Does anyone else get a weird vibe about recent changes by the 'Zon? From unannounced changes to the publishing ecosystem, to expanding the user's catalog of never to be read, to the disaster that is Vella, something is amiss.
This is from: about ebooks
Amazon’s share of the ebook market is 67%
This is a very elastic figure. Amazon’s public statements are often obtuse or non-existent, and it’s left to independent analysts to apply their skills. The figure varies from 83 per cent to considerably less. Our own polling of publishers suggests that, leaving aside Amazon’s own publishing efforts and their self-publishing platform, their share of the ebook market sits at 67 percent.
Maybe, just maybe, they see their market share dropping and are desperate to keep the dominance they built on our labor.
R.C.
Some of us have been talking about this for a while now. Well, since Jassy took over sooner than expected.
Another interesting factoid is that when Blackburn came back (since his exit was abrupt, it's assumed he returned when he did because Jassy took over) he's heading up all of entertainment. This includes everything media focused, Prime Video, Audible, ACX, podcasts, Amazon Studios, etc. Except KDP. While there's an argument that KDP shouldn't be under entertainment, it's weak. The argument for Select and Vella not to be included is even weaker.
There's a lot more information in what isn't happening than what is.