As an author, how do you feel about Amazon?

As an author, how do you feel about Amazon?


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writingnewbie

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Tirjasdyn

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I find that people tend to judge things by their own microcosm. Similar to the argument that bottle water is a waste because we have clean city tap water forgets that most Americans do not have clean city tap water.

As a book store / item store Amazon has brought products to many who do not have well stocked libraries and stores.

As a publisher they have given a new opportunity to authors to reach markets they otherwise couldn't.

Do they put businesses out of business? Yes. So did car manufacturers, Barnes & Noble, supermarkets etc. When big box moves it only the niche small markets survive.

I grew up in a place where buying local was cost prohibitive and it was cheaper to drive hours away to buy food. When Kroger came in, we could suddenly buy many things we could not before, like meat. When Walmart came in, we could buy clothes. Stores had to change to meet more specific demands. If they didn't they went out of business.

I love mom & pop stores, but I love having the things I want more.
 

LOTLOF

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I am a self published author. I have one novel on the KDP Select program. I've sold over 4,000 ebooks and made north of $8,000 in royalties. Not surprisingly I love Amazon.

I can understand how some authors might hate the effect Amazon, and ebooks in general, are having on trade publishers and on bookstores. But ten years ago it would have been impossible for me to self publish and get the sales I have.

While there is much to be said for trade publishers and their role as gatekeepers, there is also something about the freedom of being able to put your book out there and letting people judge it with no middle man.

Amazon has given unknown writers like myself opportunities and freedoms that just didn't exist ten years ago. For that I am very glad to have them around.
 

KTC

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I like Amazon. I purchase books from them every few days.

And people buy my books from Amazon.
 

shadowwalker

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I can understand how some authors might hate the effect Amazon, and ebooks in general, are having on trade publishers and on bookstores.

I don't think authors (or trade publishers for that matter) have anything against ebooks - they're just another source of revenue. But yes, Amazon is definitely another story.
 

gothicangel

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I view Amazon as a poison chalice. It's very rarely that I buy direct from Amazon, if I it tends to be from Marketplace. My big issue with Amazon is its tax-avoidance, and the way it has been bullying publishers.

When I buy books now, its either from Waterstone's or from online independent booksellers.
 

Becky Black

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I'm kind of neutral. They've done good things and bad things. They screw up sometimes, like any large organisation. They've been a big part of the decline of record shops, electrical retailers and bookshops in the UK. But if it hadn't been Amazon, it would have been someone one else - Amazon are just the best at the online retailing game. Their website is fantastic and innovative, and streets ahead of most of their competitors, who of course imitate all the stuff Amazon does first.

Their ambition makes me nervous. Their whole world domination thing is worrying. I want to see more competition. But they have got there by being the best at what they do. Someone else has got to have the same amount of ambition and great ideas to threaten that domination.
 

Filigree

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I wish they'd stop randomly censoring things, or put in place better opt-in filters for those of us who are grown-ups. I hate that they are destroying local retail. But Amazon gives me choices I never had before, and I may end up publishing directly through them.
So I'm cautiously positive about them. No matter what I think, they are one of the biggest sellers around. And I still like Amazon far more than I do Walmart.
 

sarahdalton

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As a self-published author Amazon allows me to make my living as a writer. I get paid monthly, I can track my sales, I can promote and most importantly I can get my stories to people who enjoy them.

They may be a huge corporation but their existence allows teeny tiny small business owners like me to trade and earn a living by doing it my way. That's the difference between going through a publisher and directly to Amazon, I get control over everything and that's how I like it.

I can't say whether I would have earned more money by going with a publisher or Amazon, but I am grateful of the 70% royalties and it means I can support myself on modest sales numbers and I can keep my book on sale for as long as I want.
 

MaryMumsy

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And I still like Amazon far more than I do Walmart.

Talk about damning with faint praise :D

I'm not an author, so I didn't mark the survey. I do not buy books from Amazon. Those I get from local indies, and occasionaly from BN. I do buy other things from A, but rarely.

MM
 

DeleyanLee

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It's there. That's how I feel about it. It's there. It's another market for something I produce (and stuff I buy), so it's a useful thing. I wouldn't want it to become the be-all-and-end-all of online retailing, but it's a venue to be used, like many others.
 
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