Showing posts with label Amazon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazon. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Why Boycotting Amazon Hurts Self-Published Authors More Than It Hurts Amazon

Amazon has gotten a lot of hate over the years with many groups calling for boycotts for various reasons. The latest boycott movement is being pushed and encouraged in many corners of the book world. Whether or not you agree with the reasons behind the boycott, it does hurt independent authors who rely on Amazon to reach readers and generate income.

 

The Reality Of Self-Publishing

 

Let's be frank. Amazon is the big dog when it comes to eBook publishing. Like it or not, more eBooks are sold via Amazon than any of the other online retailers. Amazon provided a platform where independent authors can publish their books without the gatekeeping of traditional publishing. Add that to their global reach, their user friendly tools, and the ease of use, and you can't find a comparable online outlet when it comes to revenue generation for those who've chosen to self publish.

 

Amazon holds a huge share of the eBook market. Most indie authors make at least 70% of their monthly income from Amazon. Those are the authors who choose to publishing not only on Amazon, but on other platforms as well. Kindle Unlimited authors sell exclusively on Amazon. Their incomes are solely dependent on the platform with the exception of a small amount of paperback and/or audio book sales. 

 

If the last week has shown anything, it's that a good chunk of readers aren't willing to migrate to other online retailers. Amazon doesn't just provide a platform for authors. Readers like it as well. They've made everything easy and seamless. While other retailers like Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and GooglePlay have a share of the market, they don't have the same customer base and it shows in the numbers.

 

Unlike some other boycotts, books are only a small portion of Amazon's revenue stream. Books aren't the only way they're making money, so the hit they're going to take is not likely to do them much damage. But the indie author who's counting on that royalty check to pay their mortgage or car payment will.

 

If you feel strongly about not using Amazon for your book purchases, then what should you do?

 

A Better Way To Support Authors

 

1. Buy direct. Many self published authors sell paperbacks directly through their website. Some even sell eBooks and audio books directly via Bookfunnel.

 

2. Buy from other online retailers. If you don't want to purchase your books on Amazon, there are other alternatives. Simply buying your books on these retailers helps boost visibility and signals to the retailer that they might want to put more time and effort into that aspect of their platform.

 

3. Leave reviews. While this isn't directly related to Amazon or book sells, reviews are extremely important. And if you're choosing to buy your books from other sources, it becomes even more important. Reader use reviews and word of mouth recommendations to decide on what book they buy next, especially if it's an author they've never heard of before. To an indie author, a reader taking the time to leave a review is incredibly important.

 

Are you participating in the boycott? If so, how are you continuing to support indie authors?

 

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Should You Buy an ISBN? A Guide for Self-Published Authors

This is a question that comes up a lot with new authors in the self published space. If you're book is going to be traditionally published, either through a small press or with one of the big New York City publishers, they handle ISBNs so you don't need to worry about it. As a self published author, whether you purchase an ISBN for your book is up to you.

 

 First, what is an ISBN?

 

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It's a unique way for your book to be identified. Multiple books can have the same title, but no two books can have the same ISBN.

 

If that sounds important, it is. Sort of.

 

If you're in the US, authors can purchase ISBNs from a company called Bowker (Click HERE to go to the site).

 

Authors can purchase ISBNs one at a time, in batches of 10, 100, or 1,000. Of course, the more you purchase, the cheaper they are.

 

 But with the rise of self publishing, online retailers have looked for ways to remove the cost barriers of publishing. One of the ways they do that is by offering to provide ISBNs at no charge.

 

Sounds great, right?


Well, that depends. If you're only publishing on one platform (usually Amazon) and you have no intention of ever publishing on any other platform, then maybe taking the free ISBN is a great option. Who cares what the ISBN is if it's only going to be for sale on Amazon?

 

But what if you want to publish your book on multiple retailers?

 

Well, they offer ISBNs as well. When you upload your book, you'll be asked if you want them to assign your book an ISBN or if you have your own. And again, it's free.

 

This all sounds great, so why would anyone buy an ISBN?

 

Let's say you decide to publish your book on Amazon, Apple, and Nook. If you decide to go with the free ISBN option offered by the retailers, your book will have a different ISBN on each retailer. On Amazon it will show Amazon as the publisher. On Apple, it will show Apple as the publisher. And on Nook, it will show Barnes and Noble as the publisher.

 

You get the idea. There's no consistency across all retailers even though it's the same book. 

 

Again, this may not matter to you. But it is important to decide what your long term writing goals are from the start. If you want to try one day for a run at one of the big lists, it might be a good idea to own your ISBN. If you want to build a publishing brand, you may want to have your own ISBN.

 

If you choose to take the free ISBN, then later decide to purchase your own for whatever reason, you will loose any reviews you've accumulated under the free ISBN. Given how important reviews are and how difficult they can be to get for self published authors, that alone could be a deciding factor.

