I just returned from a wonderful weekend outing in my official Happy Place…which is anywhere with my favorite musical group, The Texas Tenors. They actually visited Colorado for a change, so I didn’t have far to travel—and as a special treat, I was able to bring my oldest daughter and both grandkids to the shows. Everyone loved the beautiful music, as I knew they would. <<Ahem, dear Eldest, I told you so!>>
Now that the weekend is over, I’m back to earth and hard at work again. My creative balloon was filled, only to have it quickly deflate when I heard some news today that could very well affect my ability to put food on the table and take care of my family.
I’m a traditionally-published author, that is, I write for one of the New York “Big Five” publishers. I get advances and royalties from my contracted work—but only when my books are sold new and through legitimate channels. I don’t see a dime from the purchase of used books and those pirated from the internet.
I don’t know if readers realize they directly support their favorite authors when they buy new, but there you have it.
Do I write for the Lord, to reach the world with His love? Absolutely.
Do I need to get paid for my work? Definitely.
I have people dependent on me, especially since my husband had a double stroke last September.
So the news that Amazon is now not automatically making their primary “buy button” the legitimate publisher of my books is nothing short of devastating. Basically, through whatever bizarre algorithm they use, the large “buy button” can now very well lead to a secondary seller. I’ll get zip. Zero. Nada.
It’s hard to feed a family on nothing.
Many professional writer’s organizations are protesting as publishers, agents and authors try to wrap their minds around this change. As for readers, I hope that you’ll take the time to make sure your purchases go to support your favorite authors by buying only through the legitimate publisher. It’s an extra hassle, but I hope it’s one you’ll take.
Because without our readers, authors are nothing. I, for one, am grateful for each and every one of you. I know I can speak for every author here at the Inspy Romance blog when I say thank you for buying our books and supporting our careers. God bless.
Deb’s next book, The Cowboy’s Baby Blessing, will be available starting June 20th at a store near you.
~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
Oh my that’s awful news. I am glad you make us aware if this change. I will definitely be more mindful of my purchases from now on. Thanks for sharing.
The change is definitely concerning. :-( We will all be watching over the next few months to see how this pans out.
I get frustrated when they divert to used books. I prefer using ebooks or new books. If I wanted used books,I would look for that. The Lord bless and provide for you. I had a big change in regulations for my small business that ultimately led to me retiring and us relocating, but my husband had a retirement and we could afford to do that if we sold our house and moved. It can definitely be stressful.
I’m sorry to hear about this change (and about your husband). I’m an avid reader but I’ve been gradually switching to kindle and now I rarely buy physical copies. I hope you get enough/ good royalties from those too.
I also never considered people would pirate romance novels from the internet but I guess they do this for everything. So sad.
Pirating novels on the internet is actually quite rampant. Impossible to keep up with them, because if they get shut down, they just reopen on an new URL. Thankfully, eBooks aren’t affected by Amazon’s change.
Sorry to hear about your business. I’m glad you managed to get through it. This change certainly doesn’t make sense to me. Amazon is saying that will make selling books the same as everything else sold there, but books aren’t like everything else. They are copyrighted materials.
I am likewise interested to see how this all plays out. There is already a lot of backlash, but Amazon is a behemoth.
Thanks, Colleen. I debated on whether or not to share, but ultimately I felt like I needed to be candid with readers, so they are informed and can make their own determinations.
I feel your pain and that of every author, it is a sad situation.
I only buy e books.
I buy all of my books from harlequin.com so I can buy big print and the rewards go on automatically and I don’t have to scan receipts
Thanks for explaining this, Deb. I am an avid reader, but did not know this. Praying for your husband and your writing!
Harlequin rewards is an awesome program, and I much prefer the large print. And you know for sure that your purchase supports authors! Thank you from the bottom of my Harlequin heart.
Thanks for your prayers. They are much coveted.
Happily, eBooks shouldn’t be affected.