WordCrafter Holiday Sales Start Today
Posted: November 28, 2025 Filed under: Book Sales, Holidays | Tags: Book Sales, My Backyard Friends series, Time Travel Adventure Series, Women in the West adventure series, WordCrafter Press 2 Comments
Click on the book title to go to the landing page. Then, select the distributor of your choice.
All WordCrafter Novels – Up to $4.00 off!
Shadow Blade (Denari Lai Book 2), by Chris Barili – $5.99
Delilah (Women in the West Book 1), by Kaye Lynne Booth – $1.99
Sarah (Women in the West Book 2), by Kaye Lynne Booth – $2.99
The Rock Star & The Outlaw (Time Travel Series Book 1), Kaye Lynne Booth – $2.99
WordCrafter Short Fiction Singles – Under a Buck
Baiting the Hook (Denari Lai Book 1), by Chris Barili – Free!
Hidden Secrets (Paranormal Mystery), by Kaye Lynne Booth – $.99
WordCrafter Poetry Anthologies and Collections – $2.99 or less!
Poetry Treasures – $2.99
Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships – $2.99
Poetry Treasure 3: Passions – $2.99
Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature – $2.99
Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures – $2.99
Collections
Feral Tenderness, by Arthur Rosch – $2.99
Behind Closed Doors, by Robbie Cheadle – $2.99
Small Wonders, by Kaye Lynne Booth – $1.99
Children’s Titles, by Kaye Lynne Booth – $1.00 off!
Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend – $2.50
Timothy Turtle Discovers Jelly Beans – $2.50
Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home – $2.99
All sales run through December 25th for all your last-minute holiday gifts.
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Writer’s Corner: Using Story Bundle to Sell Books
Posted: October 21, 2024 Filed under: Book Sales, Nonfiction, Story Bundle, Writer's Corner, Writing, Writing Business, writing craft, Writing Life, Writing Resource | Tags: 2024 Novel Writing Story Bundle, book marketing, Book Sales, Books, Self-Publishing, Story Bundle, The D.I. Y. Author, Writer's Corner, Writing 9 Comments
As many of you may know, if you follow Writing to be Read, The D.I.Y. Author is included in the Novel Writing Story Bundle, organized by Kevin J. Anderson. But what you may not know is how useful Story Bundle is as a marketing tool. The fact is, it’s a great way to sell books.
This is the second Story Bundle in which I have had a book included. Back in 2022, Ask the Authors 2022 was included in the Writer’s Toolkit Story Bundle, also organized by KJA. That bundle sold quite well and WordCrafter and the contributing authors made a little bit of money from it. This year, the Novel Writing Story Bundle promises to do just as well, if not better, so I highly recommend it.
What is Story Bundle?
What Story Bundle is, is a platform that gathers together several authors with books in the bundle category, whether it is writing references, such as the two I’ve had books in, fantasy books, science fiction books, or romances, etc…, and they all get together virtually and cooperatively market and promote the whole bundle. This extend’s the reach of single authors immensely, and I can testify to the fact that their efforts are effective. By using the power of the masses, promotions are found on all of the social media sites, not just those of any one single author, and it gets your book in front of the readers of every author in the bundle. But I’m just an author with a couple of books in a couple of Story Bundles, and I’m still learning, too. So to give you all the details, I chatted with Story Bundle founder, Jason Chen, to let him tell you what Story Bundle is, how it works, and what the advantages are.
Interview with Jason Chen
Kaye: What inspired the idea for Story Bundle?
Jason: I started StoryBundle all the way back in 2012 because back then, the concept of bundling similar books in one package hadn’t been done yet! Selfishly, I wanted somebody to make bundles of similar books—if you like this book/author, then you’ll like all THESE—and because nobody had, then I saw the need for it. Also, in 2012, the indie authors were lacking for a place to reach more readers, which made it a perfect fit for letting folks discover authors they would have a hard time finding otherwise.
Kaye: Story Bundle uses the power of numbers, gathering many authors together and offering their books as a group, rather than individually. Could you explain the advantages of having a book included in a Story Bundle?
