Thread: Frustrated with all the recent posts by Kindle-only authors
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Old 08-22-2009, 08:49 AM   #12
Nate the great
Sir Penguin of Edinburgh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ficbot View Post
It seems like recently there have been a slew of new posters to MR whose posts begin with 'I just published my novel XYZ on the Kindle, hope lots of people read it!' I am so frustrated with these. I wonder if these authors truly do not realize that the Kindle (and therefore their book) are, due to their publishing decision, only available to readers in one country out of the whole wide world? Or do they realize and are simply too lazy to care and to investigate other options? I worry too that some of these authors might reach the wrong conclusion about the saleability of their book e.g. they sell too few copies and conclude there is no money in ebooks, but maybe if they sold it in places where people outside of the USA could buy it, they might sell more?

I have stopped responding to these messages because I am getting so annoyed that I worry I won't be polite enough. The USA is a big country, but it is only ONE country and it is not the centre of the universe. Readers exist outside of this ONE country, readers who might want to buy books. If one sells their book on the Kindle only, one excludes a large percentage of them. If you are an indie author, that's just shooting yourself in the foot unnecessarily. Maybe Amazon has some sort of licensing problems or global marketing rights issues which prevent them from getting into Europe/Canada/Asia/Wherever just now. But the average indie author does not have this obstacle. So why are so many people limiting themselves unnecessarily and potentially alienating real, paying customers? It makes no sense to me.
I've decided to start recommending Smashwords. Perhaps you could do the same.
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