Now that Amazon is getting even more evil than it has been for a long time, by shoving AI into every ebook uploaded to them, I am seriously contemplating taking my books away from Amazon.
I can actually do this because
1) my books have been widely available elsewhere for years and I have a somewhat established presence "wide"
2) I have my own store set up through PayHip, so people can buy direct, if they want to (still need to put everything in there).
1/n
Hannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •2/n
3) I have a presence here on Mastodon which is already shifting visibility - and people here are much more willing to buy direct and own the ebook they got.
4) I have a day job that pays my bills. I do not rely on book sales for my livelihood. I can take the hit to royalties because I never depended on them anyway.
5) I have taken the steps to kill my publishing business at the end of the year. I guess that was more prescient than I even knew a week ago.
#Amazon
#IndieAuthor
#AISlop
Hannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •3/n
So leaving Amazon is doable for me. And it feels like the right move.
But I'm just one little indie author.
Amazon is not going to miss me. It's not even going to miss a thousand indie authors leaving them. They won't care.
They will only care if readers leave them - and that's where you come in.
So in the next toot, I'll list a few options of getting your ebooks and print books away from Amazon - feel free to post your own recommendations below that.
#Amazon
#IndieAuthor
Hannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •4/n
Options for getting ebooks (and print) away from Amazon.
This is what I have explored, and I know there is much, much more out there.
1) Smaller stores: Smashwords, Kobo, B&N, Thalia (Tolino) in Germany (although they are also evil), BoD, and many more.
I absolutely recommend Smashwords:
smashwords.com/
2) Buy direct.
My store is through PayHip, and you may not even be aware that PayHip has its own book catalog:
payhip.com/marketplace/fiction…
#Amazon
#IndieAuthor
#AISlop
Fiction Books | Payhip Marketplace
Fiction Books | Payhip MarketplaceHannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •5/n
What else can you, dear reader, do?
There's quite a lot, even if you're not yet willing to give up your Kindle.
1) Buy direct. Buy direct, buy direct, buy direct.
It's really easy to put books on your Kindle that you bought elsewhere. I just wrote a blog post to teach you that:
hannah-steenbock.de/how-to-add…
So there's no need to give up your Kindle just yet. But show interest in eReaders that are open source and let you read all books.
#Amazon
#IndieAuthors
#AISlop
How to add an eBook to your Kindle | Hannah Steenbock
www.hannah-steenbock.deHannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •6/n
2) Talk to your favorite authors and tell them how you would prefer to buy from them.
Authors who earn all their income from Amazon will be scared. They need to know there is a market outside of it.
Some are already experimenting with selling direct for a week or two before going exclusive with Amazon.
Support that!
3) Stop writing reviews on Amazon
Put them on Bookwyrm instead.
bookwyrm.social/
No, do not use Goodreads. It belongs to Amazon.
#Amazon
#IndieAuthor
#AISlop
BookWyrm
bookwyrm.socialHannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •7/7
Of course, this all needs to be seen in a wider context:
Stepping away from tech giants like Amazon is also part of a rebellion against the billionaires who are destroying our world out of pure greed.
By not giving Amazon money, you are voting with your dollars and euros and whatever currency you're using.
You are choosing actual human beings - in this case us indie authors - over tech bros who don't give a rat's arse about people.
Let's do this!
#Amazon
#IndieAuthor
#AISlop
Hannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •I turned my rant into a (slightly expanded) blog post, if you want to share this off Mastodon:
hannah-steenbock.de/amazons-ai…
#Amazon
#IndieAuthor
#AISlop
Amazon’s AI plans and What You Can do about It | Hannah Steenbock
www.hannah-steenbock.deHannah Steenbock
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •I have another thought about Amazon's AI "ask this book"-feature.
It means
- scanning every book into a database
- analyzing every book for plot, characters, descriptions etc.
- storing reader questions and answers
It's a training ground.
In other words, they are using our books and the readers' interest to train their OWN WRITING BOT.
Why are they doing this?
To cut out the creators. Just like Spotify, Amazon wants to produce AI books that sell.
#Amazon
#AISlop
#IndieAuthors
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Hannah Steenbock • • •Amazon knows that Spotify amplifies its profits using AI sound-alike music.
Instead of listening to the original artist and having that translated into a residual paid to the creators, Spotify rips off that copyright & keeps the money it stole.
Amazon will be doing the same; marketing cheap knock-off counterfeits & profiting from plagiarism.
Every one of these products is a cheat.
Nicole Parsons reshared this.
Hannah Steenbock
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •@Npars01
Exactly, I'm certain that is their end goal.
And it will work, at least in some genres.
Nicole Parsons reshared this.