Arguing against Amazon and for publishers on the one side, arguing for web self-publishing and against Amazon on the other.
I pointed this out 3 years ago but I think it might be time for another “the Emperor is wearing no clothes” moment.
Many of the partisans on all sides of the larger ebooks vs bookstores vs publishers vs authors vs Amazon debate get caught up on just one side or another of the love-hate-polygon.
“I’m a Kindle Direct author and I’m making 5 figures a year after a decade of publisher rejections – publishers suck!”
“As a small press, we’re holding out against Amazon and the big six while still pushing into bookstore chains and the indies — while also marketing online. Authors: we’re in your corner”
“We may just be an imprint of a major publisher, but we’re actively engaging our readers, establishing an online presence, and pushing content other than books that’ll keep the readers coming back.“
“Here: read our books for free – we know you’ll buy them, or the sequels, and how is an e-book sample different from plucking and reading copy off the bookstore shelf?”
“I encourage you to read and buy the books I’ve reviewed: if you choose to buy, please conisder using the affiliate links on my page (it’s like leaving a tip!)”
“My local bookstore closed, so I’m never shopping bookstores again. Amaazon FTW“
“Amazon put my local bookstore out of business, so while I have to shop online now I’m going used, ebay, and Indie“
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Here’s the thing:
The common ebook formats are just XML/XHTML and CSS packages of your plain text. No, really. The only complications are ‘proprietary’ formats that implement varying degrees of DRM. Otherwise: it’s all open source web pages, basically. If you’re already writing for a browser, there’s no need to go out of your way to ‘optimize’ for e-readers: when you already have the web, you don’t need Amazon to publish.
What you need Amazon for is access to a market: 200 million or so readers who already browse and buy online. But don’t conflate Amazon’s user base with Amazon. If you buy into the KDP (or other “publishing” platforms; Amazon/Kindle is largest, so sees the most converts) — you’re just admitting that this Captured Market is more important to you than reaching out to all readers.
I get it. It’s easy.
Not only did they build up the reader base – they handed you a key. Sure: it’s easier to game a system that only serves a small subset of super-avid readers, those who read dozens of books each month — rather than risk putting yourself out there for the market to decide your worth. Most folks only read one book a year. One in four read no books at all.
But don’t tell me that your mastery of the online-tutorial-levels of publishing means you’ve “won the game” and the rest of publishing is superfluous. What’s the real differentiator? How do we know which e-books are truly the winners? And does an Online success necessarily mean the same book won’t also succeed in bookstores?
https://www.google.com/search?q=Amanda+Hocking
https://www.google.com/search?q=E+L+James
Amazon wrote your book for you? Amazon created the fan base?
You’re telling me steampunk, lycan, faerie and fey and otherkin, and the various and ever expanding vampire fandoms, plus dozens more fandoms I’m thankfully ignorant of – none of these existed before Amazon? Or that none of these fandoms existed before the Kindle?
I totally get that signing up for KDP is easy — and if you’ve already written something and have either felt slighted or completely ignored by the current publishing industry — Amazon seems like your savior. Just remember: the web has already given you all you need to ‘publish’ a book. Indeed, ebooks are nothing but web pages — and web pages can do a lot more, if you’d care to try.
