If you’ve been thinking about selling your self-published book on Amazon, have a look at this story on Angela Hoy’s Writers Weekly website. Apparently, Amazon is trying to ban any self-publishers who don’t use their own print-on-demand service, BookSurge.
I first heard about the situation in the Aha (Authors Helping Authors) blog. [Update December 11, 2012 – the original blog post is no longer available.] Then, Lynne Klippel mentioned it to me when we were speaking about putting together a flat-rate publishing package for my clients.
One of the biggest benefits of self-publishing your book is that it gives you – the author, the expert – more choices and more automony over the process. Now Amazon is trying to take those choices away.
There are a LOT of other online booksellers out there, and I bet their business is going to be booming as a backlash from this situation.
There’s an online petition with 1,092 signatures and counting (including mine). What about you? Will you sign the petition? Or will you "vote with your feet" and take your book-buying and book-selling business elsewhere?
Thanks very much for this post – I just filled out the petition and I am mortified by this news. You have to understand that Amazon has been on really shaky ground with me since they sent me a letter saying that they couldn’t stop selling magazines that market dogs for the purpose of dog fighting. They are the last remaining online “book store” that carries magazines with actual dogs for sale, making them part of the distribution channel of these poor creatures. That was really enough to make me seriously consider boycotting them. But now I hear they are actually willing to censor books to make a buck, when they are not willing to censor magazines to prevent the illegal sale of dogs for fighting? That’s just disgusting in my mind. And that bizarre judgement call on their part, as a company doesn’t even begin to address the impact their decision will have on the power and the voice of the independent author who may not be able to afford Book Surge once it gains that monopoly-like power over self-publishing. Amazon will become the Clear Channel of books, if you know what I mean. I find this so profoundly disturbing on so many levels! People, let’s rise up against this, let’s let our voices be heard, and let’s take our attention, and our creativity and our money elsewhere – it’s time!
Thanks for posting that article – it was eye opening!