Amazon Needs to Change
The future of indie book publishing is at stake
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Earlier this year, I wrote an article explaining the importance of not putting all your eggs in the same basket as an indie author. You can read it below.
Since then, I have noticed an increase in negative conversations about Amazon. Indie authors are fed up with the company’s unfair business practices.
Want to know why? Read this tweet from author Lisa Kessler.
What is Lisa Kessler referring to? The Amazon rule that allows customers to return ebooks (for any reason) up to 14 days after purchase—and for a full refund.
When Amazon refunds a customer for a specific ebook, the author loses all royalties attached to that sale. Even if the ebook was read in full!
While this practice has been going on for a long time, things started escalating because of a TikTok trend. Since the launch of the #ReadAndReturnChallenge trend, many authors have reported that their ebooks are being returned in droves!
Yesterday, I spent most of my afternoon on Twitter chatting to fellow indie authors about the Amazon rule, and came across the petition below. If you are an indie author and/or just want to show your support, I encourage you to sign it and spread the word.
I also found a few comments from Twitter users who consider returning an ebook after reading it to get their money back as a fair and noble pursuit. Here is one particularly obtuse example.
