Is Amazon screwing their authors?

[lovecraft68]

So for the last few months, I have been averaging X amount of sales a day on amazon.

The last couple I have had hardly any and it seems odd that the wheels would suddenly fall off of 20 titles at once.

So I go to their community forum and find this thread.

http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?threadID=46984&start=0&tstart=0

The worst part of this are the posters saying amazon is claiming there is no issue, that people selling like wildfire up until even days ago and not selling now there is no problem.

If this were a glitch and the sales would update in large bunches instead of consistently through the day that would be one thing, but what if these books are selling and Amazon is just literally keeping the money?

How would anyone know? This morning at 6am my wife bought one of my e-books. That sale updated at 3pm today along with a couple of others.

although my last two days have been down I'm still getting some sales, but there are people in this thread who have been totally frozen out and Amazon is pretty much just shrugging. I have 6 titles that since August are averaging 4-6 apiece daily. in the last two days they have 4 sales combined. Smells a bit funny.

Some are suggesting this is some type of glitch as it started right after their new kindle launch and they just don;t want to acknowledge it. I'm rooting for that theory as the alternative is that ther are deliberately screwing people.

There's some people on here selling on Amazon so wondering what you're experiencing. I know there are some who have publishers putting their stuff up and wondering what the publishers are saying if anything.

 

[LadyVer]

Interesting. I would like to know what's going on as well as I have quite a few histfic author friends.

 

[Stella_Omega]

That looks like a real and serious problem.

 

[electric1]

I really doubt they're just cheating authors. If they were doing that, they wouldn't make the shift so sudden. They'd skim a little and then a little more at a gradual pace.

That said, I too would like to know how authors know whether sales are tracked honestly.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

So for the last few months, I have been averaging X amount of sales a day on amazon.

The last couple I have had hardly any and it seems odd that the wheels would suddenly fall off of 20 titles at once.

So I go to their community forum and find this thread.

http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?threadID=46984&start=0&tstart=0

The worst part of this are the posters saying amazon is claiming there is no issue, that people selling like wildfire up until even days ago and not selling now there is no problem.

If this were a glitch and the sales would update in large bunches instead of consistently through the day that would be one thing, but what if these books are selling and Amazon is just literally keeping the money?

How would anyone know? This morning at 6am my wife bought one of my e-books. That sale updated at 3pm today along with a couple of others.

although my last two days have been down I'm still getting some sales, but there are people in this thread who have been totally frozen out and Amazon is pretty much just shrugging. I have 6 titles that since August are averaging 4-6 apiece daily. in the last two days they have 4 sales combined. Smells a bit funny.

Some are suggesting this is some type of glitch as it started right after their new kindle launch and they just don;t want to acknowledge it. I'm rooting for that theory as the alternative is that ther are deliberately screwing people.

There's some people on here selling on Amazon so wondering what you're experiencing. I know there are some who have publishers putting their stuff up and wondering what the publishers are saying if anything.

Damn. Making your wife buy her own copy of your book. Does she have to buy her own birthday card, too?

 

[lovecraft68]

Damn. Making your wife buy her own copy of your book. Does she have to buy her own birthday card, too?

Well the good news is I get 70% of the money back.

Besides, she owes me. Last time we were role playing with her as call girl, I slipped a hundred dollar bill in her bra

and never got it back.

 

[lovecraft68]

I really doubt they're just cheating authors. If they were doing that, they wouldn't make the shift so sudden. They'd skim a little and then a little more at a gradual pace.

That said, I too would like to know how authors know whether sales are tracked honestly.

I'd like to think you're right.

The problem is they;re amazon and like anyone else who has pretty much monopolized a market they'll do what they want when they want.

If not cheating, the problem will be getting them to give enough of a shit to fix it.

I also noticed the time line between this issue and them winning the lawsuit apple and penguin were involved in, cementing their grasp of the market.

If it keeps up, I suggested on the thread starting a petition on change.org. They were one of the petitions that were involved in paypals botched censorship attempt early this year.

Amazon has shown in the past they will respond to public opinion so if the issue keeps up the noise needs not to be made on their community, but all over the net.

We'll see what happens, maybe they're working through an issue they don;t want to own up to.

 

[lovecraft68]

Wring thread

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

LOVEBOAT youre paranoid.

Based on my experiences with AMAZON Jeff Bezos will fuck you however he can but he plays by the rules. And if youre really really right he'll even treat you decently, but you gotta be holding his balls in visegrips first.