Jason: Not only does being part of a StoryBundle get you in front of the StoryBundle fans, but the core concept is that it gets you readers from other authors who write in similar genres as you. Because all our bundles are curated, the books in them make sense together, which means that if you like one author in it, you’re more than likely to like another. So getting awareness of your books out to fans who already like the genre is a big plus.
Kaye: What determines whether a book is included in the original bundle for the minimum amount , or as a bonus book for a larger donation?
Jason: There’s no secret to the sauce. The curator and I work together to make sure both the regular bundle and the bonus bundle are balanced for the amount that they cost. Sometimes an author will be in the bonus bundle and if they’re in another bundle, they’ll be in the regular bundle. It depends on what makes sense for that particular bundle.
Kaye: The Novel Writing Story Bundle is the second Story Bundle which I’ve been a part of, mainly because I am fortunate enough to know Kevin J. Anderson, who organizes the ones I’ve participated in. I know other big authors like Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Katheryn Rusch organize them, too. But how do you get into a Story Bundle if you don’t know someone organizing one? Can you create your own?
Jason: Yes! The only caveat we have is that (99% of the time) the bundles are curated by someone who’s been in a bundle before. Once you’ve been in a bundle, you understand what the bundle is about and what makes for a good bundle and what works for participating in a bundle. This way you know which authors to look for when you’re assembling one. You work with us to figure out a genre that you want, and we refine the idea and can help you get in touch with some other publishers if you need to.
Kaye: Both Story Bundles I’ve had books in are writing resource bundles. Can you make a story bundle of any genre?
Jason: Yes, any genre is fine, but to get a little inside baseball, there are a couple of genres that don’t do well on StoryBundle. The biggest one is romance, which for whatever reason doesn’t appeal to StoryBundle readers. But even more of a surprise is that romance authors’ own fans don’t really enjoy the bundling concept—at least on StoryBundle. We’ve tried all types of romance bundles in all varieties of flavors, but none of them ever have good uptake.
Kaye: Is there a cost to organize your own Story Bundle?
Jason: There’s no cost to curating a bundle!
Kaye: Now I know why as an author, I might want to have my books in a story bundle. But why would readers wnat to buy books through Story Bundle? What are the benefits to readers in purchasing a Story Bundle?
Jason: As a reader, there are a few benefits. First, there’s just the core concept of vetting—we choose our books carefully with our curators, and they have to meet a certain bar of quality to get in. Of course, it’s impossible to guarantee that you’ll like all the books in the bundle, but if you already like one or two of the authors in it, you’re likely to enjoy the rest.
There are other tangible benefits, such as getting DRM-free copies of books that you can load on any ereader, tablet or phone without having to worry about compatibility. You’ll also support indie authors and be able to donate to a worthy cause!
Kaye: Does every Story Bundle donate to charity?
Jason: Every bundle has a charity donation, but it’s up to each person if they want to donate part of their purchase to charity. If they don’t, that’s perfectly fine!
Kaye: What types of charities does Story Bundle support?
Jason: We have a long list of charities that we’ve supported before, from literacy charities, animal charities, science and gaming charities, to health and medicine and worldwide refugee focused charities, so there’s no real limit to what can be a charity target for StoryBundle. If there’s a specific one that a curator would like to have in their bundle, we can make it work!
Would you like your book to be in a Story Bundle?
Now that I know what it takes to currate a Story Bundle, I’m thinking of trying one of my own, because I know that they sell books. Since I’m a multi-genre author, I could do western, women’s fiction, paranormal, science fiction, dark fiction, or children’s books. If you’re interested let me know and tell me what genre(s) you write in. Either let me know in the comments, or email me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com. Let’s see if we can get together and sell some books.
About the Novel Writing Story Bundle
The Novel Writing Story Bundle features writing references on writing craft, writing business, and the writing life, which should be on every author’s bookshelf. In addition to my own The D.I. Y. Author, which is a bonus book, there are also featured Dollar by Dollar and Word by Word, by Kerrie Flanagan; Romance Character Tropes, by Jessica Barber and Tara G. Ericson; Booking the Library, by Jessica Brawner; Kevin J. Anderson’s On Being a Dictator; Steps to Self-Editing, by Jana S. Brown; A Writer’s Guide to Branding Success, by Mark Leslie Lefabvre; Mood & Atmosphere, by Joshua Essoe; From Page to Platform, by Matty Dalrymple and M.L. Ronn; Wit & Wisdom, by Craig Martelle; Wulf Moon’s Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing, volume 1; Falling to Fly, by Todd Fahnestock; and a year’s subscription to Indie Author Magazine. That’s 13 writing references plus the magazine subscription. What a deal!
