We have something to talk about

Hey guys! Thanks for joining me!

This month, I’ll be talking about something that is important both to writers and to readers. It’s something that I really want to draw your attention toward, and something that I think you all will benefit from, in the end. It might be a little rough; fair warning. I’m going to be explaining some things that you might not want to know. But, if you stick it out to the end of the month, you’ll learn something, and you might even have an idea of how to combat what’s going on.

What are we talking about, you ask?

Amazon.

Told you it might be a rough topic.

I’m a semi-frequent Amazon user. I have a Prime account, which I primarily use for watching occasional movies and listening to music when I’ve already outspent my music budget for the month. I buy a lot of music.

Know what I don’t buy from Amazon, on principle? Books.

Allow me to explain. Actually, I'll be explaining all month. I’ve done my research, and I have a lot to tell you about Amazon and their effect on us as writers and readers, along with the publishing industry as a whole. I guarantee that it’ll be an interesting month, and I hope you’ll stick it out.

Createspace is sucking the life out of publishers and writers

Why? How? Both very good questions, and very valid ones. And it’ll take a bit, to answer them.

See, Createspace is Amazon’s publishing company. Their self-publishing company. And because Createspace belongs to Amazon, anything published through Createspace will be pushed a little harder by Amazon. It’s actually a really good business strategy on their part, because it means they get far more profits. If Amazon sells a book published by Random House, Amazon only gets a small cut. If they sell one published by Createspace, the majority goes to Amazon (of course).

See, if you’re not making money for Amazon, you might as well not try to work with them. They’re a business, and they’re in it for the money. Of course they are. That’s what they are and what they have to do. I’m not saying they’re wrong in how they do things. They’re actually brilliant.

Know who’s wrong, to be working with them?

You guessed it: us.

Createspace is taking a lot of business from publishers, of which there are hundreds if not thousands in the United States alone. Trouble is, when you publish a book through Createspace, you’re settling for self-publishing.

Yes, I just said that. Self-publishing is settling. If you didn’t already know that, then you haven’t done your research. And I can say that it's settling, because my first book was self-published. Soon to be off the shelves, by the way.

I digress. 

See, publishers, traditional publishers, are the ones who know publishing. Duh. It’s what they do. They’re a business that deals in books, more books, and nothing but books. And they’re a business that’s also out to make money—by selling your book at a price that gets you a royalty, too.

The thing is, with Amazon controlling so much of the book market, with writers turning to Amazon at every corner to publish through Createspace, real publishers are suffering. They’re not getting the books they could be getting. They’re not getting your book. Besides that, if a publisher wants to work through Amazon to sell their books, Amazon is going to take as much of the sale price as they can get away with, which means the royalty for the author drop to diddly squat.

For now, trust me on that. I’ll explain in more detail later on in the series.

Publishers are the ones who want to take your books and make them amazing, make them a bestseller, something that might even be turned into a movie. A book with a cult following. A beloved book that people won’t ever forget.

Amazon is the company that wants you to publish through them so they can make a little money off you.

Harsh? Yeah. But it’s the truth.

Here’s more truth for you:

For every time you buy a book from Amazon instead of a publisher, instead of a bookstore, instead of nearly any other venue, you’re hurting the publishing industry. You’re giving more power to the biggest business around these days, and you’re hurting the people behind those books. Authors suffer because of Amazon. Most of them won’t admit it. Many don’t even know it. But for every book you buy from Amazon, for every sale you give Amazon that could’ve been given to another venue, you’re hurting the people behind the books you love so much.

This month, I’ll tell you all about it.

We’re only getting started, and by the end of the month, believe me, we’ll have only scratched the surface.

[love]

{Rani Divine}