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The Passive Guy alerted me to a big change in the way Amazon does book marketing. As Amy Collins of The Book Designer reports, starting today, Amazon is expanding its Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) to include a wide range of book marketing tools previously unavailable to us, or only available to its bigger clients.
Here are the additional programs being made available:
“A+” Detail Pages
Want video, sample page shots, extra photos and other “juicy” offerings on your book’s page? Now you can have it! $600 gets you a LOT more on your detail page. The “A+” detail page is a deluxe detail page featuring advanced formatting and rich media content (detailed descriptions for example) to enrich the shopping experience for customers.
Pricing Discounts
Amazon is finally following Smashwords example and will now allow vendor-funded coupon links (available on the product detail page) to offer customers immediate discounts off of the Amazon selling price. YOU pay for the discount but this program allows you to offer sales and promotions during key peak periods. You can drive sales during heavy review and blogger appearances or during a big media hit.
Vine Reviews
Amazon reviews are becoming more and more important every month. And Amazon is being a lot more vigilant about deleting reviews that do not appear legitimate. Amazon Vine reviewers are a select but LARGE group of reviewers that have been “pre-approved” by Amazon and their reviews are given more weight.
You can either look up each Amazon Vine reviewer individually and ask if they would like a copy of your book to review or you can save all that time and hassle and pay $1500 to be offered to the Amazon Vine reviewers. It is a pretty hefty price tag, but if you want access to the entire VINE reviewer list in one easy, seamless program, you can invest in this program and let THEM handle all of the details.
Review Dashboard
The AMS dashboard will now include information on sales data and marketing ROI on each and every marketing tool you try, including these new ones.
My Take
The whole budget is $100 to enroll plus $600 for the A+ page (times the number of books you’ve published) plus a hefty $1,500 to join Vine reviews. So, and as far as I’m concerned, there are two ways to look at the news.
All in Favor…
One, to celebrate the fact that anyone now has access to the big guns that were so far only enjoyed by publishing houses. This can be seen as yet another way in which Amazon is making its impressive arsenal of marketing tools available to the little guy. In this view, Amazon is helping level the playing field further, while at the same time weeding out opportunistic authors of the write-a-book-and-get-rich-quick kind.
Also, by focusing on Vine reviewers, it helps Amazon in its continuing quest to get rid of unreliable reviews (more on that in an upcoming post). From the company’s point of view, making you pay for the privilege is a stroke of genius.
…All Against…
The second way of looking at the news is less favorable. The new AMS can be seen as yet another way to exploit Indies: pay up our exorbitant prices or no one will ever discover your book. In this view, Amazon is cynically extorting Indies and small publishers, while at the same time getting rid of the small fry that generate little to no income.
So, what do you think? Is Amazon further democratizing publishing by handing us the same tools it gives the big guys? Or has it priced book marketing beyond the means of most Indies?
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At the moment, the whole marketing thing is seriously doing my head in and, if I let it, it would do my bank balance in as well!
Lol – yes, especially at these prices 😀
Wow. That is so pricy! Ugh. Way out of my budget. I’m going to have to keep plugging along at my snail’s pace. It will be interesting to hear some anecdotes from anyone who tries it 🙂
Indeed it will! If anyone does, a guest post is waiting for you 🙂
The cost counts me out, and probably most struggling Indies, regardless of the quality of their work. That’s a shame. If I ever make it big, I might take up their offer, but then why would I need to?
It’s quite the Catch-22, isn’t it? 🙂
I know I am just a poetry writer and only have a poetry book published that happens to be on Amazon, but news like these are what deters me from even trying to publish my books, anywhere. These marketing prices are skyrocketing for me, and I, as a reader who buys many books frequently, online, have never even heard of a vine review. I like to read a review, because often times I sneak that reading time, and lately I have a feeling like Amazon is being nothing but kind to both reviewers and indies trying to get honest reviews. It sucks that I also feel scared to leave a review to other people on Amazon, scared they will for some reason penalise me for it, even though the review I write is an honest one and I have a verified purchase. To put it simply, from a library, my association to Amazon is beginning to look more like a tyrannical factory.
I am piss poor and have terrible business ideas and people say I am way too kind for my own good, but if I was that CEO or idea maker, I would do something like make sure EVERY book gets at least 1 new Vine review, for free, every 3 months lets say? Something, anything, to make this look like an actual venue instead of a pay to play scenario. I am pretty sure a more friendly move like this would make all authors more inclined to pay for the marketing in the first place, because they could see the free vine review’s impact on their book sales and the rest. Yes, I know, my idea sounds crazy, a money waste for a corporation and quite possibly undoable with the amount of books and products on Amazon.
