To Amazon or not to Amazon

What dreams may come?

Photo by Patrick Tomasso

Hello, friends! I apologize for dropping off of the face of Substack for a few weeks. I have been busy with new work, as well as just trying to figure out how national events are going to affect me in my particular field and life. Some of these things are personal (Am I going to lose my health insurance? Is my mom going to lose social security?) and some are career-related (What the heck is going on with social media? Are my book sales going to be affected by Amazon boycotts, and should they be?).

It’s that last one I wanted to write about today. This is not a persuasive essay, rather I wanted to sort of think out loud about my work as a writer and the role that Amazon has played in it, and how that might be changing, as well as what that means to you as readers — of me, but also other self-published authors.

First, a brief recap of my books, in list form:

Spring, 2020 — Broadleaf Books published The Long Night
Fall, 2020 — I self-published what is my current best-selling book, 365 Days of Peace
Spring, 2022 — Broadleaf Books published Blessings for the Long Night
Fall, 2020 — I self-published Good Morning, Friends
Fall, 2023 — I self-published Open Things

So I’ve had two books published traditionally, through a publisher, and three that I’ve self-published. When I self-published 365 Days of Peace in 2020, I did it through Amazon KDP and through Ingram Spark. Ingram Spark distributes to book stores, so 365 Days is available wherever books are sold. You can order it through your local bookstores, find it at Barnes & Noble, order it on Bookshop dot org or Indie Bound dot org, etc. However, since Ingram Spark is a distributer, they take a cut and the bookstore takes a cut, whereas with Amazon, it’s just Amazon and me with our hands in the pie.

What this means is that for every copy of 365 Days I sell through Amazon, I get about $7, whereas for every copy I sell anywhere else, I get about $1. Because the majority of people do buy through Amazon, I’ve been able to make a little bit of money over the last five years. Not enough to actually live on, but I would not have made it through the pandemic without that income. (Also, interestingly, when Amazon sets a sale, I still get the same amount of royalties. So with 365 Days on sale for $11, as it’s been for the past year or two, I still get my $7, and they pay for printing costs, so I’m making a lot more profit than they are.)

Amazon has always been ethically complicated, of course. Any giant corporation is bad (hence the laws about monopolies), Amazon doesn’t treat their workers very well, and they are the main reason small bookstores are having an even harder time making it. I would like to find a better way. But cutting that income to 1/7th of what it is now would be rough. Also, it would be a lot more than 1/7th because, despite the boycotts, the majority of people still do buy their books through Amazon, and many just wouldn’t bother to buy it elsewhere, so I’d lose sales. This month, I paid half my rent with Christmas sales on Amazon. So that would be a hard income stream for me, personally, to lose.

I know a lot of self-published authors are similarly struggling with this decision. I also believe firmly that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism — see this breakdown of AWS. And I also believe in not shaming people for doing what they need to do to survive. And yet…I’d really love to be on the right side of history here.

I’d be really curious to hear how other writers and readers are processing all of this. Have you cancelled Amazon Prime? Started shopping locally whenever possible? Or are you fighting on another front? Or living to fight another day?

For now, here’s a blessing from 365 Days:

Peace to those struggling with decisions
& all choices seem bad
& you can’t even remember the point
of making good ones

Peace to those working too hard
& those already exhausted when you awake

Peace to all who seek peace outside
when there is a well of deep, cool water
within

Peace.

With love and hope,

Jessica

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