A number of authors opened their email inboxes yesterday to a pleasant surprise: the payment of old royalties from ebook publishing and retail site Smashwords. These royalties, typically within the one dollar to nine dollar range, had not been paid (in some cases, for years) because they didn't meet the minimum threshold for payment; it's important to note that a lot of other … [Read more...] about Smashwords Pays Out Royalties and It’s NOT the End of the World
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Does Publishing Have a Future without Amazon?
With the end of a pretty rough year behind us and the first few weeks of 2017 under our belts, it's a good time to take a deep breathe and take stock of the state of publishing. There's perhaps no more comprehensive analysis of the current trends than the annual Smashwords Book Industry Predictions, written each year by founder and CEO Mark Coker.Before looking at Coker's … [Read more...] about Does Publishing Have a Future without Amazon?
Who’s Surviving in the Publishing Evolution? Indie Bookstores
With all the talk of digital revolutions and self-publishing turning mainstream, there's been a quiet player in the game who's seen an evolution of its own, but appears to be going strong. It's a strange paradox that everyone bemoaned the death of mom-and-pop bookstores under the competition from Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, and even Walmart, and yet that same … [Read more...] about Who’s Surviving in the Publishing Evolution? Indie Bookstores
The 2017 State of Self-Publishing
It's been twenty-two years since Jeff Bezos hung out the shingle on Amazon, and twelve years since his company unleashed the Kindle on the world. It was only three years later that the retail and publishing giant launched a platform that truly changed publishing, for better or for worse.From 2007 to 2017, a mind-blowing pace for evolution, much has changed about book … [Read more...] about The 2017 State of Self-Publishing
Global Audiobook Trends and Statistics for 2017
Publishers have experienced an utterly deplorable year for e-book sales and most of them have seen declines by around 12%, things have gotten so bad that most of them do not even report how many units were sold. They speak in broad generalities, which does not bode well for the future of the format.Over the course of the past three years the highest growing segment of … [Read more...] about Global Audiobook Trends and Statistics for 2017
Amazon Limits Non-Purchase Reviews
Piggybacking off of yesterday's article about Amazon removing "incentivized" reviews--that is, reviews that were based off of receiving a free or discounted product, as opposed to the notorious paid reviews--the retailer sent out an email last night announcing another change to its consumer guidelines. This time, the goal is to limit the number of reviews an Amazon user can … [Read more...] about Amazon Limits Non-Purchase Reviews
Amazon Deletes “Incentive”-Based Reviews
For years, Amazon has fought back against paid review services. Sites that allowed authors to purchase blocks of reviews by the hundreds or even thousands gave consumers a legitimate reason to be mistrustful of any reviews, and the case of bad behavior painting all indie authors with the same brush was all to real.Amazon's initial action wasn't too popular with readers or … [Read more...] about Amazon Deletes “Incentive”-Based Reviews
Amazon Starts Selling Certified Refurbished Kindle e-Readers
Amazon has just unveiled a new Certified Refurbished Store and is selling a number of Kindle devices. You can purchase the Kindle Paperwhite 3 for $79.99, which is a savings of $29. You can also elect to purchase the premium Kindle Voyage for $119 and this is a solid deal because to buy it new will cost you $169.There are a number of other brands that are now listed in the … [Read more...] about Amazon Starts Selling Certified Refurbished Kindle e-Readers
Amazon Marketing Services Open to All Authors…Sort Of
Amazon has rolled out a new offer for authors whose titles are published through the Kindle platform: Amazon Marketing Services. Basically, this is an additional layer of potential promotion that the retailer has given authors, letting them pay for per-click advertising on their self-published titles."Wait, Amazon's done that for ages. Why is this news?" Well, they've sort … [Read more...] about Amazon Marketing Services Open to All Authors…Sort Of
Amazon Prime Members Can Now Share Unlimited Photo Storage with 5 People
Amazon has announced that they have revised their unlimited photo sharing system with a new feature called Family Vault. You can now share your account with 5 family members or friends with an invite code. Each person invited will be able to upload as many photos as they want through the web or via the Amazon Prime Photos app on iOS and Android.Additionally, Amazon has … [Read more...] about Amazon Prime Members Can Now Share Unlimited Photo Storage with 5 People
What Is KDP Print?
A number of authors have been delighted and/or perplexed to find a new designation next to their books' titles in their KDP dashboards, and that's the option to create a print version of their ebooks. With some authors taking to publishing forums to find out more, the consensus seems to be that Amazon may be shifting its print arm to this model rather than … [Read more...] about What Is KDP Print?
Amazon Attempts to Settle EU Antitrust Investigation
When words like Amazon and antitrust get bandied about in the same sentence, people start to wonder about the shady dealings the world's largest book retailer may be engaged in. At least that's the case where the European Union is concerned, and a year-long investigation into Amazon's ebook distribution contracts with publishers.Last year, a watchdog branch of the EU … [Read more...] about Amazon Attempts to Settle EU Antitrust Investigation