Repost via authors Trin Denise and Claire Chilton: Im sharing this post that Claire Chilton wrote because I agree with her and I think its important......Here is her opinion: Okay, so for anyone whos indie or sells their books on Amazon, it appears that war has been declared on the indie authors around the globe. I realise that Im saying this as a hybrid author. But hybrid or not, I dont agree with media blackouts on the truth. You might have noticed a lot of articles about big bad Amazon, bullying poor little Hatchette. You cant miss it actually. Its everywhere. James Patterson, Stephen Colbert, the NY Times, CBS, the BBC... Heres the thing. Were told by these media giants that poor little multimillionaire authors like James Patterson are trying to save the mom and pop book stores because big, bad Amazon killed them... Well, in that case did big bad Apple kill the music stores? Because, the iPod took over CDs. I thought it was just the evolution of technology? Oh, it was. Amazon has shit all to do with book stores closing. The book stores are out of date. Thats why theyre closing, but theyre blaming Amazon for it in their campaign for public sympathy. Then theres the boycott Amazon cries from Stephen Colbert and James Patterson, and yet, Patterson and Colbert are still selling their books on Amazon. Hypocrisy is such growing trend these days. Then theres the: Amazon is harming Hatchette books! Well, no its not. Those books are still on sale on Amazon. They just dont get special treatment because theyre not in negotiations anymore. So basically, they have the same playing field that the indies have. Oh poor them. How they must suffer! So what the massive media corporations, who also happen to own the Big Five BTW, are saying is that Amazon is a Goliath that is harming helpless (millionaire) authors by taking away their pre-order buttons. Yes, Im sure theyre crying in their stately mansions over it. Its not like theyre overpaid puppets for a publishing cartel that has been ripping off authors for decades. Its not like theyre trying to take away the indie authors freedom to sell their own books on Amazon by harming Amazon. Its not like they want all the authors to earn 10% of their royalties while the Big Five take the cash cow of profits from ebooks. Its not like they are angry that indie authors make 70% royalties from Amazon....Actually, all of that seems more true to me than anything the media is saying right now. If you want to know why theyre attacking now, look at the author earning reports here: authorearnings/the-report/ -- indies earn more money! If you want to know why they hate Amazon, look at the DOJ case against the Big Five for price fixing in an attempt to make readers pay more for their books. Ill criticise Amazon when it does something wrong, but this media campaign is disgusting. In this case, Amazon are Robin Hood, taking from the greedy publishing cartels and giving to the poor, starving artists. If the media pull these blinkers over peoples eyes, like theyre trying to, then thousands of indie authors will lose their incomes because of it. Not just that, but ebook prices will rise. The only thing stopping people paying 14.99 for an ebook right now is Amazon and the indies. Read these blogs from the bestselling indies who are trying to fight this: davidgaughran.wordpress/2014/05/26/amazon-v-hachette-dont-believe-the-spin/ jakonrath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/konrath-vs-colbert.html hughhowey/winning-at-monopoly/ Tweet it, like it, post about it. Tell your fans to protect the indies from a media war. Use the internet to overwhelm the media blackout on the truth! Post your support for Amazon if you like being able to sell your own books without being turned away by the gatekeepers, and keep the indies alive. Keep book prices down for readers and keep taking your 70% royalties. Hell, make up your own mind about it all, but remember that authors were screwed for decades by the Big Five, all large media outlets own the publishing houses, and the poor authors crying about it make their millions by walking on the backs of underpaid mid list authors! But you know, thats just my opinion on it all and some logical facts that prove it.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 15:29:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015