Exclusivity
This is going to be a little bit of a rambling post, mostly me thinking through my fingers about experimenting with making my Tears of Rage ebooks exclusive to Amazon.
Now I know some of my readers and fellow writers consider Amazon to be the big bad nasty of publishing right now. This isn’t about justifying what Amazon does or how they do it. It’s just about the nature of being an teeny tiny little fish in one big fucking ocean.
A short while ago, Amazon made some changes to the way things work for self-published authors, specifically for those who offer their ebooks specifically for Kindle. When Amazon launched the KDP Select program, the tool writers got for being exclusive to Amazon worked really well for us. I used those tools to get multiple books on multiple Amazon bestseller lists. First Chosen managed to stay on the Dark Fantasy list throughout most of 2012. At some point in late 2012, Amazon changed it’s algorithm, and the tools didn’t work quiet as well. By March 2013, I pulled my books out of the KDP Select program and listed them among other retailers. I saw some success from those other markets for a while, but that well has been pretty dry for a while.
I’ve been hesitant about going back to being exclusive on Amazon because I don’t think one giant should have so much market share in any industry. Here’s the thing though, Amazon is also the only one offering anything of value to the indie author. None of the other big kids on the playground, itunes, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, have anything to offer the indie author in their quest to reach new readers. Amazon’s tools aren’t as good as they used to be, but it’s something. Also, I’m hearing through the grapevine that with the changes in pay outs for Kindle unlimited, writers are starting to see decent return on that.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been debating with some significant inner turmoil over whether or not I should go back to being exclusive to Amazon. Then, Yesterday, I saw Hugh Howey post this to Facebook:
“I don’t trust reasoning with this much fear-mongering. The sky is not falling. People are going to continue to read until the end of time. I wrote some works that people seem to enjoy reading. There will aways be ways for me to monetize those works and meet that demand. I own the works, which means I can move them as the middlemen shuffle and experiment with ways to connect readers and writers. Why panic? What’s the point of all this noise and talk of “madness” and “cannibalization?” That sort of hyperbole is not useful.
What’s the best way for me to reach the most amount of readers today? The answer, for my works, is Amazon. Let’s say that changes in ten years. I still own my works. I do something different.
I believe I could make a living without the help of a retailer. I could entertain enough people on social media sites to cobble together 1,000 fans. I could then sell stories direct, or read my stories on YouTube and monetize that channel (which authors have done successfully). I could start a serialized newsletter epic saga. I could ask for donations and publish short stories for free. There are hundreds of ways I could approach being a storyteller and trying to earn a living doing so. None of them are easy. It’s never been easy. But we should look for the easiest way TODAY. And that’s Amazon.
Why people deny this, or rail against it, or worry about what an unknowable landscape ten years from now will look like, is all beyond me. I leave that to the pessimists, the worriers, and the rabble-rousers. I’m here to have a good time, doing something I love, and sharing the results with those who have similar aims.”
I don’t see eye to eye on everything Hugh says, but he makes some good points. Still, even after seeing that, I gave it a little more time before coming to a decision. I talked about it a bit with my wife a couple of times to get her take on it. And so today, I decided that Tears of Rage is going back to being exclusive to Amazon as an experiment to see if that gives a greater outreach for the books.
I still don’t like to see one company having so much of the market share; however, Amazon is the only on that’s offering indie authors any kind of tools to help readers discover them. Amazon could gain some mad respect across the board if it offered these tools to every indie writer and not just the ones willing to go exclusive. I also understand from a business perspective on why they don’t.
That’s my little rambling post. I know a couple of writer pals I respect a lot are going to be more than a little disappointed in me. Here’s a little something I learned about business back while being a dance teacher: the purpose of a business is to find and retain loyal customers. I’m in the business of writing and selling books. Readers are my customers. I have a small but rabidly loyal following of readers. I want to grow that group of readers as much as I possibly can. Until the other ebook retailers give me some tools to do that, as much as I wish it weren’t the case, it looks Amazon is my only friend in this game.
Feeling both a little bummed and excited to see what happens. As always, I’m interested to hear from the #GallowglasArmy. Post your thoughts below.
