As always, I’ve been wrestling with how to approach the online side of this author gig. Lately, the eBook market has undergone a fundamental shift. Most of these changes I’ve been watching approach like a distant train. All of them make me uncomfortable as an individual creative professional trying to make a living.
Amazon seems to have coalesced into a “KDP” only market. The big self-published winners there are increasingly Amazon exclusive. Whether exclusive or not, many authors are also finding the Amazon Marketing System to not just be a neat way to reach Amazon customers. They’re finding it necessary to keep up with everyone else who is plowing money into those ads.
It’s an arms race with only one winner.
Barnes and Noble continues to flounder. Apple announced a new initiative for its eBook efforts but not much has materialized.
And besides, Apple really wants their self publishers to own a Mac if you wish to upload books to their platform.
More protectionism at the expense of individual creatives.
Kobo? They make waves every so often, but their market share hasn’t increased appreciably in quite some time.
Amazon continues to mindlessly devour the world. To compete, many services seem to be adopting their tactics: proprietary, obscured, and focused on providing a one-stop experience where they control customer data and connections.
Look, I went solo because I was done with the rat race. Working under immense, mindless bureaucracies isn’t my thing. Fighting over the same crumbs, not my thing either. So with all that in mind, I have completely redesigned my website.
Now, if you want my books, you can send your money directly to me. Purchase from my website knowing your contribution goes solely to put coffee in my veins to crank out more stories and not to bloat an already giant corporate machine.
(NOTE: This is still in beta, meaning I haven’t taken many orders. There MAY be some problems which I will resolve ASAP. And you WILL be able to email me directly. I won’t send you to my people in India. I don’t have people in India. Nor do I have canned responses, so expect profuse apologizing and possible swearing in the unlikely event an order gets messed up…)
Don’t feel comfortable sending your money directly to me? Fine, all my books will still be available at the big, faceless retailers so click away.
Art free. Art hard.
(Me being goofy for product endorsement purposes.)
Read this white guy, not those other white guys.
Categories: Author News
RUSS LINTON 
Leave a Reply