Up in Arms with Amazon

Up in Arms with Amazon

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Are your “Up in Arms” with Amazon? In other words and for those who may not be familiar with that term, has Amazon done something to you as writer that you just do not understand? Yes, it seems to be happening all around the world and with every independently published author out there. This past week we receive an email about the Author Central Profile page changing to exclude author pictures and videos in the U.S. but still showing in other countries and then they disconnected our blog/website automatic posting updates?!?!? Now I had just did a post about this last month extolling the virtues of filling out your Author Profile on Amazon. I had to retract that last week on TikTok when I noticed it before we all received the email. Do you think this is why the politicians are trying to ban TikTok in the U.S.?

Authors Get Your Own Website

There was that whole giving refunds and charging back to author accounts for eBooks that had already been read up to a year. They have since limited that to the first 30 days. However, you can still have read the book. How are they going to be able to prove that the person had not. Yes, I know you are going to say that the Kindle keeps track of your read and finished pages inside the app. But did you know if you read it with your WIFI off you can read it, reset it back to the first page and then return it? Just saying.

30 Day Social Media Challenge -Purple Edition

This past two months we have been hearing about (again on TikTok) a lot about indie authors who are receiving letters of termination on their accounts because their books have been pirated to some out-of-the country website. They require that the authors track down where the books are being pirated and prove that they have started the process of getting them taken down from those sites. There are a few different ways to go about this type of thing but most of us authors do not have the money to pay for a lawyer to go after these people. You cannot police the internet yourself and should not be held accountable for what criminals do. After all, if you have registered your copyright with the Copyright Office (which I highly recommend you do) you should file with them. Here is the question, if you go looking for your books on pirate sites don’t you run the risk of focusing attention to your books and possibly picking up a virus from these sites you visit?

Authors How to Brand You and Your Books

Finally, this week a fellow author received an email from Amazon KDP about an Ad that was disapproved. Now, she hasn’t run any ads on Amazon since 2019. When we looked over her account there was the ad dated back to 2019 that was never activated. When she went online to try and talk to someone about it the website kept making her start over her search. She tried a Customer Service number she had from online order dispute and that person told her, basically, she could not do anything about it and put her into limbo hold. Now I ask you, with all the money that Amazon has made over the years and continues to make, why in the world have they laid-off thousands of workers when they clearly need to staff their KDP Customer Service phone lines?!!?!

Author Update

Now that I have had my little rant for today I wanted to tell you about my new workbook, it is called the “30 Day Social Media Challenge” which is advertised above on my bookstore. You can use this workbook along with my “Top Ten Ways to Market Your Book for FREE” or the “Authors – How to Brand You and Your Books” (also linked above) – informational books to start your own digital marketing journey.

As Always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions please use my CONTACT US form and let me know. Till next time, keep writing!

Author: Jolene MacFadden

Single mother, retired from a normal job, was traveling around the State of Florida in an old RV. Now stationary writing new books and helping others get their self-published.

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