I’ve said for awhile now, that though I appreciate the opportunities Amazon gives to indie authors, that we shouldn’t be “too” grateful because they are ripping us off on Kindle sales. On Kindle we only get 35% cut, that’s less than industry standard for a publisher, and not only that, but it’s an ebook, exactly what is Amazon doing with Kindle books that rates that big of a cut?
With physical books you can understand since they have to ship them out, but when we’re talking about a non-physical product, the most they can say they need is storage space and bandwidth, which in the grand scheme isnt’ THAT expensive.
But as indies we didn’t and don’t have any power to do anything about it. We just had/have to accept our 35% and that’s that. Since it’s “better than royalty rates on e from most mainstream publishers” we’re supposed to be happy about it. But the thing is… when I publish on Kindle, *I* am my publisher, not Amazon, because I prepare the file.
Now, further steps have been taken to screw over indie authors by Amazon. Originally Amazon discounted books put on Kindle by indie authors, but now they don’t. So my $1.00 book used to be discounted to 80 cents. No longer. Now everybody that wants to buy has to pay sticker price. Twenty cents isn’t a lot of money, but psychologically discounts still hold power and sway over consumers, so consumers lose the feeling of “getting a deal.”
And not only that, but more and more mainstream published books are being offered on Amazon Kindle for free, which creates a lack of incentive to actually PAY for anything. When people search by price, the free books glut the results and people who sell their book at the lowest price they can ($1.00) are screwed over once again.
Indies cannot provide their work for free, only larger publishers who are involved with a “different” deal with Amazon Kindle than the little guys. The only thing that prevents people from suing Amazon for breaking fair trade laws, is the fact that because mainstream publishers deal in larger bulk, it can be a different type of deal.
So yes, folks, Amazon is not your friend.
Before the discounts got taken off, and the new flood of free books being released on Amazon Kindle by larger publishers, my Amazon Kindle sales ranking was usually between 1500 and 2000. Right now my sales rank is over 8,500.
So thanks, Amazon, from me to you. Indie authors already had a rough road, and now my exposure is even lower. The percentage of conversion… customers who go to the page and actually buy the book vs. customers who go to the page and exit or buy something else instead, is still the same. The only difference is my exposure, which is less than it was.
I don’t believe it’s a coincidence.
July 9, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Not only that, but they decide to discount the retail price of the book, so our cut is even less! grrrrrr
July 9, 2009 at 4:40 pm
No… they can’t discount the retail price set by you the publisher. They can only offer their own discount, and you still get your percentage off your retail price.
July 9, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Great article, Zoe! It’s hard enough for indie authors to gain exposure, without big publishers jumping in and offering freebies of their own. They must be worried about us.
July 9, 2009 at 7:37 pm
LOL! I just find it annoying that there are two totally different sets of rules. It’s like they’re working to make sure we work at an even further disadvantage.
July 9, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I looked into epublishing on Amazon. Must have US bank account and tax info. OH, FFS – I flipped them a few two-finger salutes and vowed not to darken their doors ever again… unless I got really desperate
I get the distinct impression that Amazon have lost their capacity for innovation – sad, but ah well, maybe they’ll be replaced soon by a company with its head less firmly stuck in its rectal cavity.
July 9, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Yeah Naomi, and I forgot to mention Kindle is very Ameri-centric. If you aren’t in the US fuggitaboutit.
Anyway yeah… all great companies start out with their heads far from their rectal cavities…as time marches on they always seem to get it stuck there though.
It seems to happen with every company. People are greedy,stupid, forget about their customers… they take on a god complex and forget completely that the customers made them and can break them.
Unfortunately there is never a strong enough stand made by consumers. It’s like Wal-mart. We all agree Wal-mart is evil, but we all still shop there because it’s cheap and convenient. So Wal-mart can continue on with whatever shitty practices they want to because we enable them.
Amazon is the same way. They’re cheap, reliable, have super saver shipping, a huge selection, a trusted brand name. People aren’t going to stop shopping at Amazon, so Amazon will be able to continue abusing their power because people just won’t go elsewhere.
The things they do right, they do so right no one else can beat them or match them on it, and the things they do wrong, no matter how wrong they do them, don’t seem to stop the flow of money for the shit they still do right.
It sucks. Everything plays to the lowest common demoninator now. Even most entertainment. We bitch that it’s dumbed down drek, but it doesn’t really matter because there are plenty of dumb consumers willing to pay money for it.
