Quote:
Originally Posted by SeaKing
Are there any signs or reports of Amazon being unfair to authors?
|
No, not so far. I think the point is more that some publishers have done this to authors (stopping them from publishing a book with the same characters elsewhere). So the non-compete clause could be mis-used.
I think at this point they are attempting to keep authors playing fair: Don't give it away on your website, don't give away too many chapters for free, don't change the title and cover and try to sell it somewhere else.
Authors have been known to be...less than honest, desperate, conniving, and so on. I'm quite sure Amazon has noticed this type of behavior in the past.
There's pros and cons. But a lot of authors have talked in many forums about how many more we sell on Amazon. While NO ONE wants to alienate a single reader, I can still see why it's tempting.
Some people may sort by price or popularity--but a lot of them sort by things like "cozy mystery" or "urban fantasy." And that could mean exposure. I mean, seriously. It worked when there were only a few of us indies joining the ranks two and five years ago. It will likely work again, especially for a "free" lending. Some are going to be cautious, especially at first, saving the "lending" for an expensive book. But after a while, readers may not even notice the price. They might be far more interested in "genre" and grabbing something for a quick weekend or whatever catches their eye.
Not all readers are as...well, we here at mobilread tend to read a LOT and some of us stay organized about what is checked out from the library and what can be had and where. But a lot of my friends read willy-nilly. They grab things when something catches their eyeballs. And Amazon is very good at catching eyeballs right now.