Your complaint is the same complaint everyone whines about, no sales. One of my college perfessers writes and sells cripple-sex at Amazon. I suppose paralyzed folks want love, too. And thats his niche.

 

[lovecraft68]

LOVEBOAT youre paranoid.

Based on my experiences with AMAZON Jeff Bezos will fuck you however he can but he plays by the rules. And if youre really really right he'll even treat you decently, but you gotta be holding his balls in visegrips first.

Your complaint is the same complaint everyone whines about, no sales. One of my college perfessers writes and sells cripple-sex at Amazon. I suppose paralyzed folks want love, too. And thats his niche.

That's an interesting niche. How is he doing with it?

I'm not normally paranoid, but seeing that thread and reading through the posts has me thinking.

My sales appeared to be at the norm from last night until this morning.

They responded to me and gave me several reasons things may seem slow. They all made sense, they included depending on how people are paying(as in purchases made with gift cards have to be redeemed first) and also there have been issues with cards being declined.

The only thing that seems odd is why all of a sudden and why so drastic as if the authors on that thread are to be believed they're not getting anywhere near their volume.

But for me, after two slow days today seems on the rise so it could them working through something and not wanting to admit it.

 

[anon606]

Oh, wow! You just figured out business! It's so cute when a child is just learning to walk.

There was a time when people understood what a receipt was for, and all the elements that had to be on it.

There is an enormous amount of faith required to do online business, and I mean faith. It's nearly religious. There are mechanisms in place to make it reliable, but is it anything but magic to the masses?

Let's say there is something, one sided, going on to Amazon's benefit. What can you do?

Amazon knows how reliant they are on the faith of the masses, and it could vanish because Amazon could never really explain how they do what they do. No one would sit long enough for the education.

Be loud. They will hear you.

 

[desertslave]

Well the good news is I get 70% of the money back.

Besides, she owes me. Last time we were role playing with her as call girl, I slipped a hundred dollar bill in her bra

and never got it back.

Sorry to sidetrack, but this reminds me of a folk song I recently heard.


It's of a brisk young butcher as I have heard them say,
He started out of London town all on a certain day.
Says he, “A frolic I will have, my fortune for to try;
I will go into Leicestershire some cattle for to buy.”

When he arrived at Leicester town he came into an inn,
He called for an hostler and boldly he walked in.
He called for liquor of the best, he being a roving blade,
And quickly fixed his eyes upon the lovely chambermaid.

When she took up a candle to light him up to bed,
And when she came into the room, these words to her he said:
“One sovereign I will give to you all to enjoy your charms.”
And this fair maid all night to sleep all in the butcher's arms.

'Twas early the next morning he prepared to go away,
The landlord said, “Your reckoning, sir, you have forgot to pay”
“Oh no”, the butcher did reply “pray do not think it strange,
One sovereign I gave your maid and I haven't got the change.”

They straight way called the chambermaid and charged her with the same,
The golden sovereign she laid down, prepared she'd get the blame.
The butcher then went home, well pleased with what was passed
And soon this pretty chambermaid grew thick about the waist.

'Twas in a twelve months after he came to town again
And then as he had done before he stopped at that same inn.
'Twas then the buxom chambermaid she chanced him for to see,
She brought a babe just three months old and placed him on his knee.

The butcher sat like one amazed and at the child did stare
But when the joke he did find out, how he did stamp and swear.
She said, “Kind sir, it is your own, pray do not think it strange:
One sovereign you gave to me and here I've brought your change.”

So come all you brisk and lively blades, I pray be ruled by me,
Look well into your bargains before your money pay.
Or soon perhaps your folly will give you cause to range
If ever you sport with pretty maids be sure to get your change.

 

[lovecraft68]

So an update on this. My numbers seem to be back on the move and many on that thread are posting things are returning to normal, but some are still saying things are "frozen"

There is someone claiming-and this the thing to be wary of here as we just have to go on good faith people are not lying here- that he has had several people buy his book in the last couple of days and he has no record of it.

I have quickly realized that the more I read in that and a similar thread over there the more paranoid it can make someone.

I will say that although my numbers are good today I still have several titles that were doing a few sales a day not having gotten one.

I'm holding to a "glitch" theory and that they maybe steadily working through something.

Alas, I think any lost sales will remain that way, they are certainly not going to go through the effort to back track, guess they will just have to keep that money.

Must suck to be them