I’d like to start this by saying I sympathize. I really do. To an extent. What I have to say may ruffle some feathers. It may come across as harsh. It may make you angry. I’m okay with that—I can take it. I just hope that at some point you can find it in yourself to direct that anger where it belongs. Because, in the end, I’m just the messenger.
I think by now we’ve all seen enough posts about the current state of our oligarchy, and the many calls for boycotts and economic blackouts to make it clear that the US population is finally waking up to a reality they don’t like, and they’re ready to do something about it. Now, that’s very easy to accomplish with companies like Tesla—a brand that sells high-end products most of us can’t afford in the first place. Or X—a platform that can be replaced with any one of its multiple competitors.
But things get a little murkier with companies like Target and Walmart, who predominantly cater to cost-conscious and lower income customers. It’s not as easy to boycott a store you rely on for affordable everyday goods. There are still alternatives, though.
Like Amazon.
And that right there is the problem: All roads eventually lead to Amazon. It’s the one-stop-shop for everything from eBooks to furniture, to entire tiny houses. They now have a medical section, too. They have their own warehouses and distribution networks; they do their own deliveries. Whatever you can think of, you can probably buy on Amazon.
Convenience and affordability are a flytrap for consumers. Fake discounts and endless promotions generate FOMO if you don’t buy that thing you never realized you wanted. It conditions customers to check there first and often, because the more they do, the less they go elsewhere. Amazon has become so massive that they can afford to offer things like free next day shipping, and slash prices lower than anyone else, because they make up their margins in other ways that their competition cannot.
Amazon makes it easy to shop with them. They make it easy to set up shop with them—if you’re willing to pay the fees and give up a cut of your income on top of them. It’s easy, because it’s a no-brainer. You go where your customers are, right? So if everyone is shopping on Amazon, that’s where you need to be. And for a lot of publishers and small business owners, that’s where they are exclusively, because it’s where the bulk of their sales come from, and therefore it makes no sense for them to be elsewhere.
Do you see how that creates a positive feedback loop? More people shopping on Amazon means less competition outside of it. It means fewer and fewer options to get products somewhere else. Smaller businesses either get in there, or go under. And the more Amazon eats up the competition and the market, the stronger they get. There is no such thing as group bargaining power with Amazon, because every seller on there is in competition with every other.
There is a concept that plays greatly into this: the sunk cost fallacy. In essence, it says that people who have invested a lot of time, money, and effort into something will continue to do so, even if it starts failing because they don’t want to “lose” what they’d built. They become paralyzed and unable to cut their losses in the hope that it can still turn around somehow.
It’s even worse when it’s not just a matter of cutting losses, but facing penalties just to leave. That’s where the trap keeps you prisoner. Small businesses who sell through Amazon get charged fees for removing their products from the Amazon warehouse—and they have to have their products in the warehouse to be able to offer Amazon’s signature shipping and return options. In some cases, the process of getting their inventory back costs more than the inventory itself. The fees and penalties alone can bankrupt a small business.
Publishers whose content is exclusive to Amazon are locked in to a term of several months. Because it’s exclusive, publishers first have to wait for that term to expire, and then they have to go through the labor of publishing through other vendors or distributors. It’s not a big deal if you have 5-6 books. I’ve done it. It sucks, but it’s doable. But when your backlist is in the double or triple digits, and you have to set them up one by one, sometimes on multiple platforms? Holy crap, does that suck.
Exclusivity always comes back to bite you one way or another. It has never been and never will be a good business practice to put all your eggs in one basket. And if you’re in that situation now, like I said, I sympathize. But only to a point. Because the writing has been on the wall for quite some time: Amazon is not your friend. And if, despite knowing how detrimental they are to you and the economy as a whole, you still choose to stay exclusive with them, then that’s on you.
They are counting on your pain
This is the most insidious thing about Amazon as a monopoly: It uses all those who exclusively sell through their storefront—the people who provide them with stuff to sell—as human shields against retaliation.
The people are fed up with the oligarchy. They are calling for boycotts.
And the sellers who rely on Amazon for their income rise up in droves to appeal to your humanity in response. “Boycotts won’t hurt Amazon. They’ll just hurt us, the little guys.” And Amazon just sits back and lets us all fight it out among ourselves. While pocketing billions of American dollars from both sides and draining them dry.
This is what Amazon has been building toward since its inception: A system that maintains, perpetuates, and grows itself. If Amazon were to fail, it would have a massive ripple effect across every industry. Millions of people would go bankrupt. Millions more wouldn’t be able to afford their basic needs without it.
