Like a lot of people, I’ve been rethinking my spending habits lately (hard economic data there, if you’re into that sort of thing), and asking myself how I can better bring my expenditures in line with my values. Given that there’s an Amazon Blackout from March 7-14, and Amazon in particular has been on my mind lately (I’ve had some self-published book projects in development behind the scenes that as of this fall I was considering releasing on Amazon), I thought now would be a great time to talk about the choices we make that involve this book-industry giant.
In practice, this will mainly be about writers, since usually for readers it’s easy to avoid Amazon and most poets have their work available in a variety of places. To be clear from the outset: I know some writers earn their livelihood from Kindle Direct Publishing, and the point of this post is not to shame or ask people to stop feeding their children or themselves. My own day job is almost exclusively focused on Google-based marketing, so I’m very well aware of how profoundly the tech behemoths can reach into our lives, and how hard it can be to extract ourselves once we’ve gone down that path. Also, among the published writers I know personally, few have forsaken Amazon entirely (though see below for some exceptions). And finally, it’s worth noting that a lot of the web utilizes Amazon’s servers on a pay-as-you-go basis, so simply using the internet often makes Amazon money. (You can find a somewhat recent list of the largest users of Amazon Web Services (AWS) here.) There are many ways to protest and express your values, and this may not be the best way for you.
So instead of taking this post as nagging anyone to be morally pure in a difficult economic environment, what I’d like to do is to share some observations about publishing and selling books (with a focus on poetry), some things I’ve learned trying to answer the title question myself, and what I’m doing. I’d also like to hear what you might be doing, either what you’re starting to do or what you may have already been doing for years. I know compared to some I haven’t been so diligent – hello my dear anti-Amazon brother – and I’m a bit sheepish that it’s taken me this long to make more of an effort to cut them out. I’m hoping at least this post can provoke some creative thinking.
1. First, Bookshop.org (a site that connects readers to independent book stores) now sells ebooks, with 100% of the proceeds going to the bookstore associated with the sale (I believe you can choose a recipient at time of purchase). While there are a number of downsides (including that you’d be tied to an app that has some major accessibility problems for blind readers), this is an energizing development.
2. Of the two small presses run by poets I know personally (neither of which, I would guess, provide a full-time income for even one person), one has books available on Amazon and the other doesn’t (though the poet who runs the press that doesn’t has her own books for sale there – presumably because of limited leverage with her own publishers).
3. I’ve come across a few poetry presses that do not charge for electronic versions of the high-quality books they publish, including Free Poetry Press and Commune Editions (though an important note that some of the titles on their lists are available for sale from other sources, and both projects appear to have some form of university backing, even if that’s just an academic day job for the editors). While this may sound radical, let me lean on my reputation as “poet with a calculator” (not surprising since I’m the child of a librarian and an accountant) to show the rationale for this. The reality of small projects is that at least until you get to a certain point, almost all the revenue will go to the services that enable the project (printers, advertising platforms, web hosting and software providers, credit card issuers, etc…) rather than to the creators themselves. Most poetry books published sell fewer than 250 copies (I’m putting a placeholder here for another post that goes into the evidence that backs that up, which is too much to write up here and now). I’ve seen discussions among poets that that number may even be under 100, and when including shot-in-the-dark self-published collections put up on Amazon with little marketing effort, I could believe it.
To be clear, artists deserve to be compensated for their work and I would never want to imply that you should give books away for free if that’s not what you want – poets can indeed make money with hustle, dedication to artistic growth, and luck. But to think practically, if a book is not likely to make money, why not consider reducing expenses as much as possible (there are ways to distribute your work online for free) and making it your gift to the world? You could even get more back in the form of goodwill and word-of-mouth (note the free publicity I just gave the two presses above) than you would by charging.
Edit: To be clear, my guess is that Free Poetry Press and Commune Editions make their work freely available more for ideological reasons than due to the math I outlined above (though that too may be a factor). However, I think the profit and loss sheet can in some cases make a decision like this make sense on a purely practical level and the example of these presses helped me realize that.
4. Two of the people whose non-literary work I’m most grateful for, Alex Hillman and Tad Hargrave, have not published their books on Amazon (though Alex’s can be bought there used). To be fair, while I think each would say his writing is integral to his overall project, I’m not sure either would use the word “author” as a primary identifier, and they certainly make their livelihood doing other things. Also, each has spent years building his own audiences and network of collaborators who can help spread the word. However, both I believe have an intention to profit from their books. I may never have a business that reaches the level of what Alex and Tad have created, but knowing that these examples exist helps me see that other possibilities are viable. (Speaking of Amazon, to explore the idea of doing without them from another perspective, check out this project to create 50,000 jobs in Philadelphia that started as an idea of Alex’s in response to Amazon’s process for considering cities for a new headquarters.)
5. Finally, while the poster admits it requires a non-trivial initial investment of money and time, this Reddit post describes the work of someone who apparently makes a profit making books for poets by hand. This setup even allows them to send a handwritten note with every order. (If you yourself are looking for a printer, before you get too excited by this particular person, check their Reddit history and make sure you’re OK with their politics. Personally, I’m not in favor of invading Canada or even joking about it in the current climate.)
That list isn’t intended to necessarily move towards a cohesive conclusion, but here are the small writing-related steps I’m taking during the Amazon Blackout (in addition to not making a purchase there):
- Continue the work I’ve started researching Amazon alternatives for authors, and continue to publish things I think are worth sharing on this blog (in the next week or down the line).
- Refrain this week from reading the books I’ve downloaded via Kindle. This may sound like a petty step, but it’s not a sacrifice to read other things for a few days and I think making my tiny contribution to the overall blackout effort is more important.
- Because my life has long been overflowing with books and because having books on my phone means I don’t have to remember to bring along what I want to read while out and about, I’ve embraced ebooks, at least for prose when they’re cheaper than buying used. I’ll be downloading Bookshop’s new app, and checking out digital booksellers and alternative e-reader apps.
What about those book projects I mentioned above? Even when I began work last summer before Bezos’ negative actions with The Washington Post and his donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, I already had misgivings about utilizing a company that has created a difficult environment for many of the small presses I admire, whose labor practices I don’t support, and that has monopolistic and predatory tendencies. I’ll be looking at alternative options for distribution and marketing.
Please do comment below with any suggestions you’d have for those looking to reduce their usage of Amazon, or anything else you’d like to say about the blackout.
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