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My thoughts on Self-publishing & kindle’s ridiculous new policy!
Lately it has been a huge discussion on primarily YouTubers and content creators in the realm of writing and reading about Amazon’s latest Kindle update. Basically, what it comes down to in simple terms is that you just borrow your Kindle library and it can be modified by Amazon at any point.
I have been thinking a lot on how we see digital products. While I don’t support piracy and the violation of copyright, I do think that a reader has the right to their copy of their purchased ebook and read it forever if they want – just as with a physical book. Even if the book gets retired, removed or even banned after the purchase, the reader should still have the copy they’ve purchased. It’s insane to not understand this very obvious thing. What you have paid for, you should have access for as long as you want. That is not to say that you can then share it illegally because the information is copyrighted, however, you own your copy of that product (digital or otherwise) to do what you want with (in the confines of personal use).
Isn’t that common sense? Nope, Amazon thinks differently about it and won’t allow people to own their copy of their paid books anymore. From today February 26th 2025 there will no longer be able to be backed up and Amazon can basically remove books from your library of the books of some reason expire. Before you were able to download the ebook so it sits on your own device. Nope, now it’s different!
YouTubers discuss this issue
”I’m both a reader and writer and I hate the direction in which the digital climate is “progressing”. As it is now, you gain nothing, you just borrow information. A copy is a copy no matter if it’s physical or digital. You should have it and read it forever if you want to. Respect the copyright always, but still, you should be able to have access to what you buy with no limits (for personal use).”
This is a comment I left on Jared Henderson’s YouTube video about how Amazon hurts writers and readers.
“As a (small) author I’m so so so against this! I sell my ebooks at a low price DRM-free. I believe that if you BUY something then it’s yours! The copyright is still in place, what I mean is that you should own your copy of your purchased ebook just as if it were a physical book. You should be able to read it forever, even if I decide to retire the book or otherwise remove it… I’m also so tired of subscriptions. That’s why I don’t even have a Patreon for my works, I only allow people to make one-time donations. I know, this might be on the more extreme end and I don’t judge creators/authors who have Patreons or other subscription-based income. It’s just not for me… Regarding your last thoughts on book bans, I agree, this “progress” is dangerous! I always self-publish, not because I’m not good enough to be published by a publisher, but because nobody else should make decisions on my books/ebooks. Yeah, my thoughts… I appreciate everyone who speaks up against this insanity!”
And this is a comment I left on Plant Based Bride’s YouTube video about how we own nothing digitally and the increase of subscription- based services for things we used to buy for a one-time fee back in the day.
I stand 100% with what I wrote. This is insanity. As an author and writer myself I would hate if my book was taken away from a reader who has purchased it for their hard earned money! I want my story to be read!
An author perspective
I have always refused to distribute my books and ebooks via a any traditional publisher. A reason for that is that the publishers pretty much make every decision and in the end they own the right to your book with you as an author. Screw that! I own my book and my reader own their experience when reading it.
It has never hit my mind to send a manuscript to a big publisher. I like feedback and I get feedback on my books from my audience. That’s enough for me. I just want to be read, and how can I be that if the publishers and/or the big retailers can do what they want with my book?
That’s why I self-publish and distribute to all the common book stores and ebook platforms and I offer my own epub files to download directly from me on my website as well. I also publish drafts (and even finished chapters) on a lot of writing platforms to share my writing with the world. Some of my works are even free! As long as others respect the copyright I have no problem sharing some things free of charge and the other half is paid because I need to eat and live and it’s nice to earn for what you have worked hard on. I like that balance. If it was up to a publisher I would just get a small part of the earnings and they decide everything around it. Nope, not for me…
Sure, I have ebooks on Amazon. But I would never have them exclusively on Amazon, just because of their greediness. Never.
The future of my writings
So far I have mostly focused on articles and podcasts here on this publication. And while I will continue doing these things I will add something new: my book writing. What I mean by that is that I will make a new section here to put my ebooks and book chapters on. I want to share my writing process but also the final product – and yes, you can read them here for free! The ebook might have some differences in the end, so I will still sell my ebooks, but I have nothing against sharing a big portion of my writing here as well. And that’s what I’m going to do!
I will write another more informative post about it later!
So… let’s wrap this up!
I have boycotted Kindle a long time ago since I discovered the Kobo e-readers. I have the Kobo Libra Color and it’s just a nicer product than Kindle overall, regardless of this new fiasco policy. It’s far more modern and advanced and just a beautiful piece of technology. Sure, Kobo has some problematic policies as well, but not like Amazon Kindle.
I also own the reMarkable 2 which I use as a commonplace book and library of work, thoughts and documents. reMarkable is also an e-ink tablet, just as an e-reader but a little bit different in its concept. I may write more about e-ink tablets and e-readers in the future.
Anyway, stay tuned for new upcoming writings. I write both nonfiction, especially in the contemporary philosophical and spiritual fields, memoirs, and poetry and fiction, mostly mystery, fantasy, horror with a touch of drama such as LGBTQ-romance and other kinds of nontraditional relationships, concepts and tropes.
Also, make sure to visit my author site at Novlr: www.novlr.org/writer/trixjoyce
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