 

Personally, I choose to buy my own ISBN. I bought a block of 100 almost 10 years ago and I'm still working my way through them.

 

It was the right decision for me, but that is something each author will have to decide for themselves.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Story Origin - Crossing the Line #BoysInBlue

 

 

IT'S LIVE. GRAB YOUR COPY AND START READING TODAY!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35vGnIq

Apple: https://apple.co/3cRjK5e

Nook: https://bit.ly/3gCuYwH

Kobo: https://bit.ly/35zv1TI

Google: bit.ly/3y8IaQ7


The idea for Crossing the Line came in two waves. When I began writing Behind Closed Doors, I intended it to be a standalone story. As I got deeper into the details of Chris's life and started building his family structure, I realized that the other brothers needed to find their lady loves as well.

 

But even though I knew Paul would have his own book, I had no idea who his heroine was going to be. It wasn't until I was over halfway through the second book in the series, Red Zone, that I got the idea for the direction of Paul's story.

 

In Red Zone, we meet Rebecca's sister, Megan. She's sort of a lost soul. Paul, on the other hand, is a widower trying to raise his little girl on his own. They were complete opposites, much like Gage and Rebecca. In other words, they were perfect for each other even if it didn't seem that way on the surface.

 

So at the end of Red Zone, I set up Paul and Megan's story by having Megan volunteer to move to Indianapolis with Paul and his daughter to be a live-in nanny. It was the perfect way to throw these otherwise unlikely people together and allow them to build a friendship that would ultimately help them find their happily ever after.


Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Read An Excerpt From Boys In Blue

Crossing the Line (Daniels Brothers #3) is part of my Boys In Blue Box Set releasing in less than a month. Here is a little excerpt of Paul and Megan's story.

 

“Paul? Are you all right over there?” No answer.

“Paul?”

Still nothing.

Without stopping to think, Megan turned the handle on the door. It wasn’t locked, and it opened easily.

She peeked inside, and what she saw had her scrambling across the room in a hurry. Paul was balanced—barely—against the dresser that supported the television. He looked as if he’d just come from the bathroom, and he was drunk. Not a little drunk, but can’t-walk-straight-or-talk-without- slurring-his-words drunk. She’d never seen him like this.

“Meg-Meg-an.” He sighed, and attempted to raise his arm toward her as she wrapped her arm around his waist. He was twice her size, and in his current condition, he was dead weight.

With little help from him, Megan moved him a few feet over to the bed. He plopped down so hard he bounced.

Once she was fairly sure he wasn’t going to topple over, she glanced around the room. That was when she noticed the bottle of scotch on the coffee table. Most of the bottle appeared to be gone, and as there was no one else in the room, she had to assume he’d drunk it all himself.

“Will you be okay for a minute?”

“Su-sure.” Paul smiled up at her, and she felt something flutter in the pit of her stomach.

Stop it, she told herself, as she marched back into her room to get some ibuprofen.

He was still where she left him when she returned with something for the headache he was bound to have come morning. She took one of the glasses provided by the hotel into the bathroom to fill it up with water, before returning to stand directly in front of him. “Here. Take these. If you drank as much as I think you did, then you are going to have one massive hangover in the morning.”

Without comment, or protest, Paul downed the pills like they were candy. She handed him the water, and he drained that within seconds as well.

When he was done, she took the glass from him, and went to refill it. Again, he drained it when she brought it back to him. Once he polished that one off, Megan set aside the empty glass. She couldn’t help but wonder what had brought this on, although she was pretty sure she knew.

Megan was lost in thought when she felt Paul’s fingers brush the outside of her legs. At first, she thought it was unintentional, but then he got bolder and flattened his palms so that they were bracketing her waist. She could feel the heat of his hands through her clothes. Megan knew she should push him away—he was drunk, after all—but she couldn’t. She wanted to see what he would do.

“Always wear . . . most in . . . testing . . . p . . . jamaszzz.”

She swallowed. He noticed her pajamas? Since when? “I like cats.” “Mmm.” Paul slipped the pads of his thumbs under her shirt, and began making circles against her belly. It was incredibly intimate—more intimate than a lot of the sex she’d had. This felt different. It was different. This was Paul. He wasn’t like the guys she normally hung out with.

“Paul?” Her voice cracked. Why did she feel as if this was her first time? Again, he ignored her, and this time he leaned forward, pulling her closer.

He lifted her shirt, exposing her stomach, and pressed his lips against her skin.

Megan reacted in the only way she could, by placing her hands on his head, lacing her fingers through his hair. What was happening?