To sum up – this is a huge no for me. I will always prefer word to word marketing, because it makes both me, as a reader, and the author more happy. And happy people buy more books!
That would be such a great idea. And you’re right; it would create a lot of goodwill towards Amazon.
Still, don’t forget that books are still free to publish. And almost none of my reviews have been pulled, so it’s not so bad 🙂
I played with A+ the other day, but didn’t follow through. I hadn’t heard about the Vine Reviewers, so thanks for telling us about that. I see why Amazon’s doing this. 1) $$$ Obviously. 2) There are a lot of review “exchanges.” You like mine. I’ll like yours. Can every book someone reads get 5 stars? I don’t think so.
Thanks for the information today. Really excellent.
Thanks! I agree. One stone, plenty of birds 🙂
The suspicion of review exchanges CAN work the other way. I have reviewed authors who are then drawn to look at my books but despite wanting to genuinely review what they loved ( obviously my choice to review them implies taste and interests in common) don’t, for fear of being suspected of nepotism. Instead I get kind apologies!
It IS possible to get only 5* reviews ( not one of mine were from friends or solicited!) and it is also possible to decide to review only books that merit 5* ( without declaring how many you decided not to review- because time is short and only outstanding books (in your opinion) claim what little there is!) People differ in how they approach support, not every author enters the ‘exchange’ or even considers factors other than the book in question!
Thank you for stating what *should* be obvious to Amazon 🙂
this is such great, impressive, detailed and valuable information!
Thank you so much, Mihran 🙂
I have a couple of agented friends published through Amazon imprints who get all these goodies plus the benefit of the Zon’s magical algorithms. If Amazon truly wants to democratize and serve their indies, they could do what they did in the beginning and throw open the doors to their submission process again. They’ve become the new ‘old guard’.
Lol – I wouldn’t go that far 😀 Their doors are still open, they just offer more choices.
The thing about Amazon is they are running a retail site that sells books, so to offer marketing strikes me as a bit of a conflict of interest. If I was going to spend that kind of money on publicity I’d spend it on a decent, literary marketing agency who might be less effective on Amazon, because Amazon would penalise me for not using them, but would probably have more clout on other sites. Then again, one of the brilliant things about Amazon in the beginning was that it was the ultimate level playing field. It isn’t these days but a lot of authors either don’t care or have failed to notice as many folks seem to only publish on Amazon without thinking beyond it.
So the marketing services is just another example of Amazon making all independent authors equal but some more equal than others. I’m sure it will be great for authors who can afford it, however, the cynical part of me can’t help thinking that it’s just another way of loading the odds against authors who are less affluent, less prolific or less famous while, at the same time, taking money off the less famous and less prolific authors who are affluent.
The situation for the big indies who are supposed to speak for us doesn’t really reflect the situation the rest of us are in – after all, they are allowed into Kindle Unlimited AND are allowed to sell their books on other sites. We’re not. Why?
With its insistence on loading everything to Unlimited users in a blatant pursuit of market dominance at the expense of fairness, ethical practises and much else, Amazon is looking less and less appealing as a sales partner. If I look at my sales trajectory over the last 18 months, I can’t help noticing that wherever the angle of the increase goes sharply upwards it is stopped in its tracks by an algo change, or some new initiative to load everything in favour of the Kindle Unlimited sheep than the rest of us.
I used to see Amazon as a place where normal authors could succeed without the trappings of the publishing industry. Where books could stand or fall by whether they were good. These days I see it as a necessity rather than the equal opportunity it was. Amazon is not there to help authors like me any more, it is clearly no longer in their corporate interest to do so. Their continual lip service to sorting difficulties, moving of the goal posts, making things difficult without actually solving any of the problems is more annoying than effective and hampers the efforts of indies like myself to make our books visible there at every turn. If I ever do break through as an author, the odds are so stacked against me on Amazon it will be in spite of the situation there rather than with their help.
Interestingly, I think readers are voting with their feet, too. I buy a lot of stuff on Kobo these days because the search on Amazon has been such a pain in the arse recently (unless you are looking for romance books then it’s fab) and while my monthly revenue is about the same, a much higher percentage of it comes from other retailers nowadays.