A note on the designated charity for this StoryBundle, the Neil Peart Brain Cancer Research Fund from Cedars Sinai. In 2020 we lost Neil Peart, legendary drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush, to glioblastoma. He was my mentor, friend, and collaborator on numerous books, and his loss affected me deeply. Neil’s friends and colleagues and fans worldwide have contributed to this glioblastoma research fund in Neil’s name, and we are proud to add our efforts on this Novel Writing StoryBundle as well. – Kevin J. Anderson
You can get in on this great Story Bundle here: https://storybundle.com/writing
About Author Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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This post is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
Topics Include:
Becoming Prolific
Writing Tools
Outlining
Making Quality a Priority
Publishing Models & Trends
Marketing Your Book
Book Covers & Blurbs
Book Events—In Person & Virtual
And more…
Purchase your copy today: https://books2read.com/The-DIY-Author
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Writer’s Corner: Direct Selling Through Kickstarter
Posted: October 2, 2023 Filed under: book marketing, Book Sales, Fiction, Kickstarter, Writer's Corner | Tags: Book Sales, Direct Selling, Kaye Lynne Booth, Kickstarter, Writer's Corner, Writing to be Read 5 Comments
Note: “The Viscareal Character Portrayal” segment of “Writer’s Corner” promised last month has been postponed, but will be featured soon.
Why sell direct?
Many of you may be aware of my use of the Kickstarter platform to sell my books direct, before they are released through distributors. My business model utilizes both direct selling and offering my books wife through distributors and libraries. But, ‘why bother?’ you might ask. By my own admission in previous posts, Kickstarter campaigns are a lot of work, create a certain amount of tension as I wait to see if they will fund, since Kickstarter is an all or nothing deal, and since I am not Bryan Sanderson, Kevin J. Anderson, or Joanna Penn, have produced only a small amount of money, just barely funding each time.
But, did you know that authors who sell direct make more money from their books by cutting out the percentage that distributors take, so they get to keep more of their royalties. I would make even more if I sold direct from my site, but I’m not set up to do that yet.
So, by buying direct from an author’s site or through a Kickstarter campaign, you are supporting that author more than you do by purchasing through a distributor. I’m all for anything that makes me more money from my books and gives less to Amazon. While I do have to give a cut of the money I make on each campaign to Kickstarter, it’s only 5%, which is much less than the 30 – 70% that have to give distributors.
Why Kickstarter?
Traditionally, authors would submit their work to publishers, and if they were lucky enough to have their book catch a publishers eye, they would get a contract and an advance on their earnings, and their book would be published eventually. But that advance was basically what most authors would make on their book unless it hit the best seller lists, because you had to earn out the advance before any more royalties would be distributed. With the rise of indie authors, traditional publishing, publishers began offering less and less for advanced, and doing less and less marketing, until I hear now, that in many traditional publishing deals today, authors are lucky to get any kind of advance at all, and they are expected to do most of the marketing, as well.
I look at Kickstarter as the indie authors advance for their books, and the best part is, you don’t have to earn that out before receiving more royalties from distributors. So, while $500 isn’t a lot of money, that’s where I set my funding goals for now, because it’s low enough to offer me a chance to reach it, since I don’t have a big reach… yet. I figure that’s a pretty good advance, and it gives me more funding to keep my writing business operating for a while longer.
Not all crowd funding is equal. I understand that other crowd funding platforms charge a lot more to host, are more general in their uses, and feel a bit like begging. But Kickstarter is set up to accommodate creative projects, and they have formed their own inner eco-system, so you can reach out to a whole new audience. Backers from earlier campaigns are automatically notified when you launch a new campaign, and they have internal messaging set up, so you can engage directly with your backers and develop more of a relationship. And I’m not begging. I’m offering real value to my backers in exchange for their support. The going may be slow, but this is one way to find those 100 true fans that will read everything I ever wrote, just because I’m me.
