Jeff Bezos is channeling Sam Walton these days. The WalMart founder knew how to crush his competition through competitive pricing and innovative distribution. And despite what you think about WalMart, there is no denying what a powerful force they have become.
Amazon must have been paying attention, because recently the moves they have made have really made some news and caused some waves.
Look at some of these comments.
By the way, that’s what happens when you win, you make waves.
I get the detractors. However, what I think they fail to realize is that it’s just good business. And that’s what most people are overlooking. The world of publishing is full of a lot of people who consider themselves “artists”. It’s a world driven by a lot of vanity.
Here’s a news flash for you who still think that way. The publishing world has changed. Now that anyone can publish a book, and the gatekeepers have been removed, it has all become a business. Gone, or soon to be gone, are the glamorous days of “traditionally published” authors who were looked upon like celebrities or special people because of their hard to get fancy publishing contracts.
You may not like that fact, but it’s reality. The sooner you realize it and jump on board the better off you’ll be.
As an Internet marketer, this is very similar to what a lot of people think about Google. Some people hate Google. They refuse to play nice with Google. They don’t like that Google has so much control. Fine, you go ahead and do that, but that again, is just a bad business decision.
I have to ask you. This is a gut check question. Are you writing books for business/career reasons, or are you writing them just for vanity reasons? If you are writing for vanity reasons, just admit it. The rest of us, we’ll just be publishing for business reasons and liking companies like Amazon that help us reach our goals.
Finally, let me ask you one more question. In terms of Amazon KDP Select. Time will tell if it makes sense for authors. But I would ask you this though. If Google did the same thing, and said, we don’t want you to have your site listed in any other search engine besides ours, would you do it? I’d say yes. Because any other answer is a bad business decision.
Great article Jim. So, will YOU be enrolling in KDP Select? I think it's a slippery slope allowing Amazon Prime members get your books for no additional costs. What if your share of the $500K amounts to less than the cost of your listed price?
I already enrolled most of my books, and have set up my free book promotions. As with anything, we have to test. My gut is telling me that this might be the thing that really helps non-fiction authors like me get more attention on the Kindle.
Hmm. So perhaps its a way to get your name out there. You have given me something to think about.
I happen to be a fan of Walmart overall, and of Amazon overall. I own a small local bookstore that can't compete in many ways with either of them – so we look for the ways that we can. (Offering our customers good prices on used books, and personalized attention in all cases, is a couple of the ways we can win that war.)
As an author, I'm very interested in what Amazon is up to, as well as Smashwords and the other sites that are giving indie authors a shot at publishing our works. I won't be putting all of my e-books in Amazon's new Lending Library option, but I'm certainly willing to give it a shot with a couple of them. If it doesn't work out, I'll pull them back out of that option before the first 90 days rolls into a second quarter. No big deal.
That's a great, and smart, attitude Catherine. Unfortunately, many small biz owners I see just give up instead of "being better". Good for you.
It's all about testing. )
I love competition, as it usually (nine times out of ten) benefits consumers while forcing businesses to improve themselves. If that's wrong I don't want to be right.
I agree. Competition creates better options for everyone. I love all these changes!
I understand your fasutrrtion. I am also in the throes of learning about Amazon and their self-publishing options. The best guess I can offer is that Amazon appears to be working on solving the problem of too much product, not enough product differentiation.In other words, with thousands of authors putting their work up for sale on Amazon, how do I know what is good enough to purchase? Right now it’s a crap shoot. By setting up imprints, Amazon will have a place to offer the better, higher quality books. If I want mystery, I now know where to look. Harlequin already does this to an extent with their Carina Press. There, once your book gets past the editor’s wicket, you get published electronically. If sales are good, and your novel fits in the romance genre, Harlequin could pick it up for print distribution. Bottom line, it’s all about the money for Amazon, in the name of providing better service to their customers.
Thanks for stopping by S.M. You are right, this is a business, writing that is. That's why I go crazy when I see smart people making bad business decisions. I just wrote this.
http://www.nopublisherneeded.com/traditionally-pu…
I will keep my KDP Select numbers flowing. So far, so good. Going to check out your blog now!