Lesson Learned & Shared

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

B.A. wrote: "Amazon is NOT indie friendly any longer. They got what they wanted -to be the biggest online store and now we are second rate citizens. Sure, they still court us so they can make money off us. Like..."

I think we might be getting off topic here, B.A.

I can appreciate your concerns surrounding Amazon, but at the end of the day, no one forces any author to use their services. If you don't like the deal, you don't have to take it. I understand a lot of authors share your frustration with them, but I'm not sure how constructive it is to be bashing them on a site they own.

[Ian]

The advantage Amazon has is they have a platform for promoting your book that readers go to. The other sellers do not seem to have such mechanisms, so Amazon retains its competitive advantage.

To compete fully, another store has to offer the publisher some means of making their books more discoverable or easier to find AND offer the reader the most trouble-free way of finding what they want. If Amazon has such bad points, then that opens up the opportunity for a competitor, but I don't see anyone in particular jumping in. Sorry, guys, but there are too many Indie publishers to make it worth their while. Every business operates to make a profit, and if it wants to stay in business, the huge deluge of indies that offer trivial sales is not an obvious source of profits, given the costs involved in making adequate differences.

[Geoff]

Is this an issue that could, would, should be taken up by The Authors Guild? As with every segment of American life, the power of large, ubiquitous corporations seem to be gaining an unfair advantage. The only credible solution would appear to be the use of a large participatory organization that that can overcome the strength of money with the strength of numbers. I know unions are the the true source of all that is evil, but guilds are different. Right?

Has #TAG member had any experience they could share? Any of you participated in the US Authors Guild Opens First Regional Chapters and Amazon Author-Complaint Resolution

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

Geoff wrote: "Is this an issue that could, would, should be taken up by The Authors Guild? As with every segment of American life, the power of large, ubiquitous corporations seem to be gaining an unfair advanta..."

Hi Geoff! Not a bad idea, but I believe membership in the Author's Guild costs $$ and if an indie author isn't making much on sales, the additional expense may not be worth the complaint they want to make :)

[Ian]

Another problem is if you have to pay $ to join said guild, you have to do so before you know whether they will do anything. I think the order of things is first find the solution (and no, I don't have one other than, say, some platform where books could be more finely listed on what they are about) and then worry about who is going to implement it. It is really easy to find the faults, but much more difficult to find fixes for them.

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

Ian wrote: "It is really easy to find the faults, but much more difficult to find fixes for them."

Well said Ian!

[Xanxa]

Interesting points being made here. Most of it I already knew.

I wanted to mention that in the last week, I've seen examples of Amazon allowing an author to review their own books. I think said author has two different accounts, but they haven't been very creative about the account names. The author account uses a professional title, first name and surname. The reviewer account omits the professional title and uses first initial and surname. It was obvious to me, especially given the unusual surname and the overblown praise from the reviewer account. Surely it would be obvious to Amazon too? It annoys me that instances like this are left alone while genuine reviewers are targeted and have their reviews rejected or removed. Rules should be applied consistently.

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

Xanxa wrote: "Interesting points being made here. Most of it I already knew.

I wanted to mention that in the last week, I've seen examples of Amazon allowing an author to review their own books. I think said au..."

Hi Xanxa! I agree, rules should be applied consistently. However, consider the sheer size of Amazon. They don't have an actual person perusing every single review posted. If you feel the review is false, I believe you can flag it for them to review.

[Xanxa]

Eldon wrote: If you feel the review is false, I believe you can flag it for them to review. "

I thought they might have AI bots operating on Amazon in a similar way to how they operate on social media.

I did consider reporting the review as false, but I'm concerned that the reviewer might take retaliatory action against me and get some of my reviews removed or have my account shut down. I don't know if the reporting would be anonymous and I wouldn't feel safe or comfortable unless there were guarantees in place.

[Gail]

I was told that as long as your paperback is published on Amazon, you can still receive reviews even though the ebook is pre-order. Does anyone know if that is true?

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

Gail wrote: "I was told that as long as your paperback is published on Amazon, you can still receive reviews even though the ebook is pre-order. Does anyone know if that is true?"

Reviewers would be able to leave reviews on the paperback edition.

[Gail]

Thank you, Eldon.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

The Kindle Unlimited monthly fund is steadily growing, if the e-mails I receive are using true numbers. The per-page payout was bound to drop. COVID gave people more time for their home-bound hobbies, which means the people subscribed to it are reading more books while paying the same, thus diluting the payout.
I was expecting that.

Another thing to mention that while Amazon may still be the lesser evil. Traditional publishing companies still cling to outdated practices that hurt both authors and readers (chiefly among them totally-useless DRM and inflating the prices of e-books to the same level as print) while asking authors to shoulder more of -their- work.

[Christine]

I wanted to share that I often see picture book authors post on Amazon without doing the following
1. Categorizing properly
2. Making ample LOOK INSIDE section
3. A+ Content

[Eileen]

Tomas wrote: "The Kindle Unlimited monthly fund is steadily growing, if the e-mails I receive are using true numbers. The per-page payout was bound to drop. COVID gave people more time for their home-bound hobbi..."

I agree that traditional publishers do most of their authors no favors. I think that they have an outdated business model that is too focused on NYC - not just that they are so often located in that very high cost environment which reduces what authors can earn, but that they give only lip service to the interests of readers outside that area.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Christine wrote: "I wanted to share that I often see picture book authors post on Amazon without doing the following
1. Categorizing properly
2. Making ample LOOK INSIDE section
3. A+ Content"

I don't know how things are in picture books but in "normal" e-books, the free sample is 10% and I guess the look inside may be similar (please, if someone knows I'm wrong in this, correct me). That means the only reliable way to affect point #2 is to cut the c**p in the front matter - chuck anything that doesn't need to be in the front matter to the back matter (which is general advice for e-books anyway).

[Christine]

Tomas wrote: "Christine wrote: "I wanted to share that I often see picture book authors post on Amazon without doing the following
1. Categorizing properly
2. Making ample LOOK INSIDE section
3. A+ Content"

I ..."
No you can get them to LOOK INSIDE much more, you just have to ask for it. My books have a lot of pages to show. Think about how you buy a book in the store, you look at it, all of it. So I do the same.

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

Christine wrote: "Tomas wrote: "Christine wrote: "I wanted to share that I often see picture book authors post on Amazon without doing the following
1. Categorizing properly
2. Making ample LOOK INSIDE section
3. A..."

Wait a minute. You have Amazon show your entire book? Why would anyone buy it then?

[Christine]

Eldon wrote: "Christine wrote: "Tomas wrote: "Christine wrote: "I wanted to share that I often see picture book authors post on Amazon without doing the following
1. Categorizing properly
2. Making ample LOOK IN..."
No it's not showing the entire book but enough so you get a good idea of what it is. Of course not. I would never buy an INDIE book that I couldn't see it to make sure it makes sense. Especially these picture books that people write.

[Christine]

Has anyone here used the Kindle Vella Storytelling Application. I just submitted Episode 1 of a story and wanted to know if any of you have used it yet?