How Does It Work?
Why you might want to back a Kickstarter?
There are several reasons for backing Kickstarter campaigns. You might know or be familiar with the author and want to show your support. I support Kickstarter campaigns of authors I know, and they, in turn, back my campaigns, as well. That’s one thing I love about most author communities – we support one another.
But, there is another reason which can be even more motivating – the value offered through the Kickstarter system. Of course, the higher pledge levels offer more value through bigger and better rewards.
Plus there are add-ons, which you can get for an additional pledge. Since international shipping is beyond my reach at this time, I offer plenty of digital goodies for my add-ons. I tried offering an interview with the author, but as a still relatively unknown author, I didn’t have any takers on that one. Hopefully, that will change soon.
But there’s more. Once the funding goal is reached, stretch goals can be added, which offer bonus goods if a new goal is reached, as I touched on above. For example, you might receive a bonus book for everyone who backed the project at the $5 level or higher for hitting a certain amount of pledges, or bringing in a certain number of new backers by a given deadline. The more goals reached, the more rewards backers get. And it’s not just books. Kevin J. Anderson offers audiobooks. Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rush offer workshops valued at $150. Other authors offer artwork, interviews, in-person hang outs or Zoom calls, or consultations. Backing a Kickstarter at the $5 level can return some great value.
My campaigns offer an early digital copy of the book, before its release through distributors at the $5 level, and a signed print copy for U.S. backers at the $25 level. For Rock Star, my highest level offered a goodie bag with all the rewards from the lower levels and more. For Delilah, backers at the highest level got to name a character in the second book. I’ve had a lot of fun developing the characters of Lillian Alura Bennett and Owoz Crebo for Sarah.
Things to be aware of
Kickstarters are a lot of work. Seriously. And you must keep in mind that Kickstarter is an all or nothing deal, so if you don’t reach your funding goal, you get nothing, and neither do your backers.
On the other hand, it’s a great way to engage with readers, as Kickstarter provides internal messaging which allows you to interact directly with your backers. Backers for one campaign are automatically notified when you run the next one, so it helps to build your following. Because it is a form of direct sales, you profit more than you would selling through distributors.
A look at my past Kickstarters
I have done two Kickstarter campaigns, and both successfully funded. The first was in January, for Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series. You can learn more about that campaign here: . I’m planning another series Kickstarter in January 2024 for Sarah, book two of the series.
The second campaign was in July of this past year for The Rock Star and The Outlaw, my new time-travel adventure. Although I am not a big author, with a big reach, this campaign also funded, and it did so a little faster than the first, leaving me three whole days of campaign to offer a stretch goal. Stretch goals are extra added goodies, which can be offered to try and gain more pledges, thus making more money once you’ve reached your goal. I added a stretch goal for reaching an additional $100, but didn’t quite make it. Still it was excited to have the opportunity to offer it to my backers. I like being able to offer cool things to my supporters. It felt good to be able to offer an extra value. Maybe next time, we will make it.
Looking forward
I have two Kickstarter campaigns planned for 2024. The first is the January Kickstarter for Sarah, mentioned above. I’m really looking forward to sending off the second book in this wonderful western series, with its strong female protagonists and historic female characters. Big Nose Kate will make an appearance in the second book, along with young Sarah, the fiery youth who was kidnapped and sold to the Utes in the first book.
The second campaign will be in July, for the first three books in the My Backyard Friends children’s series. I almost had this one published back in 2015, but problems with the illustrator prevented it from coming to fruition. You can learn more about the difficulties encountered here: . This series is inhabited by characters based on birds and wildlife which visit me at my Colorado mountain home. Each book is stand alone, so they need not be read in order, and I will be launching the first three from the Kickstarter platform Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend, Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans, and one other story to be determined.
I finally found a wonderful illustrator for these books, and she was right under my nose. I’m happy to announce that this series will be illustrated by our very own, multi-talented Robbie Cheadle! I am thrilled to have Robbie doing the illustrations, and can’t wait to present the first three books on the Kickstarter platform.
In conclusion
I hope this post has given you a better idea of what Kickstarter is all about, and how it might be useful to you, as an author. I also hope it has encouraged you to check out my Kickstarter campaigns, and maybe even throw your support behind me. I’ll keep an eye out for you next January and July.