So do I think amazon marketing services is a good thing? I’m sure for folks who are already selling loads of books there and have stacks of cash it will be. For the rest it’s just another way of making things harder so they can screw some more money out of us…
Indeed, the only marketing opportunity I can see in this is to compile a list of Vine reviewers manually and flog it to folks for $99… Mwah hahahaahrgh.
Cheers
MTM
That’s how it feels to me, unfortunately. It used to be a fair opportunity. Not anymore.
Thank you for the well-thought comment! “Amazon is not there to help authors like me any more” – I don’t think it ever was. As a company, its first obligation is towards its shareholders. I still feel, however, that our interests largely coincide, which is why I’m sticking with them, despite the many good points you raise.
Blimey thats a hefty price tag
Yes, it does seem aimed at bigger players than your average Indie.
Thanks for the chance to talk about this.
Amazon seems to have done a big review purge before launching these new “services”. I was upset over losing a number of legitimate reviews recently, by a fan who either purchased the books (including a couple of anthologies I’m in) or downloaded free ones. I had heard of it happening to other authors, and to reviewers. I can’t help but feel this new “privilege” is directly connected, to Amazon’s benefit. Customer reviews and verified purchases were supposed to be important on Amazon. Now, only “approved” reviews will carry the most weight? Indie authors went through this in the algorithm changes that awarded their titles less weight compared to the traditionally published books. In my experience, I was gaining regular sales; that abruptly stopped. This new policy regarding reviews comes very close to charging for them, in my opinion, while eliminating or discouraging free ones. Think how reviewers feel to have their reviews disappear.
I find this all deeply troubling. Yes, Amazon has done a lot of good. But what is the bottom line? Where will this end?
Very well said. I take a great deal of time when I review a book. I always do it voluntarily and I always buy the book so I can gift a review, rather than have it tainted by obligation. If I cannot genuinely enthuse I at least have subscribed a purchase. The idea of Amazon orchestrating ‘respectable’ reviews runs counter to everything I believe, and would discourage. There is no better gift to offer an author than a genuine review, and it is rarely reciprocated in my case- perhaps because what I write has a narrower readership than what I read! That is as it should be.
You’re a very generous person 🙂
Not really Nicholas. It’s just that some things are too precious to taint!
Reviews are precious, I agree, and for someone to not only purchase an author’s work but then take the time and make the effort to write one, often from the heart, only to find it has been removed for some misconception . . . it is frustrating and disappointing to authors and reviewers alike. I wrote a letter to Amazon about it some days ago. And the implications of these new “services” cannot be overlooked.
Thanks for what you do, and for the comment. 🙂
‘But what is the bottom line? Where will this end?’ With the death of any viable competition, authors paying to be listed and a mandatory 10% royalty cap for anyone outside Unlimited… sorry, feeling cynical today.
Lol – indeed you are! Amazon has to walk a fine line. Right now, they obviously feel the market is saturated and the situation spinning out of control. I see the news as an attempt to fix that.
Thanks for doing the research and providing us with the information, Nicholas. 🙂 — Suzanne
That’s so sweet of you; thank you 🙂
Is the Vines Review less expensive than, say, Kirkus? What’s the advantage?
You get easy access to a select group of reviewers, whose reviews matter to Amazon. You don’t actually buy any reviews; in fact, I doubt that reviewers will know whether you’ve paid for the service or not.
This reminds me of the fact that writers are still a huge market for all kinds of services: how-to-get-published books, writers’ conferences (where you might get to meet an agent!), editing, formatting and cover design, and of course the infamous “we do it all” publishing packages. Now that there are millions of self-pubbed books out there, marketing is the thing. This is just Amazon capitalizing on the huge number of indie authors desperate to make up what they spent on some of the other things. For Amazon, it’s just business, but for writers it’s just another example of the haves and the have nots (or “have lesses,” maybe). Never having had the right sort of marketing mind-set, I’ve adjusted my expectations way down as to the success of my books, and am left with being grateful that I have published them at all. But who knows what will happen next — I can visualize Amazon charging a small fee to authors whose books don’t sell for the privilege of keeping them available at all.
Don’t give them any ideas 🙂
Like you say … only time will tell, but this has that inevitable ‘slippery slope’ feel to it.
Thank you for this insightful post, Nicholas.
I, personally, am deeply unhappy and verging on disgusted with this news. There is absolutely *no* way I could pay for this extra service. Just none at all.
