Resistance Is Futile

[APP]

In Anne Allen’s blog today, she points out that it’s now futile to resist Amazon policies that impact you adversely. She also points out that Amazon and other tech companies don’t care what you think about their policies. I was amazed by such hate and disregard for readers and users of tech products.

Though, it’s hard to believe what she revealed is true, sadly I do. I’d be interested in what others think about this information.

https://annerallen.com/2023/09/amazon-removes-look-inside-resistance-is-futile/

[djmills]

If, like me, you don't like their rules, you leave their site. Money speaks.

I was earning less than 50% (probably less than 30%) sales on Amazon since the start of Indie publishing, so my decision to pull my books from Amazon was easy after they demanded my phone numbers (I live in Australia). I said NO.

So, I pulled everything off Amazon a few years ago, and uploaded through D2D. Most of my ebooks are back on Amazon now via D2D and still not selling. My ebook sales come via B&N, Kobo, D2D, Smashwords store, etc.  My print books are selling outside Amazon sphere of influence, but I get the odd sale inside Amazon.

I care about my readers. And building my email newsletter list one reader at a time.

I really don't care about Amazon, since I can't buy anything from the US store, and last time I looked, there is only about 10% of goods for sale in the Australian Amazon store.

 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Imagine caring how your readers are treated!! How dare you! Why would you care if Bezos makes your readers unhappy and drives them away?

Imagine thinking Bezos is still CEO of Amazon.    

Like Anne, I also value the Look Inside feature and lament its passing.  Unlike Anne, I understand that Amazon has other concerns--like AI scraping/training and the possibility of ensuing legal liabilities--that it must balance against customer preferences in this regard.  Amazon's multiple competing interests will inevitably lead it to do things we don't like from time to time.  There's nothing wrong with lamenting such changes, but we should try to do so in a realistic and conscientious fashion rather than a childish and narcissistic one.

That whole post was little more than errors, short-sightedness, and frantic sanctimony, and now my brain feels like the pig lizard from Galaxy Quest.  It turned inside out, and then it exploded.

Anne mentioned the "OK Boomer" meme and used that as an excuse to engage in generational lecturing, and I think Boomer provocation deserves a Gen-X response, so I offer this:

[LilyBLily]

Look Inside is not gone. It's just below the cover instead of embedded in the cover, and its new name is Read Sample.

[alhawke]

If, like me, you don't like their rules, you leave their site.

Hear. Hear.

I recognize how important Amazon is and, though I'm wide, I know that my launches and special sales still depend on Zon. That might change in the future. ?? Well, I'm wide. And I'm considering taking the leap to selling on my website, like many are doing.

If we're gonna complain, one of the most irritating things I find about Amazon is that they don't change ever so often anymore, they do it every month. Just stop. Just leave things be for just a little while, Zon. Eh?

[Anarchist]

That whole post was little more than errors, short-sightedness, and frantic sanctimony, and now my brain feels like the pig lizard from Galaxy Quest.  It turned inside out, and then it exploded.

I was going to ask for a tl;dr.

But I wouldn't even read that, now. lol

Also, any mention of Galaxy Quest gets a +1.

[TimothyEllis]

The Look Inside was replaced with Read Sample.

But I think the writer has overlooked that a lot of paperbacks are done by Ingram, and distributed to Amazon without an eBook.

How is Amazon supposed to supply a sample without a digital version of it?

The whole piece came over as "I need something to complain about, and I don't care what it is or how accurate it is."

The other thing probably being missed is any romance story in the dungeon won't have a sample. Not until the author gets it out again. Any book in the dungeon for that matter, including low content and erotica.

Any book that doesn't have a sample has a reason for not having one.

[Bill Hiatt]

I also would have been shocked by the loss of Look Inside. But it never occurred to me that it might be precisely to interfere with AI scraping, as Jeff suggested. That's not a bad theory.

"Read Sample" seems a little slow to open, so it may not be as operational yet as we'd like. But otherwise, it does look and feel exactly like the LO.

[alhawke]

But it never occurred to me that it might be precisely to interfere with AI scraping, as Jeff suggested. That's not a bad theory.

That opens up some concerns with me and Googlplay. Googleplay always provides too large a sample and the only way to not provide their 20% is to not sell your book there.

[Post-Crisis D]

I'd worry about the possibility of Google parsing your entire book for its AI schemes more so than worrying about a third party scraping GooglePlay for the first 20% of books to try to train their AI.