How Amazon is Ruining Reading
Added 2025-02-26 20:56:01 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Daniel here.
We're still taking some time to recover and catch up before we can restart Patreon-exclusive content. There are also a lot of messages here we still need to get through. That being said, I figured—why not give you an early look at an upcoming video?
It's a super happy, cheery one about... how Amazon is ruining reading. Fun, right?
The video drops later this week, but since it’s packed with statistics, I thought it’d be interesting to get your feedback before sending it out into the wild.
Let me know your thoughts—whether you agree, disagree, or have additional points you think should be included. Drop them in the comments below!
Hope you enjoy!
—Daniel Greene
Comments
Daniel, I have a question. Does your trad pub contract allow you to do more unique business approaches, such as running a fan club for $x a year, who gets access to all your books as part of that (ebook/audio)? What legal coverage do those contracts have to prevent innovative fan club models? I've been playing with ideas around this with my project and I was curious if you could share that.
Ben at Shepherd.com
2025-02-28 12:57:38 +0000 UTCIt is a constant battle to do this, so ya you can, but you have to be super technical to fight it. Which is great for that 1%, but for the other 99% they are stuck until they move to Kobo or other solutions (bookshop.org starting to work on this).
Ben at Shepherd.com
2025-02-28 12:52:28 +0000 UTCSurely some internet wizard has figured out some sort of "void your warranty" kind of solution to this. Its just data on a device, it shouldn't be too hard to jailbreak it. I realize that's outside of the scope of what most kindle readers could benefit from first hand in the short term but usually folks who work this sort of thing out are pretty eager to share.
Cory Drew
2025-02-27 22:49:53 +0000 UTCI try to get physical books most of the time but I'll look into Kobo if I go digital for some books. It feels like we barely own anything anymore
Amanda Linn
2025-02-27 04:38:03 +0000 UTCI need this to be uploaded to Youtube ASAP so I can send it to my whole family (and maybe toxic political flame war chat, they might like this ;)
Aly Milne
2025-02-27 01:43:10 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed this deep dive. It gives all the information in a digestable way while keeping me interested to listen.
Micayla Murphy
2025-02-26 23:29:39 +0000 UTCI'd be real curious to know about this process. Are you documenting it anywhere?
Cory Drew
2025-02-26 23:24:42 +0000 UTCCorrect me if I’m wrong but I think DCC is on sound booth theater!
Daniel Greene
2025-02-26 23:21:06 +0000 UTCThe library feature is criminally under utilized. Wait lists can suck but kobo and libro fm are just brilliant for it.
Daniel Greene
2025-02-26 23:20:10 +0000 UTC1000% agree with your read of the situation. It is one of the main reasons I, as a brand new baby author, have decided to go down the route of writing and publishing epesodic fiction via Patreon, so that maybe I will be able to build a stable community and income there, so I won't need to rely on Amazon sales. I think there is so much we as writers can offer that goes beyond what Amazon can deliver on their platform, and I think we may need to start more aggressively experimenting and finding reasons for readers to engage with us on other platforms instead
Daniel McCormack
2025-02-26 22:09:41 +0000 UTCOn the point of "if buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing" I would agree absolutely don't jump to pirating books when an author is amazon exclusive. But I can't just shrug at amazon doing their darth vader routine and altering the deal. I have plenty of kindle books and I don't know if I can avoid getting more (like you said the size of the BELL SYSTEM). If amazon doesn't restore the ability for me to download and keep a copy of what I've bought then I consider that specifically to be fair game for piracy. Still buying books, still supporting authors, but after that I'll get the file one way or another! Would love to see authors empowered to escape from amazon exclusivity even selfishly as a reader because I want to see other platforms thrive. Healthier competition there I hope would make it harder for amazon to get away with an anti consumer move like getting rid of file downloads.
Jordan R
2025-02-26 22:00:32 +0000 UTCI'm thankful that because of my disability and visual impairment, I can access services here in the UK that reduce my dependence on Amazon/Audible for books. Don’t get me wrong, it's hard to completely avoid them, but I do my best to offset my ‘Bezos-footprint.’ Much like striving for carbon neutrality, it’s a challenging task in today’s world.
Tom Turner
2025-02-26 21:51:54 +0000 UTCI live in Canada kobo is the main ereader here! I wish we could popularize borrow ebooks and audiobooks from the library instead of supporting amazon's horrible monopoly on them. And also giving libraries access to more copies of them because waiting in line for a digital file is ridiculous.
Mary Nelson
2025-02-26 21:43:38 +0000 UTCI've been debating whether to get a Kobo or a Kindle for months... Your segment on Fantasy News and this video has helped me make that choice. Thanks!
Triple Cerulean
2025-02-26 21:33:03 +0000 UTCGreat video, informative but not too "info dumpy", got the point across. I try my best to avoid amazon and i love my kobo and non audible audiobook subscriptions. Where i live it's especially hard to avoid amazon if i want to read in english, especially for some amazon exclusive content (neon ghosts for example is one i can't get the physical copy of, not even through amazon without crazy expensive shipment costs) Hoping for the much need federal intervention. Keep on spreading awareness, one more reason why you are such an important and appreciated creator in the book comunity.
Mariana Brighton
2025-02-26 21:28:45 +0000 UTCAmazon restricts use by libraries too. I usually get books from my library, with the Libby app, and had been waiting for months for the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook (looks like the library paid for a bootlegged copy or something). It is exclusive to Amazon, so my library no longer offers it. I am now waiting on the physical book, of which the library has a few copies. Looks like this is true for all exclusively Amazon audiobooks: https://blog.libro.fm/the-harmful-impact-of-audible-exclusive-audiobooks/
Mere
2025-02-26 21:25:20 +0000 UTCIm super glad to see you continuing uploads - yet also it is totally understandable you, Kayla and the team would need some time to recover. Haven't seen any data or numbers error in the video👌 I do want to point out an angle I rarely see talked about. For authors who have some donating system i.e. Patreon, Ko-Fi, etc. you could pirate their books and donate the full price to them elsewhere. They won't get the statistics boost which is definitely a problem, but they will get 100% of the payment instead of 70%. I'm sure the statistics are more valuable in the long run though. Of course, not many authors have such systems, and when talking audiobooks it is even more of a problem since you'd miss paying the narrator's this way, but I find that for Ebooks it is a good half-way solution. Would love to know what you think.
Yael Feldman
2025-02-26 21:20:25 +0000 UTCYes, hard agree! I watched FN last night and was frantically trying to save my books that I bought from Amazon onto my harddrive. Downloading load of various software to remove the DDRM.... Turns out they had already taken away the ability to save files A DAY EARLY (in the UK). I'm absolutely livid. Trying to sell my kindle so I can get a Kobo (via your recommendation). Definitely interested in hearing you delve a little deeper with this. Also, so glad to have you back 😊
Sinead Jenks
2025-02-26 20:58:29 +0000 UTC