To learn more about Kickstarters
Here are a few places where you can learn more about Kickstarter and get tips on what to do when launching your own campaign.
Get ting Your Book Selling with Kickstarter, by Russel Nohelty and Monica Leonelle. (Watch for my “Review in Practice” for this book next week.)
Stark Reflections Podcast: Episode 149 – Killing it on Kickstarter with Russell Nohelty
The Creative Penn Podcast: Episode #627 – Kickstarter for Authors with Monica Leonelle
The Creative Penn Podcast: Episode #619 – Kickstarter and Multiple Streams of Income with Bryon Cohen
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; and book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.
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WordCrafter Press Independence Day Sale
Posted: July 1, 2023 Filed under: Anthology, Book Promotion, Book Sales, Books, Dark Fantasy, Dystopian, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Magical Realism, Mythology and Legend, Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Anthologies, Book Sales, Independence Day, Once Upon an Ever After, Refracted Reflections, Visions, WordCrafter Press 7 Comments
Purchase Links
Visions: https://books2read.com/u/49Lk28
Once Upon an Ever After – Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore: https://books2read.com/u/mKdWGV
Refracted Reflections – Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception: https://books2read.com/u/3kPyxn
Four Days Only
Spark off this Independence Day with spectacular anthologies from WordCrafter Press at discounted prices, July 1 – 4. Click on the links above to purchase the anthology of your choice. Choose from three sparkling anthologies:
Visions
An author’s visions are revealed through their stories. Many authors have strange and unusual stories, indeed. Within these pages, you will find the stories of eighteen different authors, each unique and thought provoking. These are the fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and horror stories that will keep you awake long into the night.
What happens when:
An inexplicable monster plagues a town for generations, taking people… and souvenirs?
A post-apocalyptic band of travelers finds their salvation in an archaic machine?
JThe prey turns out to be the predator for a band of human traffickers?
Someone chooses to be happy in a world where emotions are regulated and controlled?
A village girl is chosen to be the spider queen?
Grab your copy today and find out. Let authors such as W.T. Paterson, Joseph Carabis, Kaye Lynne Booth, Michaele Jordan, Stephanie Kraner, and others, including the author of the winning story in the WordCrafter 2022 Short Fiction Contest, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, tantalize your thoughts and share their
Visions
Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore
This unique and imaginative collection of eleven thought provoking fantasy stories will delight readers who enjoy stories of wishes gone awry.
What happens when…
A woman desires to carry on her family’s legacy, uncovering a long-buried curse?
A not so perfect witch casts a spell to defy age and preserve her relationship with her handsome shapeshifting familiar?
A time traveler longs to be the savior of knowledge lost?
An incompetent delivery boy becomes an unlikely savior of forgotten artifacts?
A magic mirror yearns for a different question?
A tiny story witch desires to share her stories with the world?
Spells are cast, unlikely alliances made, and wishes granted, sometimes with surprising outcomes. You’ll love this anthology of modern myths, lore, and fairy tales. Once you read these twisted tales, you’ll be careful what you wish for….
Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception
Refractions and Reflections…
A reflection can be revealing or deceptive. What stares back at you when you glance into the mirror?
A prison, designed to trap you and take away all that is dear to you?
A portal to another dimension? Another time?
An evil twin, luring you to the other side?
Your loved ones with a fond farewell?
A distorted version of yourself? A person you no longer even recognize?
A protective savior?
Do you dare to gaze into the looking glass?
Will what you see save you…, or haunt you forever?
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Writer’s Corner: What’s an Author to Do?
Posted: June 5, 2023 Filed under: Book Sales, Books, Indie Publishing, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writer's Corner, Writing | Tags: Book Sales, pricing strategies, Writer's Corner, Writing to be Read 8 Comments
I usually try to avoid letting loose here when something angers me, but I’ve encountered a situation which I feel deserves a good rant, and so I’m going to tell you what urks me, because I can. You don’t have to listen, or continue reading. If I get too caried away, you can just stop, click out of this blog, and go on to read or view something else, but I’m hoping that you will stick with me. If you are an author on Amazon, it concerns you, and maybe even if you are a reader who makes purchases from Amazon, so that’s just about everyone.