And the few “big” indie authors I know do not *need* this service — they have already been discovered. Stuff like this would just make them laugh, no doubt, because there’s no point to it…their readers already know who they are and what they offer, and line up every month or two to buy a new book like clockwork.
What frustrates me is this: So far, while my audience is small, if someone buys one book from me, they tend to buy all the others. (I like this.) So I like to think I’m growing my audience organically; it may be small, but it’s mine, and over time, it’s grown slightly bigger. I’d like to think that given enough time, I’ll have enough in sales to do myself some good.
So…the really big indies do not need this service. Those on the verge of being really big indies might need this service, but not for this price. And those who are just dreaming of being big indies will pay, hoping for their shot…and most of that money will likely be wasted.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know. I’m going to reblog this and hope you’ll get some more visitors.
I guess the service is aimed at medium-sized authors/publishing houses rather than the big/small guys. The best way to grow one’s audience, though, is still organic – which you seem to excel at 🙂
Thank you so much for the share! It’s much appreciated 🙂
Thanks, Nicholas. 🙂
I’m always glad to help.
And yes, it may well help the medium-sized players in this piece to have the added promotional tools…but the cost seems way too high for the value right now. (I think I’d say that even if I did have the money to try it! :-D)
I really appreciate this post, Nicolas. I also read Amy Collins’ article in The Book Designer’s site. My initial reaction (and it hasn’t changed) is on the against side. I feel like I’m an airline passenger now on Amazon. If I want to play the big bucks, I can travel beautifully in first class. Otherwise, I’m squeezed in a too-small seat and NOT enjoying the ride…
That’s a spot on analogy!
I hear you 🙂
Pros – the free Vine review and the dashboard. Cons – paying for a review and the video thing. I would rather have one customer read the book and give an honest, heartfelt ‘loved it, or hated it’ review. It cost me less than $100 to self-publish and I have recouped that after 7 months. On a small fixed income – no room there to even consider paying for a review. It’s great for award-winning, well-known and up and coming authors who publish often. I like to read, not watch, so I wouldn’t buy a video with print type of book. There is room for every type of author and if it’s how you make a living, as cjhwrites said – it could be a game changer for a good author.
Welcome and thanks for the great comment 🙂
Way too expensive, especially when there’s no guarantee it’ll work. Leave it to Amazon to think up more ways to screw the little guy. Not impressed. And I doubt many small presses with fork over the money, either. What a shame.
Well, as I was just telling Michelle, I’d like to think that Amazon is simply offering a shortcut; not squeezing the little guy out of the game.
I generally have no problem paying for marketing services, but I really disagree with the author-funded discount codes. It’s our book, dammit, and if we want to give it away at 50% off, then we should be able to give it away for 50% off without having to pay Amazon. And paying $600 for a more detailed details page seems slightly excessive …
I do like the idea that Amazon is opening up more marketing options to small publishers. I just wish they’d reconsider the above, because those are blatant money grabs and very annoying to deal with. I’ll just keep trucking along with my plain old details page and my occasional KDP countdown deals and free promo days, and hopefully it’ll all work out 🙂
I sure do hope so! I’d like to think that Amazon is simply offering a shortcut; not squeezing us out of the game. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.
When I read this blog, I shook my head. Like other writers here, I have been there before too. Where one has a dream but never able to reach out.
I say, the price that Amazon offer to the writers are just as expensive as any other publishing site or company. I was once with Trafford Publishing and I paid over two thousand pounds to have my book get print and publish. But that was not only it. Later, they even offer me more of their packages of different kind to continue a bigger and wider marketing in the internet. Quite expensive, really.
Sooner after that, they give me an offer of 10, 000 pound to do screen writing as they think my book has the potential to land in Hollywood. Yeah, right. My book didn’t get anywhere. But of course, I did not take that offer because it has no effect and I thought if they really do their work? I am quite suspicious on that one …
It took long years to regain my own trust and heart to write again. This is for one reason why I came to blog site like WP. I still keep writing simple things, but not really having the joy to think to try to publish any book, anymore. I have like 12 books written and only one got publish – that was more than ten years ago.
Like the others up there said, that Amazon has always something new coming up and this is quite confusing for many of us here.
I hope there is a better, easier way for writers who cannot afford even a cent to publish their writings …
But even then, thank you sharing us this, Nicolas!
A pleasure, Sherrie – and thanks for the comment! Amazon will still make it possible to freely publish your book. It offers these services to those looking for extra discoverability (is that a word?).
