Note: Before I get started, those who are reading the Shadow Shifter series, please make sure to read the bottom paragraphs.
Hi there everyone! Take a seat, grab up some coffee or tea, and make yourself comfortable. The old man has a little tale to tell, and sometimes he can get a little long-winded, in the telling.
There was this company, a big company that created a device called a Kindle. Now why anyone would name it that, is beyond me. Something with a name like that, is bound to make you think, it will burn you. Maybe the name was appropriate after all. Let’s continue the tale and I’ll let you decide for yourself.
This device, this kindle, they wanted to sell to people, but they needed a good reason for people to buy it. You see, this magical little device lets you read books on it, and people had grown attached the their real books. So they used people’s own nature against them. They used people’s greed to sell their device. They promised them lower prices. But the problem, they did not foresee, was the big book publishers were not going to have any part in that idea.
So this big company, that created the device, had to have an alternative to make them big book publishers give in to lower prices. That thing they needed was leverage over them, and the way they chose to get that leverage, was Indie Authors. Thus, Kindle Direct Publishing was created, to make sure they had the leverage, to make the big companies lower their prices.
However, they did not anticipate how much those big book publishers were going to resist this idea of lower prices, so they reduced themselves to dirty tactics to get them to fold over. They hid “Buy” buttons on those big publisher’s books, and suggested that their customers buy used books. This took money away from them big, bad book publishers and their authors. You see, they did not care about anything, other than selling their devices.
The big book companies fought back though. They started building their own websites to sell their books. This forced the big company, that was selling the devices, to make deals with the big book publishers. Once this began to happen, they realized that soon, they would no longer need the Indie Authors anymore.
It was not bad enough, that most of these indie Authors were already losing most of their money to the device company, or that they’d created a oversaturated market of books, because now anyone and everyone could write a book. They had to now look, for ways to remove these indie authors from the platform, because they were making deals with the big book publishers.
Thus the weeding out of the Indie Authors has begun. They started this by changing their KDP Select program, so that most authors are lucky, if they get slave labor wages. They did this right after I had placed both of my books into the Select program. My only recourse is to remove my books completely, and still not be able to sell it anywhere else, for 90 days.
They have alienated many other sites, in the process of their program of removing the Indie Authors from their platform, and their dirty tactics. Goodreads.com has severed ties with them, Barnes and Noble will not sell any books from Indie Authors in their stores, if they have their book on the device sellers site, and now the Indie Authors are finally beginning to see, some of their new underhanded and unfair treatment of them.-
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/968682-stop-amazon-from-dictating-review-policy-protect-reader-author-freedom
This is only the beginning for the Indie Authors though. They will keep doing things, until they have removed them completely from their store, because they think they no longer need them. They have gotten what they wanted; their devices sold and the promise of lower prices. Next they will lower the percentage, that they give authors for each sale, until nearly every Indie Author is making nothing from their sales, and the device maker doesn’t even do anything, for an author. They do not edit books or create covers. They don’t advertise, and even attempt to help them, achieve anything. They never have and never will. In fact, they will find more and more ways, to obscure the Indie Author books, until only the big book sellers are happy and have no competition.
Yes, it is beginning to look like the device maker named the device correctly. For it will surely burn every Indie Author eventually. Every author that helped it sell its devices.
The even bigger questions remain, what are the indie authors going to do about it and will the consumers even care?
The first answer it not so easy. While everyone was busy giving their hard work to the device maker, the device maker was busy taking their money and buying up all the competition. That’s right! They took most of your profits, and used it to stab you in the back, in case you tried to leave. There is hope still. You can either leave en mass’ and work together to form another site, or maybe work with a new site that is trying different business model altogether bookbypart.com Search for them on Twitter, to find out more, as they are still in the process of building. Then there is the alternative, and might be the best option, for a lot of authors out there. If you don’t have the education, background, and knowledge to write, move on. Your only wasting time, and won’t make any money from the device maker, or anything that comes after. You’re just hurting those, you claim to love, by further saturating the marketplace.
As for the second question, that is easy. They be getting their favorite authors at lower prices. They don’t care, if you work for next to nothing, or even free. Don’t believe me, take a good look at what has happened, to the music market. That is the greatest indicator of where books are going. The sad thing is, a book takes 100 times longer to create, than a song. I know, I have done both, multiple times.
So there you have my tale of what has happened, and will likely happen with these two. You can choose to ignore it, but then, you are only fooling yourself.
Where does this place me, you might wonder? For me, it is pretty clear who the winners and losers, of this battle are. The winners are the device maker and the big book publishers. Don’t the big companies always beat down the little guy? That is the nature of this world…only the strong survive. The losers are clearly the Indie Authors.
I am not a loser and I have the skill set, and talent, to find a literary agent or publisher. I am not new to writing. I have maturity in my writing, and don’t try to kill off characters on the first page, to get attention. Any author worth their salt knows this, and more publishers need to start paying more attention, to things like this. How many are kicking themselves in the head for turning down Stephen King or J.K.Rowling? My books reward patience, and if you don’t have that, then you probably should not be reading anything. A book should be sunk into, not dashed through.
Therefore, it should be obvious that Shadow Shifters 2, and all previous books will be removed from the device maker’s store, as soon as my KDP Select obligation is done. If you want a copy of Shadow Shifters 2 before it is removed, it would be best to get it, as soon as it is released. While I shop for a literary agent or publisher, for my controversial book The God Killer perhaps, I will find one also willing to work with me, on republishing the Shadow Shifters series.
If not, then I may just withdraw into retirement. I am too old, and have too many health issues, to enter the battle between Amazon and Indie Authors. For me, it is either go big, or go home time. I don’t have the time to waste on battles that are not winnable. However, I want to wish EVERY Indie Author out there the best of luck! Your fighting two big monsters…don’t forget, they will not fight fair.
Thx for reading and have an amazing day EVERYONE!
JB
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