I received the following email last week:
Angela,
Longtime subscriber. Hope to finally get my book finished this year. Yesterday, the Wall street Journal ran a front page story about Amazon publishing. Can you comment on this based on your experience? Thanks.
I replied:
That article you referenced was written by the same reporter who covered our anti-trust lawsuit against Amazon in 2008. So, it’s odd that he’s calling their publishing program “new.” In fact, the same reporter wrote an article titled “Amazon Struggles to Crack Publishing” back in 2012.
Amazon’s publishing business is anything but “new.” They have tried traditional publishing and offering self-publishing services. The self-publishing division was originally BookSurge back in 2008. Under that name, Amazon contacted publishers, threatening to remove their books’ “buy buttons” if they didn’t start paying Amazon to print their books. Kind of sounds like something Walmart would try to pull over on suppliers, huh?
Amazon stopped their threatening actions after we filed our lawsuit and they settled with us later, paying our attorneys $300K.
There were numerous complaints online about BookSurge at that time. Amazon later switched the name to CreateSpace. Again, lots of complaints started popping up. See detailed complaints from CreateSpace authors RIGHT HERE.
Under the name CreateSpace, Amazon stopped offering many of the services they were offering authors. That didn’t stop the complaints, however.
And, now (once again), another name change. And, the complaints are starting to pile up again.
You can read a price comparison of other firms offering distribution through Amazon (and numerous other outlets) RIGHT HERE.
Just because a company is bigger definitely does not mean they are better.
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Complaints About Amazon’s CreateSpace (now named KDP Print) – Part V
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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Angela, in one of your links you write: “We then included a statement in the settlement that BookLocker declined a cash settlement from Amazon…and Amazon insisted on removing that verbiage, too.”
I faced similar issues in a legal dispute I fought and won in Seattle federal court. The reason for those removals probably lie in corporate and lawyerly vanity. Both are quite willing to be vile, but they are leery of any legal document demonstrates that.
I won completely and utterly. The judge dismissed their case “with prejudice.” That gave me enough legal muscle that I couldn’t be bullied into an out-of-court settlement. But I did agree not to discuss in detail and in public our later discussions over a settlement—that an no more. That reflects a lawyer afraid I would make clear who beat who/ In your case Amazon didn’t want their settlement to make clear just how principled you fight with them was. They preferred to muddy those waters.
I am glad, however, that your lawyers made out so well. They deserved it and hopefully that will encourage other lawyers—some fine day—to take on Amazon. There’s certainly a need there. Were I a lawyer, I just might set up a practice in Seattle and specialize in suing Amazon. There’s a lot of money to be made there.
Those who’re interested can read my legal arguments for fair use in the case of a day-to-day, Lord of the Rings chronology in Untangling Tolkien. I rewrote my legal arguments as literary commentary for the last chapter.