Or so they would have you believe.
The truth is, it would absolutely have an effect. It would hurt a lot of people—temporarily. But there are ways to make that transition easier. It took time for Amazon to get to this point, and it will take time to wean ourselves off it. But it has to start somewhere, and it has to start now, while we still have other options. We need to break the monopoly from both sides, and we need to be okay with the short-term pain it will cause.
Readers and Shoppers
Slow and steady wins the race. Whatever you buy through Amazon, try to look for the same product somewhere else. If you can’t find it, or an equivalent alternative, reach out to the seller via Amazon and ask if they sell their products somewhere else. This will let the seller know that their customers are willing to buy from them outside of Amazon and if enough people do it, it might encourage them to open up their own independent shop. If not, they might still be willing to do business with you directly. It might even be more cost-efficient for them. But you won’t know until you ask.
Similarly for books, if you currently have a KU subscription, consider cancelling it and buying eBooks directly from the storefront instead. All things being equal, authors generally earn more royalties on a sale than they do on page reads. You’ll be supporting your favorite authors, while at the same time depriving Amazon of their easy money. You should still reach out to your auto-read authors and let them know you’d like to buy or borrow their books somewhere else. Amazon-exclusive content can’t be made available through public libraries, either. By publishing wide, authors have a chance of reaching more readers through other storefronts, as well as support public libraries. It’s a win-win, and we want to encourage it as much as possible.
Please don’t return purchased ebooks on Amazon, though. That does hurt authors. Sometimes a lot. If you’re unsure about trying a new author, every book has a sample that you can check out for free. The default is set to 20% so you can literally read a whole fifth of the book for free to decide whether you like it or not. That’s why it’s there. If you’re just looking for free reads, go to your local library. That’s why it’s there. People who abuse Amazon’s too-lax return policy: do better. Financial struggles are no excuse for taking advantage of authors who are struggling just as much.
Sellers, Publishers, and Indie Authors
Start small.
Remember, you don’t have to go cold-turkey. You just have to give yourself an out from the exclusivity clause. Make a spreadsheet to gather all the data you will need about each of your books/products so you have a handy reference for when you’re ready to start selling elsewhere. Get your documents in order.
Because I’m an author myself, here is what I know you will need:
- Title, series name, order #
- Synopsis/description/tag lines
- Tropes, keywords, tags
- Pricing information
- Editorial reviews
- Custom product images (if any)
Notice that customer reviews are not on that list. That is because you’re not unpublishing your books completely. Pulling out of the exclusive program doesn’t remove your book from the storefront. Your reviews will stay right where they are.
But while you’re getting the other info, go in and uncheck the little box that auto-renews your KDP Select inclusion. Take notes on when each book exits the program so that you’ll know when you can start publishing wide.
Start doing your homework now.
Look into what options you have for selling/publishing and distribution. The most popular platforms to set up your own shop are Shopify and Squarespace. They both allow you to create a full website with eCommerce where you can set up shop to sell your products directly. If you don’t have a website, whether or not you want to sell something through your website, start building one now. You will want a place where your customers/readers can find you online.
Popular self-publishing platforms you can look into right now are Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, and Lulu. Those will give you the widest reach with minimal effort. However, you can also choose to publish directly to stores that allow it, including Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Apple Books. Going direct will get you higher royalty rates, but it also means more work on your end, and you won’t reach as many stores as you would with a distributor. You also won’t be able to make your books available to libraries unless you use a distributor who offers that as an option.
Always read through the Terms of Service. When you decide which way you want to go, start setting up your publisher/seller account. You can do this at any time, long before you’re ready to sell/publish. You want to make sure you have your tax and payment information set up and saved beforehand, get your bank accounts verified, etc. This will save you time and frustration later.
Give yourself a timeline and break it down into manageable chunks. Organization will be key. Pace yourself so you don’t get overwhelmed. I know it’s a lot, but you can do it!
When you’re ready, PROMOTE!
As you’re starting your transition, don’t forget to let your social media audience and your readers/customers know about it. Share the link to your website and storefront. Promote your bestsellers and direct people where you want them to shop (Hint: not Amazon). Keep your content fresh and up to date. Keep your audience engaged and excited about your business. None of this works if you don’t tell people that they can find you elsewhere.
Just remember, you have all the power, because you are the one creating the products. You can make it without one storefront. But that storefront won’t make it if it has nothing to sell.