Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of the United States, on the anniversary of the date when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776. Although the Bill of Rights wasn't created until much later, after the Revolutionary War, this still seems like a fitting day to celebrate Indie Independence.We have the freedom to write what we want, in what genres we choose, to design our own covers (or hire our own cover artist), and distribute our work through whatever outlets we choose at prices we set. Although authors have been self-publishing for generations, the ability to do so easily, with little expense, is still fairly new.
I originally planned to post this on the 4th itself, but since that's the release day of our first anthology, I figure we should focus on the anthology. Besides, a group of indie writers released a petition today on change.org called "To Thank Our Readers." It discusses an indie's perspective on the Amazon/Hachette tempest, blowing away all of Hachette's PR spin. It also shows why boycotting Amazon isn't in a reader's or writer's interest. From the petition itself:
Amazon has done more to liberate readers and writers than any other
entity since Johannes Gutenberg refined the movable type printing press.
With the advent of e-books and the ability to ship paper books to your
doorstep in record time and at affordable prices, Amazon is growing
overall readership while liberating the voices of countless writers,
adding to the diversity of literature. A large percentage of the e-books
sold on Amazon are from independent authors. You have validated our
decision to write and to publish.
Please read the petition. If you agree with it, please sign it and/or share it on your social networks. Thanks to all of you who read this blog and our fiction. Enjoy the 4th--hopefully with some time-travel reading!
A group of independent science fiction/fantasy authors who support each other and share their love for the genre.
I agree that Amazon is the best friend the independent author has, whether s/he is self-publishing or working through a small to mid-level publisher. Those books make it to the marketplace -because- of Amazon.
ReplyDeleteIf you're an indie author it's definitely a good idea to not bite the hand that feeds you and since most of my feed comes from Amazon it would be counter my interest. But I can see where authors published by Hachette or other big publishers don't want Amazon biting into their publisher's profits, because where do you think they're going to cut money from to make up for it? CEO salaries? Pshaw!
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I agree Amazon is the best marketplace for us. I could always sell my work through my own site, but it would be much harder for new readers to find my stories.
ReplyDeletePat, big publishers want to slow the adoption of e-books, which explains their pricing strategy. It's then ironic they complain Amazon won't discount their books when Amazon sells them at the price set by the publisher.
Petition ... signed. I'm not blindly supportive of Amazon, but they have given us an opportunity the traditional publishers denied us and overall as a reader there is now plenty for me to read :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anna!
ReplyDelete