Readers, if you want to make a difference but feel a bit powerless as to how, I promise you it doesn’t take much. Just one tiny shift in your book buying habits can cascade into a life-changing impact.

---

Many readers have expressed their distaste for Amazon, and a deep desire to get out of that ecosystem.

I’ve also seen many worry about what a reader boycott of (or exodus from) Amazon would do to authors who rely on royalties from Amazon sales or Kindle Unlimited page reads for a living.

Here’s the thing: boycotts and mass exoduses hurt because they’re both sudden changes of significant magnitude.

Works great if you’re trying to make a megacorporation pay attention to you.

Not so great for the little players who end up being casualties of the collateral damage, though.

Amazon’s deep pockets can shrug off a boycott for months; the KU exclusive author banking on their Amazon royalties to buy food & make rent can’t.

Boycotts & mass exoduses are the first thing everybody thinks of when they want sweeping change.

But they’re NOT the only way to effect change.

Incremental change is an option.

Readers, the next time you’re about to buy a book, check if it’s available direct from the author or from a non-Amazon retailer.

Authors, give readers non-Amazon options with your next release. Here are some ideas that work even if you aren’t wide and plan on making your next release available through Kindle Unlimited.

1. Run a presale BEFORE you publish on Amazon

Have a strong mailing list and author platform?

Sell direct, via your own storefront. WooCommerce, Shopify, Payhip, Gumroad, WeTransfer—there are SO MANY options. (I personally use WooCommerce for my direct store.)

Don’t want to bother with setting up a store? Use Smashwords.

Need the discoverability boost from algorithmic recommendations and an established platform?

Launch on Kickstarter.

You don’t have to get fancy like I did. Simple campaigns with a limited number of perks like early access, names in the acknowledgements & extra bonus content also do great!

Don’t have an upcoming release?

2. Go wide with print

Give your readers the option of getting paperbacks & hardcovers somewhere other than Amazon. (Do not use KDP Expanded Distribution, go straight to IngramSpark.)

Offer signed copies/bookplates direct.

3. Sell books in person

I dismissed this for AGES with so many excuses. Like “I’m nervous pitching my books online; IRL will be terrifying” or “I’m in Australia; nothing happens here”.

Wrong!

Running a stall at Book Fair Australia was a 2024 highlight. Yeah, I sold books! It was great!

THINGS THAT ARE TRUE:

But if we continue doing nothing, then nothing will change. The only party that profits no matter what is Amazon.

How to get away from depending on Amazon

Amazon have dominated the market so much that the majority of people will always go straight to Amazon to find books, or whatever else they’re buying.

Changing that pattern of behavior is hard. (Everything in indie publishing is hard.)

Authors, the work starts with us.

We have to offer non-Amazon options before readers can choose them.

We have to make alternatives easy to find so readers won’t struggle/assume there aren’t any.

Update your websites and landing pages with prominent book links in this order: direct, wide/universal (if applicable), THEN Amazon.

You don’t have to jump into doing all of these things, all at once. But the main reason why I wrote this guest post and this thread is so you know Amazon isn’t the only game in town. Do whatever works for you, at whatever pace works for you. If you don’t have the spoons to do any of it…

That’s okay. You can always reconsider later.

If you are ready, though, then just start by making a tiny change to your habits. And if you’re an author who wants to begin selling direct but you have no idea where to start, here’s a very long and useful conversation I had with Emma L. Adams and L. L. MacRae on how to sell direct:

---