so this article is basically an ad, but that doesn't mean the criticisms of amazon/audible are invalid. https://twitter.com/librofm/status/1287833557784649728

exclusivity with amazon/kindle/audible can be rewarding or productive for an author on small scale or in the short term. individually, it might make sense for an author to work with them and try to succeed within their publishing programs.

but they're still a predatory company.

amazon/audible always gains more than individual authors. ebooks duking it out in kindle unlimited, or a midlist audiobook's moderate success is nothing to them.

big fish (who should consider this dynamic, imo) may make $$ but they give amazon something more: power and clout.

with those authors' (pre-existing) visibility and success, amazon can exclude bookstores, libraries, etc from the publishing equation, rather than have more parties involved (and share in the profits), even if working with those other parties could mean more business overall.

amazon wants you to believe that being exclusively available in their marketplace > being available to a wide market (without their support...not that all authors get any). that their readers are the most valuable ones. that you don't need to be available elsewhere to succeed.

but not all exclusive projects are big hits. still, those blockbusters keep authors hopeful they can achieve that level of success, keep readers beholden to amazon to access them, and keep these deals happening. it's also a big to the rest of the industry losing those projects.

all publishers are businesses, but amazon is unique in their indifference. above all, their goal is to maximize profit and market share (to push out competitors), not to publish books well. this is not a knock on individuals who work there - I am talking about the company ethos.

from day one, books were a means to an end for amazon. not a core product, not a valued part of culture, and certainly not the treasured work of hardworking authors. books were just another way to consolidate $$$ and power.

all publishers should think about profit, but also about getting their product out into the world as its own goal. there is a certain altruism when we talk about making books widely accessible and available - but it is also important for their success!

visibility, availability, and accessibility drive book sales and author careers in a larger sense.

so how can keeping books away from potential readers benefit anyone?

obviously, it doesn't. except amazon, whose goal was never truly to connect books and readers, anyway.

amazon's publishing strategies and decisions are for their gain, with the fate of books and authors as collateral damage, instead of deliberate decisions made to support those products and careers. readers are always customers - but here they're ignored if they aren't amazon's.

a huge part of supporting an author is getting their books into diverse readers' hands, including via indie bookstores and libraries. but amazon doesn't care about that, because amazon doesn't care about books. amazon only cares about amazon.