What went before, short form: Amazon sent me a letter informing me of changes to its royalty structure. PRINT titles that have a cover price of less than $9.99 will experience a reduced royalty — from 60% to 50%. Some other books will receive NO ROYALTIES AT ALL. Amazon was writing to me because I have titles that fall into the NO ROYALTIES AT ALL zone, and I have until June 10 to Fix This.
NOTE: This is paper books only from Pinbeam Books, the Lee-and-Miller indie publishing side of It All.
NOTE TWO: Pinbeam’s paper books are produced and distributed by Amazon, so even if you buy one of Pinbeam’s print book from another bookstore, you are still buying it from Amazon.
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Wednesday. Anything can happen day.
Please join me in a moment of silence as we contemplate this irony.
Right.
Sunny and going to hit the low 70sF. Windows my office are OPEN. Bathroom window is NOT OPEN.
The caffeine has done its work; and I’ve traveled through the Land Of O!God O!God, what the PHUCK am I going to do? I don’t have TIME for this and we’re going to be living in a tent by the river, and the Cats &c&c&c — which is the toll I pay for having a bent brain — and have arrived at A Place of Thinking.
So.
I’ve gone through the list of titles affected by Amazon’s newest flexing of its muscles. It is Less Bad than the first reading/panic attack made it seem. There are 22 Pinbeam Books titles affected by this…new arrangement.
Despite the explanation in their letter, five of Pinbeam’s 22 affected titles are listed at $10 (aka above the Magic $9.99); the rest are listed at $8.
I need to research what’s going on with those five $10 titles; also — there’s a separate problem with The Tomorrow Log, which someone seems to have hijacked. However Amazon’s system is for some reason a little overwhelmed at the moment, and I can’t actually GET to TTL‘s publisher listing to see what’s going on there.
Focusing on the below-magic-list-price titles . . . 17 @ $8. Here, I have three choices: (1) I can let Amazon continue to sell them and pay me nothing; (2) I can increase the cover of all titles to $10, or (3) I can take them off-sale.
(1) is Right Out.
Frankly, (2) and (3) both pretty much add up to $0. People can’t buy a book that’s not listed, and! I doubt anybody will buy these titles in paper at $10. However, exposure is a thing, and keeping the titles in view has benefit.
So (2) it is.
I will be increasing the price of the affected titles on Monday, May 19, so people still have time to buy these titles at the older, lower price.
Why am I doing this so quickly, since Amazon isn’t implementing their changes until June 10?
Because I will be traveling, and then I will be exhausted from traveling, and having to catch up with All The Rest of the stuff that somehow piles up when you’re traveling, even if you’re — ahem — old, widowed, and Have Nothing To Do All Day.
And that’s Anything Can Happen Day so far at the Confusion Factory.
I’m going to go get a third cup of tea, and what’s left of that chocolate mint brownie. Panic really uses up calories.
I trust that everyone is abiding in a state of Calm Peacefulness this morning?
In good news, the cat tree was in bloom this morning.
Sorry to hear about Amazon. I wish we had better news to offer you. Meanwhile, “the cat tree was in bloom this morning.” That sounds like the making of a fun children’s story. Which kitty is ripe to be “picked” this morning? I ought to get a cat tree for the one kitty who can still enjoy it, but she already uses window sills and furniture to prove she’s top cat around here. While she may be “top cat,” he is still 5 pounds heavier and wins any direct contest . . . well, no contest.
Amazon is run by rat bastards.
I sense a class-action lawsuit coming… (or a big ton of individual lawsuits…)
I’ll still buy ’em at that price. I tend to buy ebooks these days, I’d happily buy those at a higher price.
Lovely cat tree picture with three gorgeous cats!
Sorry to hear how Amazon is exploiting its monopoly. Good decision to keep the books visible and earning. The price of everything is going up, including printed books… I see lots of novellas sold individually at $3.99, so selling your scrapbook collections of 3 stories at $10 isn’t outside of that price range.
For future scrapbooks you might consider including one more short story or novella, and raise the price a bit more, e.g. 3 stories were $8 (now $10) and 4 could be $11. It will probably still put off buyers who don’t like paying $10 and up, for whom all those $9.99 prices are set. But advertising that they are getting an extra story for that price might win them back?
Could you list the affected titles? Or is it everything with price listed under $10?