The Current State
Self-publishing is an expensive and time consuming process. That goes double for paperback books. Because of this, indie authors turn to services that distribute our work to multiple storefronts. They handle all the accounting and paperwork. For this they take a cut of the sales. This arrangement has longed served both parties fairly.
However, the line (corporate profits) must always go up.
Last month, Draft 2 Digital announced that going forward any authors who sold less than $100 worth of books a year would owe them a $12 account maintenance fee. Wait, it gets worse, they’re referring to the NET profits. I.e. the amount we take home after paying them their cut. So to meet this new requirement, I’d have to sell north of $1,400 worth of books a year.
This new “indie-author tax” caused no small amount of discussion online. As for myself, it was a shove in a direction I’d already been leaning. I hope it doesn’t shock you to learn that I don’t make any money writing books. Last year was my best year sales wise and I still made less than I spent (advertising + travel + table fees + software).
My author journey, has to date, been a money losing operation.
Why do I do it then?
Because I enjoy writing!
I love the challenge of crafting a story that other people will enjoy. With every book I’m getting a little bit better at this. With every book my editors use a little less red ink. With every book new readers get to discovery my love of ellipses.
I have no delusions of being able to quit my day job. I wouldn’t mind it if that happened, but it’s not my goal. My dream is that someday my annual book sales pay for my costs + give me some money to spend for my other hobby, photography.
The Future State
My most recent book, Vampire Detective Agency: First Date, was only released on Amazon last fall. I did this because from what I could tell, the vast majority of paranormal romance readers were Kindle Unlimited users. This belief, by the way, seems to be mostly correct based on my sales data.
However, I know not everyone has a Kindle or likes to shop on Amazon. I had started to prepare for a wider release across other platforms through Draft2Digital. Even though, if I’m being honest, the cost of preparing paperback books can be expensive. I have to format the book for a different printer, order test prints, and unless my files are perfect – I’ll have to repeat this process at least a few times. Each failed test print costs money.
The new fee caused me to put my wide release plans on hold. If I don’t enjoy using Draft2Digital to sell books, and it takes me time/money to even list my paperbacks through their site, why would I do it?
To date 95% of my sales have been through Amazon. So, while I agree and support people who want to boycott them, I just don’t see the value in taking the time to deal with Ingramspark’s awful systems or Draft2Digital’s new tax.
For the foreseeable future, I’m going to keep my paperbacks on Amazon. I acknowledge that this means I will miss out on sales to some of you. I fully support your decision not to support Amazon. Hopefully someday you can visit me at a book event and buy one from me in person. Further on down the road, I hope to sell limited edition versions of my books directly on this site.
Ebooks For Everyone
I have opened a Kobo Author account. As of today you can find some of my books on their storefront. I’m also putting my Last Shepherd series on their version of Kindle Unlimited which is called Kobo Plus.
That’s not all! I’ve also opened a Gumroad account! Any book that’s not on Kindle Unlimited is now available directly there.
My apologies to anyone disappointed in my decision, but hopefully you understand why I’ve made it.
