Why I will never publish on Amazon again

It’s time to return to what it really means to be an “indie” author: independent.

I started writing dirty books in 2016, first self-publishing on Amazon and then signing publishing deals with Amazon's in-house romance publishing imprint. Publishing and creating in this way allowed me to reach a tremendous number of readers and to quickly establish myself as a well-known and popular writer in a very saturated market. It was, undoubtedly, a dream come true, and still is. But publishing in that way came at a high price for me, as it does for so many authors. 

Amazon is a central part of our daily lives; we depend on it for nearly everything, from books, to laundry detergent, to the very structure of the internet itself. But it is also one of the most exploitative and unscrupulous companies in the world, not just for its warehouse workers and delivery drivers, but also for its longest-serving contractors—independent authors. Have you ever wondered why your favorite authors have to write so much, so often? It's because Amazon shifts the goal post constantly, taking more revenue off the top of our incomes, and making it more and more difficult for us to be seen in search results and recommendations, thereby restricting our earning potential. So the only answer is more: more books, more words, more work, more changes in cover art, more pleas for positive reviews. Amazon has turned indie writers into gig workers. Just like so many other gig workers—the Uber driver who takes you to the airport, the Door Dash lady who delivers your pizza—independent authors are exhausted. 

But Amazon’s reach is even more insidious than you as a reader may realize. Many authors are forced to write in ways that are not true to our personal desires but are instead shaped by what Amazon will promote and feature, or what they will hide and suppress. Have you ever wondered why your favorite author isn’t writing as dirtily or as passionately as she once did? It’s because Amazon is even manipulating our sexual appetites by determining what is deemed acceptable and what is deemed deviant. Authors who depend on Amazon for their sales have no choice but to comply and conform, and to participate in an ecosystem of Amazon-approved sex.

Facebook, too, has drastically altered the way that authors must write and promote their work. In addition to shaping the way we think and spend our time, Facebook has made authors dependent on a network of connections that they do not own and cannot control. With one change of an algorithm, writers must suddenly pay—and pay exorbitantly—to get their once-free content seen by the readers they depend on to then go over to Amazon and continue the cycle again. Facebook; Amazon; Facebook; Amazon; rinse; repeat; forever. It is a loathsome and creativity-killing cycle that exploits authors, readers, and the writing itself.

And so, after taking a much-needed break from writing, I decided that now, upon my return to the art of smut, I want to sever those ties of dependency for good. I want to return to what it really "indie" really means: independent. I believe there is a better way and for me, and this newsletter is it. The astonishing number of you that have become paid subscribers in the last week agree. I am so grateful to have this new venue for reaching readers and creating my art, without being dependent on enormous, sinister companies and business models that hurt us more than help us. That's why from now on, I will be donating every penny I receive from backlist Amazon sales to charity, starting with this support fund to help Amazon workers exposed to COVID-19 because of unsafe working conditions.

So please, join me here, in this beautiful little private space of writing and reading, where there are no companies manipulating us. I am so happy to be here with you. I'll be publishing a new issue on Friday and I'm so excited for you to read it. 

Yours sincerely and gratefully,

Nicola