July 9, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Amen, sister. This is really depressing, though. Your comparison to Wal-Mart above is also apt.
July 9, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Hey Frank, the one thing that I think is positive about it all though is that there are sites starting to crop up meant to help indie authors market their work, like indiereader.com
And as Amazon continues to shut people out, more sites will crop up that cater to indies. Once a writer gets a solid platform built underneath them, obviously they want to be on Amazon as well for maximum sales potential, but the days of getting a lot of exposure just being ON the Amazon Kindle I think are about to be behind us. Anyone who isn’t marketing the hell out of their work and actually resonating with an audience is going to get left behind.
July 10, 2009 at 1:05 am
You might be a victim of your own success. My two books sell well on Amazon. The first one is currently ranked much higher than the second one and they’ve pulled the discount from the first one while still allowing it on the second.
Therefore, RealmShift is at full cost of $3.99 while MageSign still has a 20% discount and is available for $3.19. That used to be the case with RealmShift too. Perhaps they only discount to gain notice and once a few sales start showing through they bounce the price back up?
July 10, 2009 at 1:57 am
LOL Alan, I don’t know, but if that’s so, they’re morons. If something is working for sales, you don’t stop it. Der de der.
July 10, 2009 at 2:08 am
I tend to be a little more long-sighted and fatalistic about such things, I guess. More and more people get irritated and go elsewhere, and eventually it’s as easy to avoid the ‘I will survive’ companies as to use them, and then the companies go splat. Eventually. In the meantime, you really need to learn to do the English two-finger-salute. It’s a beautiful gesture – like tai chi for the rage demon.
July 11, 2009 at 9:20 am
@Zoe, That’s cool. IndieReader seems like a decent idea, but you do have to pay an annual fee of $100 to be listed there. On the plus side, they vet books before they can be sold, so you are getting value for your money. The general problem with indie anything, of course, is sorting out the wheat from the chaff, which is a problem I encountered a lot when I was doing The Whirligig. An editorial filter is necessary, I think, and it’s good to see IR has one, at least.
July 11, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Hey Frank,
I really think a lot of self-publishing authors shoot themselves in the foot with their attitude toward money. It’s a business, or it HAS to become one if you hope to sell any books. You can’t have a hobby attitude toward self publishing and hope to succeed in any meaningful way.
All businesses invest in their business. Not every service is right for every business owner, but that’s where common sense and strategy comes in. Each indie has to come up with a strategy and marketing plan.
And yes, you can’t spend a penny you can’t afford to lose because in business it is always a gamble, but… an author with common sense needs to understand the difference is a smart and a not smart bet. They need to learn to manage risk.
Not only that, but traditionally published authors are EXPECTED to market their work. It’s my firmly held belief that if someone can’t afford to spend $100 to market their book, it’s not going anywhere.
I know someone could probably point me to some exception to the rule, but indie authors are ALREADY operating in an “exception to the rule” universe. Even most NY pubbed authors spend more than $100 marketing their book.
Something all indies should think seriously about before leaping in. If someone just wants their name on a book, fine. If they want it to sell, they have to be willing to invest in it, and they have to be willing to take on risk and understand the different levels of risk.
July 12, 2009 at 9:38 am
Agreed. I’m just not sure IR is worth the money. But I haven’t delved too deeply into the site, so maybe there’s more value there than I noticed when I browsed the site.
July 12, 2009 at 11:12 am
They’re just getting started. So the value of their site remains to be seen, IMO.
July 12, 2009 at 11:15 am
Gotcha.
July 13, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Remember 15 years ago when AOL was king? And 8 or so years ago when eBay rocked? What happened was much like Zoe has described, these online companies shifted away from their core audiences and began to focus more on advertising and other ways to make big bucks from other corporations.
Unfortunately, I see Amazon heading down that same path. Doesn’t mean they’ll take a big dive, necessarily, but my guess would be someone small will eventually come along and do what Amazon is doing but only better.
I’m still miffed about all the free books from the big publishers. I wouldn’t mind so much if the indies had the same option.
July 14, 2009 at 7:43 am
I feel the same way, Ty. If you’re going to give that marketing option to larger publishers, give it to the little guy too. It’s an unfair and unwarranted advantage.
It’s also important because an unknown needs to build reader trust and the best way to do that is with free reads. To my knowledge you aren’t allowed to openly advertise a free book on Amazon that’s for sale on Amazon.
i.e. I don’t think I’m allowed to make a notation that people can get KEPT free from my site.
That’s hardly fair.