As most of you know, I released Delilah through distributors last month. Now, Amazon always drags their feet when I submit for publication, pre-order and distribution, and they are always the last distributor to accept books for pre-order and sale. The print book comes up early, but the Kindle edition is never accepted until the release day. The same happened with Poetry Treasures 3: Passions, and I had folks chomping at the bit to find the pre-order on Amazon, for their Kindle readers. I’m of the opinion that this is their way to express disapproval of my use of a third party aggregator, instead of publishing direct and exclusive to Amazon, and I expect it. This is obviously detrimental to my pre-orders, but what’s an author to do?
Delilah didn’t show up as available on Amazon until the day of release, but then I noticed that the price they had listed for print was listed as much higher than the price that I had set for the book, and down below, where they show third party vendors, it showed that there were at least four copies that were new or like new, at lower prices, with three supposedly used copies available at the price point I had set. I asked myself, how could there exist all these copies of my book, when it just released and hasn’t even sold that many copies yet? And how can they put a $21.81 price tag, (which is a ridiculous pricing strategy anyway), when the price I set, and the price with all the other distributors, is $16.99? What happened to price matching? I mean, seriously. I put a lot of time in to setting that price. Print books are always overpriced anyway, because of the cost of materials, but I was hoping to find a few readers out there willing to pay $17 for a book by a relatively unknown author, did they really think people would pay almost $23? No wonder I wasn’t selling any books. And if someone did buy a book at that price, I wouldn’t get additional royalties for it, it’s all pure profit for Amazon. How is that fair? Since it is my product, shouldn’t I have control of what price is set?
I directed my questions to Draft2Digital, whose support team is excellent at getting back to you and doing whatever they can to solve any issues their authors and publishers my have. The response I got, was the same reponse that they recieved when they inquired at Amazon – a copy of the Amazon ToS, with the section pertaining to third party vendors highlighted. I signed it, I have to abide by it. D2D support claims this is occuring even with traditionally published authors, whose books are still on pre-order, and third party venders claiming that they have used or like new copies before the first copy has been shipped, and Amazon claims, “We see this practice as a no harm, no foul, just some free (if odd) advertising for the book.”
As consumers, we’ve all seen those little third party vendor boxes, claiming to have copies available for cheaper. I’ve even taken advantage of the lower price for the used copy when I needed the book and my pockets were near empty. I didn’t realize that this might really be false advertising which undermines the authors and publishers of the book. What they are doing is not illegal. The customer does recieve a book for the advertised price. They are saying that these books are being offered by third party venders, but I have my doubts when I know those books aren’t even out there yet. The way I figure it, it has to be Amazon, because there is no way a third party vendor could order a book before it is even released, and get it out to the coustomer in a resonable amount of time, but Amazon can meet the demand and make it appear third party.
As authors, there is only so much much we can do, and the effects of what we can do are very limited. We either sign the Amazon ToC, or we don’t sell on Amazon. As a proponant of going wide, that doesn’t sound so bad, to eliminate Amazon distribution, which you have to jump through extra hoops to get anyway. But I think I need to really evaluate where my book sales are coming from, but I’m guessing that a majority of my book sales come from Amazon, because that’s where most readers go when looking for a book. I know I get some through Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo, but I’ll bet the sales from all of those channels don’t equal the sales I get from Amazon, regardless of their slightly shady sales tactics.
So, it looks like Amazon has authors right where they want them. They don’t even have to price match anymore. They can set whatever price they want for your book, claim third party vendors, (who may or may not truly exist), have copies which they couldn’t possibly have, regardless that their shady marketing strategies may be sabotaging our book sales. What they are doing is no accident. No. It is purposeful. They are aware of what they are doing, and they covered their butts by writing it into their ToC. Basically, we are helpless to do anything about it. I really am going to take a close look at my numbers, but I doubt I will find that Amazon isn’t as big a part of my sales as I think they are. It would be nice if I could drop Amazon to show them I won’t put up with dishonesty surrounding my product, but the truth is, authors need them, bacause they have become this big conglomerate monster who is the biggest global book distributor, for better or for worse.