Most of the authors I know, agree Amazon is turning into a Vanity Press. I’m with a small press, so I’m not sure how these changes will impact my publisher. So far, they’ve stuck my Amazon, but who knows. This might be the tipping point.
I guess it depends on how small your publisher is. Can they afford the extra services? Hmm…
As someone with a first novella about to be released, this does not fill me with confidence. It seems like I read something new about Amazon every week. This does not feel like a levelling of the playing field. It feels like things are moving away from 1st time authors as far as Amazon is concerned…
Yes, it appears that they now aim at a higher-end author market.
Not a fan. While it could squeeze out the opportunistic ones, it’ll eliminate those of us who can’t afford $2,100 dollars for marketing. That would be on top of any outside marketing sites too. If it’s per book then that’s even worse. I think it’s safe to say Amazon no longer wants their program to be foranybody. Really wonder if they’re trying to become the next big trad, but with volunteers. At the very least, they’re creating a wall that many won’t get through. Even if you get a mass exodus to Smashwords, Amazon controls so much of the market that you’d lose a lot.
I hear you. It’s a realistic concern.
Guess we can only wait and see how this plays out. As usual. I wonder if this will even work out to Amazon’s advantage since I can’t think of many indie authors that can afford it. Especially those of us with multiple books already out.
I’d like to think of it as Amazon offering a shortcut; not squeezing us out of the game.
Except it’s a pretty expensive shortcut. Those that can’t afford it, and there are many, will be at a disadvantage. (Going for an awkward analogy here.) It’s similar to an author offering a ‘how to make money publishing’ pamphlet for $99.99 and it’s only 10 pages long. It might have great ideas that are foolproof, but only those with the money to spend can find out. In the end, that author is the one who has a higher level of success than anyone he/she is helping with their pamphlet. Drop the price to make it more affordable and you give more opportunities. Yes, it does risk saturation, but the alternative is to bury those who have the ‘misfortune’ of not having the funds.
I guess the key word here is saturation. Obviously, Amazon feels that the market has reached that point where it needs a good shakeup.
Which is a good point. Though how many babies are going to be tossed with the murky bathwater?
Presumably, fewer than the big 5 toss out daily 🙂
Hopefully Amazon sees that as a warning and not something to aspire to.
As a Vine reviewer, I thought that some readers might be interested in how it works. I am sent a ‘targeted’ list to choose from, and can take five items at a time. I then have thirty days to review anything I have requested. As each item is reviewed, I can request another, and so on. This list is based on preferences judged by items similar to those I have requested in the past. For example, if I have requested a vacuum cleaner, I will generally be offered a different model of a similar device, when one becomes available.
Alongside this is the ‘Vine for all’ queue, which is a list of items not targeted to anyone in particular. At the moment, there are some 400+ books in this queue, and that is just in the UK. I was unaware that suppliers are charged for this, and always thought that they offered free items, in return for realistic reviews from people very experienced in reviewing online.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Pete. I don’t think that suppliers are currently charged for this. Amazon will help AMS subscribers target the right reviewers by handing them the reviewer list. However, authors can always search for reviewers themselves. It will just be more time-consuming.
How does one find a Vine reviewer or put themselves on the ‘list’? I looked it up on Amazon and it explains a Vine reviewer has a green line but doesn’t take it further. Why can’t Amazon put reviews from all it’s sites below the book – for example – reviews for Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk don’t appear on Amazon.com, which is where the major market is.
I don’t know how you get Amazon to offer your work to a ‘Vine Voice’, (their description) Janice.
As for reviews appearing in different countries, as I understand it, if there are no local reviews, you are offered the chance to see them elsewhere. As an example, I looked at a film, and could find no reviews on the UK site. A prompt on screen suggested reviews from the .com site, in the US, as an alternative.
Vine reviewers come from the top 5,000 or so whose reviews have gathered the most approvals from site visitors. The rating can go up and down, depending on results, and it is always possible to be taken out of this group.
When I am looking as a buyer, I take all reviews into account, especially the ‘verified purchase’ ones. After all, Vine reviewers do not have to pay for the products.
Regards, Pete.
Thank you Pete, appreciate the information.
Thank you so much for clarifying this, Pete!
True, but it works the other way around. Reviews from amazon.com appear under the rest of the Amazon sites.
Clarifying – you have to have an Amazon.com review to have it appear on .ca or co.uk? If you don’t have many US sales and no reviews on .com it doesn’t show .ca or co.uk reviews on .com. Learning the hard way that reviews on .ca or co.uk don’t travel or link to the US site. Therefore – a tip to new authors who want US sales – target the US site first, and/or use American spelling in your book. It means two versions of your book if you want the US market.