Paul continued upward with his exploration—pushing her shirt out of the way as he went—until he reached her breasts. He cupped each one, filling both his hands, and began kneading and lifting them. Her nipples hardened, and she felt her body react in other ways. She knew she should stop him, but she couldn’t. Megan had dreamt about this . . . how it could happen . . . but she’d never imagined it would be like this.

He eased her left breast into his mouth and began sucking on it as though it was his life source. Megan moaned. She was a woman who liked sex, and it had been almost five months. No matter how wrong she knew this was, if he was willing, she wasn’t going to say no.

Hearing her pleasure, Paul released her breast, and leaned back on the bed, pulling her down with him. He cupped the back of her head, and a second later, his mouth was covering hers—his tongue pushing against her lips—begging, demanding entrance.

She opened her mouth, and his tongue surged inside, licking and caressing. Megan could taste the alcohol on his breath, but she also tasted him—something that was uniquely him. Even with Paul being drunk, she could tell he was a good kisser. He angled her head exactly the way he wanted it as he continued his assault on her mouth.

 

RESERVE YOUR COPY!

Amazon | Apple | Nook  | Kobo | Google

 

The Boys In Blue Proof Has Arrived!

One of the most exciting things for an author is the day when the physical copy of your book arrives in the mail. For me, that was when becoming a published author was real. It wasn't signing the contract with my publisher, or seeing my book listed on Amazon. It was holding that first paperback in my hand and knowing I wrote it.

 

While an author's first book will always hold a special place in their heart, that same little rush happens every time the first physical copy of a new book reaches an author's hands. 

 

This week, the Amazon proof for my Boys in Blue box set arrived and it was even more beautiful than I had imagined. The color is amazing and I can't wait to go to a signing where I can show it off.

 

Boys in Blue is 606 pages long since it contains two of my full length novels, which means it's almost an inch and a half thick!

 

The ebook is currently available for pre-order, but the good news is that the print should be available to order around the same time as the ebook is released.

 

Are you looking for an alpha hero? Follow two law enforcement officers as they find love in the most unexpected places.

Crossing the Line

A widower who’s still mourning the loss of his wife, Paul Daniels isn’t looking for love. He’s a single dad, and he’s content to raise his little girl on his own. What he didn’t expect was the change that would occur when Megan moved in to help him take care of his daughter. Thirteen years his junior, she’s full of life. She’s brought joy back into his home and has him craving things he thought had died long ago. Can he open himself up and find love again, or will the past continue to haunt him?

***

Seducing Janey

Kyle Reed left the Army to take care of his younger sister after the death of their parents. He gave up his carefree life as a bachelor and settled into a new career as a sheriff’s deputy in their small town of Liberty, Indiana. When his boss asks him to show a city detective around, he wasn’t expecting a blonde bombshell. He knew the moment he saw Janey there would be more to their story than solving a murder.


These two sexy Law Enforcement romances will have you wanting to curl up with these Boys in Blue.
 

 

Amazon | Apple | Nook  | Kobo | Google 


 


Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Reserve Your Copy Of Boys In Blue

Boys in Blue is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Apple, Nook, and Kobo. This box set contains my two law enforcement romances, Crossing the Line and Seducing Janey.

 

Crossing the Line is about Paul, a single dad, who's still grieving over the loss of his wife. He has no interest in opening his heart again. But after a drunken kiss with Megan, his little girl's nanny, at his brother's wedding, Paul realizes that maybe, just maybe, he can find happiness again.


Seducing Janey is a small town romance set in rural Indiana. Janey Davis, Paul's partner travels to the fictional town of Liberty to investigate a murder and meets Kyle. Sparks fly as soon as they lay eyes on each other, but he has to convince her to give a relationship between the two of them a chance.

 

 Amazon | Apple | Nook | Kobo  


 

 Amazon | Apple | Nook | Kobo  


Are you looking for an alpha hero? Follow two law enforcement officers as they find love in the most unexpected places.

Crossing the Line

A widower who’s still mourning the loss of his wife, Paul Daniels isn’t looking for love. He’s a single dad, and he’s content to raise his little girl on his own. What he didn’t expect was the change that would occur when Megan moved in to help him take care of his daughter. Thirteen years his junior, she’s full of life. She’s brought joy back into his home and has him craving things he thought had died long ago. Can he open himself up and find love again, or will the past continue to haunt him?

***

Seducing Janey

Kyle Reed left the Army to take care of his younger sister after the death of their parents. He gave up his carefree life as a bachelor and settled into a new career as a sheriff’s deputy in their small town of Liberty, Indiana. When his boss asks him to show a city detective around, he wasn’t expecting a blonde bombshell. He knew the moment he saw Janey there would be more to their story than solving a murder.


These two sexy Law Enforcement romances will have you wanting to curl up with these Boys in Blue.

 

 Amazon | Apple | Nook | Kobo