I can shout from my blog site, alerting my readers that they can purchase from other distributors and not pay the extorted Amazon price, and I feel I need to, because what Amazon is doing may be legal, but it still feels dishonest, and they are doing it with my product and misrepresenting my brand. I can encourage readers to purchase from other distributors, but I can’t change the reality that most of them will buy through Amazon. I can cancel my Prime subscription, which I did, but I doubt Amazon will loose much sleep over that.
But there may be some hope in sight. Angela, over at Writer’s Weekly, talks about this same problem for other authors, explaining what Amazon has been doing, but not why, and offers some hope that these practices may change soon. It seems backm in 2011, Amazon purchased Book Depository, and they’ve been making them the main buy button on some books, with a higher price and no free shipping. I think the higher prices would be detrimental to sales, and certainly having to pay for shipping would be, especially to Prime memebers who already payfor that benefit in their monthly subscriptions, but apparently Amazon felt they could make more monhey that way? What happened to their price matching strategy? They can’t even match the price the author set for the book, let alone match a discounted price for a book. The good news is it seems like this problem may be ending, as they are getting rid of Book Depository, but I brace myself to see what Amazon will do next to put the screws to authors.
We are not totally helpless. As a publisher, (and if you self-publish, you are a publisher, too), we can publish wide, and offer readers a choice of book distributors. Many may still choose to purchase through Amazon because of ease, because they pay for Prime, because they read digital books on a Kindle device, or just because that’s what they are used to, but at least this way, they have a choice. And to make it easier still for readers, we can use a linking service, such as Books2Read, which gathers all available distributors into one link and visually shows readers that they have a choice. It’s much easier than posting links for each distributor with each promotion, even if you copy/paste. You get Books2Read links automatically when you publish through D2D, but I think it’s free to create an independent account. I’m not sure on that last point, because I have mine through D2D, but I believe it to be true. Let me show you one of WordCrafter Press‘ Books2Read links. When they click on the purchase link for the book in your promo, this is what potential readers see. Then they can choose the distributor of their choice to make a purchase.
This works for authors who choose to hybrid publish, too. Say you want to publish to most distributors through D2D, but you wish to publish direct to Amazon, because they get better service that way, and you want to publish your book in hard cover, which D2D doesn’t do. Books2Read allows you add those other distributor links, so everything is found in one place. WordCrafter doesn’t do this, but I’ll show you what Mark Leslie’s Books2Read landing page looks like for his latest release, Hex in the City, because I know that he is a hybrid publisher, meaning he has some books published traditionally, and others that he’s published himself. I don’t see anyway to purchase direct from his site. That may still be down the road a ways. Publishing wide and using Books2Read to give readers a choice of distributors is one small way that authors can encourage readers to use distributors other than Amazon, distributors that won’t deal with your book in a shady manor or try to screw authors just because they can and get away with it. It probably won’t bring about any drastic changes, but it’s something.
Again, according to Writere’s Weekly, I’m not the only one unhappy with Amazon. Even their own KDP authors appear to be grumbling about the way they treat their own authors by falsely marking books “In Stock”, a determination which apparently effects the costs for shipping authors pay. It’s not exactly the problem which I ran into, but similar. If you think I’m upset, you should check out this story. Some authors are having to fight for their royalties due, it seems, because they spoke out against the big A. Now this is scary. Just think about being an exclusive KDP author and having Amazon decide they don’t like you for whatever reason. If you are exclusive, that’s all of your book sales income. By going wide, you couls at least fall back on the income from other distributors. Even if it isn’t much, it would be better than just loosing everything. You can read more about that here:
It seems like, whether we publish direct through Amazon, or through a third party aggregator, authors are all in the same boat, and Amazon is going to do whatever they want. They aren’t going to change their pricing practices, or their shipping processes, for anyone. They have us over a barrel, because they are the biggest global book distributor. Most book sales come from Amazon, because most consumers chose the ease of shopping and satisfying customer experience which Amazon offers and the other book distributors cannot compete. We could all pull our books and only sell through the other book distributors, but that might be like cutting off our noses to spite opur faces. Let’s face it, for an author, not having your books available on Amazon would be like commiting writing career suicide. Publishing wide and offering readers a choice of distributors sounds like a much better option to me no matter how much Amazon peeves me.
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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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