Hi Angela,

I had never had reason to return a Kindle book until I made the HUGE mistake of ordering two “best sellers” from a writer. The summary sounded somewhat interesting so I thought I’d see what a “best seller” was since I’d not heard from this author before. What a disaster. The first book had NO PLOT. None. It was a bunch of vignettes. Plus, I ended up hating all the characters. I reluctantly started the second book. Same old, same old.

Amazon offered me the chance to review them and boy did I. I wanted to give both a minus 100 stars rating, but that’s not an option there. How the heck did she convince any publisher to publish these total wastes of time? Well, that’s a discussion for another time.

When checking my Kindle account, I clicked on the titles, trying to find out how to get those two books off my Kindle. I always forget how to do that. Instead, I discovered they now offer refunds! I requested refunds for both. I had paid way more for them than I do for any books unless I know the author well, and was not at all happy about the waste of money.

So, while I know returns are disappointing to authors, I can assure you that I would have quickly returned both those books to a brick and mortar bookstore had I purchased them in hardback or paperback, and would have expected a complete refund. As a writer, I appreciate the difficulty returns present for writers. There’s a nice solution, though. Write so well that no one but skinflints will buy and return it.

I can also say that not all the books I’ve ever purchased are books I’ve completely enjoyed. However, I can’t remember the last time I returned a book because I didn’t like it. My usual returns are because I purchased the book as a gift for someone who couldn’t wait until their birthday and bought it themselves. And generally I just exchange it for something else my friend would enjoy.

Hopefully all the ebook publishers are careful to note those who buy and frequently return for refunds and simply cancel their accounts or refuse the refunds for abuse.

Love your newsletters, even though I don’t write you often.

Naurene Luse

Publisher’s Note: Most ebook retailers and publishers offer free excerpts of ebooks. We strongly recommend downloading and reading the excerpts in their entirety before buying.