for Nook at BN.com and iTunes for iBooks.
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