Well lol – I didn’t think that through. You can only publish one version on Amazon. Duh. Checked the .ca and co.uk site – reviews don’t link to .com. Someday maybe I will have a .com review. But, in principle, I won’t pay for it.
That’s a good tip, actually, and part of the reason why I myself am targeting the US market rather than, say, the UK one.
If you have an amazon.com review, it shows automatically on your, say, co.uk book page. So, yes, there needs to be at least one .com review for that to happen.
Regardless of what you pay or don’t pay, you are still going to get .0014 cents per page on the Kindle program or some figure in that neighborhood. So where is the advantage? I see this move the same as any vanity press. Of course, if you are one of those who have figured out how to game the Kindle system by using 20 languages and a coupon on the first page that tells amazon you read all 10,000 pages, then it is probably a profitable move.
I worry that the only way for readers to discover your book will soon be to pay for premium services. That’s the (possible) advantage.
The danger here is if you pay for reviews, you soon have the same problem you do with agents. A select group make the decision on what most get to see when it comes to books. I don’t see an advantage. Knowing Amazon, the rates will continue to escalate. Last but not least, Amazon has decided to charge the author for the coupon giveaways and in the future those same fees could extend to all free downloads.
We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess…
Actually, it’s .0045 cents or thereabouts per page turn and can pay you a considerable amount of money. I love the page turn method because you’re paid based on the work. If readers feel the need to turn those pages, you get a nice chunk of change.
When my books were traditionally published, I was paid X amount of dollars for sales to libraries. I see KU as no different, and actually more profitable.
Thanks for that. I agree 🙂
Looking at the amount of money scamsters were making with the ‘click to the end of the book’ ruse, they’ll probably be the only ones who can afford these fees.
It doesn’t level anything. It’s another income stream for Amazon and is nothing more than the familiar ‘choose Free or Premium Service’ model of doing business.
Good point. Still, Amazon is probably trying to get rid of exactly that sort of practice with the new services.
Amazon is a business and as such they don’t care about the smaller earners. They want money and they’ll use you and everybody else the best they can to get it. When my sells faltered with them I realized I cannot really put as much time as I put into writing and publishing anymore. I love to write, but I have to eat too.
I know I cannot afford their new services so I won’t stress myself out about it. With hopes, people who liked reading my work will continue to be able to find my books and the marketing I do now will, with hopes, help me still let other people know I have new work out there to read.
I hear you. Still, Amazon has done much to create the Indie market, and that buys them a lot of my good will 🙂
Wow! I totally agree with cjhwrites on this one. Many authors who are way down the food chain are already considering stopping writing, tired of laboring for hundreds of hours with no earned income. Now that the scale is tipped towards those who can afford elaborate marketing plans, the small fry will be forced into extinction.
One way to fight back is through a bookaunch.io landing page. It’s basically free and offers features like videos, quotes sections etc. I’m thinking of adding the URL of the landing page in my book description on Amazon and use that as my book’s link instead of the book’s Amazon page. I did that with my previous release and saw significantly better response than when I was using the Amazon page.
Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with booklaunch.io
Thank you for that. I’d love a guest post on booklaunch when you have the time! 🙂
It’s not good news for me. I don’t know how I’m going to pay to edit and get the cover for my next book, let alone pay to market any of them. Feels like a step back from my dream of earning anything from writing. Just have to carry on regardless, I suppose.
I know what you mean 🙁
The price Amazon is asking is far too much. I don’t understand how they are helping authors. They know exactly how much authors earn.
It’s true; most of the smaller ones will struggle to make even a fraction of that.
Having worked pretty hard to get a few (but prestigious) reviews from very busy people ( some review copies cost $30+ in postage from UK to US because of the need to pay for tracking) this just feels like a cynical ploy whereby Amazon will collar the marketing as well as the supply chain.
Ready to put all my work on line for free, or offer a donate button! Or find a way to stop altogether. If only I could!
Lol – yes, as I once joked, I want to quit writing, but lack the will 🙂
Well now we know why Amazon have been looking for reasons to take down reviews, they want to charge you for ‘legitimate’ ones :-/
There’s a huge potential there for the moderately successful self published author but for small sales guys… it’s just not viable.
Yes, it could be a game-changer.
Yes, a game changer, but many will play the game, only the entry fee has changed.