Amazon's Self Publishing Monopoly is Fading
Readers habits are changing, and it's good news for Independent Authors
Credit where credit is due
Before I outline all the places that Amazon and Kindle Direct Publishing has gone wrong, let me give the devil her due. Prior to Amazon launching its self publishing platform authors either begged a publisher to publish their book, or…there is no or. There was no real self publishing prior to Amazon.
Amazon opened up a realistic way for authors to self publish and to make a living selling their books without relying on a Tradition Publisher. The royalties on sales from Amazon were comparable and in some cases better than what the Trad Publishers would offer.
Out of this came a whole new world of opportunity for authors and sub genres for readers (Look up Monster Reverse Harem). Authors who could never get a contract in Trad Publishing are not only making a living selling self published books, but a surprising amount have been elevated to millionaire status.
So for that, I want to acknowledge and thank Amazon
Now Onward to Thrashing Amazon
How does Amazon Work?
Self publishing on Amazon is easy. Upload your book in an accepted format, pick your eBook price, and decide yes or no to Kindle Unlimited (KU). Everything is in your control. You get 70% royalty (on books priced above $2.99) on your eBooks and aprox $.0044 per page read in KU (the page rate changes monthly).
For a 350 page book, you get $1.54 paid per book read on KU. eBooks will give better royalties depending on price, however most independent authors are going to be in the $2.99 to $4.99 price point, giving them between $2 and $3.50 for each eBook sold.
So why enroll in KU if the eBook royalties are so much more? Volume. Books enrolled in KU will sell 4x to 5x more than eBook sales. And your KU customers don’t buy eBooks, it’s why they are enrolled in KU.
At least, that’s how it was for several years. Now things are changing.
Amazon is making costly mistakes
Amazon has an exclusivity clause when you enroll in KU. If you enroll in KU you cannot put your eBook on any other platform, such as Apple Books, Kobo, etc. This was a (barely) acceptable condition when Amazon haled the monopoly on eBooks. That monopoly is fading.
Amazon raised the prices for KU subscribers. While it makes sense with rising inflation, people don’t like paying more. Even when it is only $1. Raise prices and you loose subscribers.
Amazon keeps lowering the KU page rate. In 2022 the KU page rate was as high as $.0048 per page read, in 2023 it’s been as low as $.0042 per page read. Think that’s insignificant? That’s an 8.75% drop in pay. That’s a real insult to authors.
Reader trends are changing.
Amazon’s declining Monopoly
In the early days of Amazons eBooks the low prices, easy return policy and volume of books to choose from made it easy for Amazon to own the ebook space. Readers who purchased eBooks could return them easily if they didn’t like the book. The exclusivity clause in KU kept authors on the platform, which gave a huge selection to readers.
It was only temporary. Other platforms like Apple Books and Kobo popped up, offering better royalties to authors, and best yet no exclusivity clause, creating real competition to Amazon.
Reader habits have changed as well. Readers are now buying direct from the authors. Thanks to cheap formatting software and ecommerce sights like Shopify, Authors can not only self publish, but sell eBooks direct and pocket all of the royalties. For this, we thank the readers. The fact that they are changing their habits and supporting authors directly like this is perhaps the biggest game changer in the Self Publishing space.
With the rise of Kobo Plus (another subscription based reading platform like KU, only without the exclusivity clause), Bookfunnel and Shopify, Amazon is going to loose unless they make serious changes to benefit both Authors and Readers. Readers being comfy and the return guarantee are the only thing keeping Amazon alive
For once, SaaS is on our side
Buying direct threatens all reader platforms. Book formatting software is cheap and reliable. Setting up a webpage and Shopify store is also easy. (If you need help with this, I recommend
Substack. Dozens of articles on how to set up Shopify and ecommerce.) and bookfunnel gives authors a reliable way to deliver their product straight to their consumers ereaders.As readers become more and more accustomed to buying direct, the need for third party apps to sell your books is declining. If this trend continues, and we hope it does, then Independent Authors could be seeing even brighter futures and higher profits in the future.
Bottom line is there are a lot of options for writers to make money, and the market is not saturated, it’s only going to get better for authors.