The latest action by Amazon that hurts authors and publishers is explained in Publisher’s Weekly.

To summarize:

1. People can buy an audiobook from Audible, which is Amazon’s audiobook division.
2. Those people can listen to the entire audiobook.
3. If the customer “returns” the audiobook (which is actually a download, not a physical product) within 365 days, they can get a full refund!

“If you’re unhappy with your purchased book, you can return or exchange it easily as long as it’s within 365 days of the original purchase.”

Amazon then deducts the author’s or publisher’s royalties they’d previously earned on that “sale” from their future Amazon royalties!

Now, why in the world would Amazon let people who’d completely used and benefitted from a product “return” it for a full refund? I know why. They’re trying to get more people to sign up for Audible, which has an annual fee of $7.95 to $14.95 per month.

So, even if a customer “returns” a book, Amazon still gets THEIR money. It sure seems to me that they couldn’t care less about screwing over authors and publishers in the process!!

So, if you’re thinking about selling your audiobook through Audible, you might want to think again. You may end up giving it away instead.

POSTSCRIPT

Amazon issued this statement after receiving the complaint letter with more than 12K signatures: “…in recognition of these concerns, moving forward and effective as of January 1, 2021, Audible will pay royalties for any title returned more than 7 days following purchase.”

Still not good enough! If Amazon is tracking the number of pages customers read of ebooks, you can bet they’re tracking the amount of time a customer has listened to an audiobook in their system. One or two chapters is enough for someone to determine if a book is right for them. No customer should be given a full refund after listening to an entire audiobook, whether it takes them seven days or just seven hours.

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• BookLocker Sued Amazon – And WON!

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

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https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE

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