“Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself.” ― Seth Godin, Poke the Box
Hi everyone. Well, I just finished How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine. Read it on my Kobo, of course. I wasn’t going to read it on a Kindle, was I? Yeah, this is an excellent book and everybody owes it to themselves to read this. It gives you the bookseller perspective on all of this. And it’s high time somebody wrote something like this. Let me just quote you a little part.
Here’s something we all need to know about. The consolidation of media ownership in fewer and fewer hands. Those of us who are indie authors should already know plenty about this, since we’ve all been brainwashed told repeatedly to upload our ebooks to Amazon, a company that’s anything but a simple bookstore/self-publishing platform.
Brand value. What does it mean? And how do you establish it?
Well, first of all, what is branding?
Branding is a way of expressing your voice and distinct personality through images and text. It is both what you say and how you say it.
For instance, the above stock photo bears absolutely no resemblance to my desk, which is way too cluttered by far, but I’m working on that.
However, though I be a terrible slob about my desk and have let things get a bit out of hand, doesn’t that photo create the delightful illusion impression that I’m organized as shit?
All of this has been my branding. How do you like it, huh?
What? No comment? Fine. Be that way.
Oh, and Seth says that we should be getting clear about brand value.
Here’s an excerpt from that post:
New products launched by high-value brands get off to a faster start because consumers who trust them feel like they’re taking a smaller risk.
Valuable brands often get applications from potential employees and partners of higher quality than an upstart might.
And yet…
ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude all gained enormous traction at the expense of some of the most highly ranked brands in the world.
Systems change, and user experience and the network effect often defeat brands. Plan accordingly.
Or, you could do like I do. Not give a good damn.
PS: I am in the process of creating a collaborative community. One that may serve to offset the internet’s onslaught of innovative shit we gotta try and pretend to like.
I’m taking names and emails here from anyone who might be interested in doing something other than cranking out books on whatever fool thing is trending faster than a speeding algorithm.
Please take 30 seconds or less to fill out the form. It’ll help to know that someone is actually reading this! 🙂
I just saw the most interesting thing online. It’s in a publication called Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson. The whole thing goes into the history of antitrust law. Well, let me tell you something. If only so-called “indie authors” had known about this back when they were deciding to be Amazon-exclusive. Maybe they might’ve made a different choice.
But why should you believe me? Let’s take a look at what’s been written:
The Biden administration’s use of the Federal Trade Commission to break up monopolies— suing Amazon, for example, on September 26—resurrects the nation’s traditional antitrust vision. By trying to weaken the economic power of large entities in order to restore competition, innovation, and the rights of workers and consumers, Biden officials are echoing the principles articulated by politicians of all political stripes in the early twentieth century. Those principles were in full flood during the presidential election that took place on November 5, 1912.
Oh, but there’s more!
Lincoln, Roosevelt said later that year in Osawatomie, Kansas, had stood against the special interests that had perverted government to their own ends and robbed hard workers of what they had earned. In Lincoln’s day the threat came from the Slave Power; in 1910 it came from business interests. The nation was currently governed by “a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power.”
Roosevelt demanded that the government restore an even economic playing field in the country, forcing businesses to operate transparently, submit to regulation, and stop funding political campaigns. He also called for graduated income taxes, inheritance taxes, the protection of national resources so industrialists could not strip them all from future generations, minimum wages, maximum hours of work, and better factory conditions.
But here’s where it gets really, really interesting.
Although banks refused to cooperate with the investigation, the committee had learned enough to be “satisfied from the proofs submitted, even in the absence of data from the banks, that there is an established and well-defined identity and community of interest between a few leaders of finance, created and held together through stock ownership, interlocking directorates, partnership and joint account transactions, and other forms of domination of banks, trust companies, railroads, and public-service and industrial corporations, which has resulted in great and rapidly growing concentration of the control of money in the hands of these few men.”
Gosh! Who could we be talking about?
You know I could talk until I’m blue in the face about why Amazon is such a terrible company. And no one would listen. I know because I tried. I tried to tell people over and over and over. And guess what? No one listened.
It takes more than just my voice to make these things heard, it would seem, which is why I will be pulling all of my ebooks off of Amazon. I won’t do this until after the first of the year comes. I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.
That’s really all I had to say. And that’s what I’m going to do. So if you want to buy a book you can read on your Kindle, you’re going to have to buy it from me. Or on Smashwords or D2D.
Remember, you always have a choice. Unless you decide you don’t.
You could always get a Kobo. What’s a Kobo, you ask?
It’s what I use to read ebooks. Unless I get them from Amazon for free through publicists who want me to review their clients’ books. Why? Because, for the life of me, I can’t seem to access the Kobo copy from NetGalley. That’s why. Now, why do you suppose that is?
Think hard.
PS: Wow! Look what I just found! 🙂
Looks like I have some reading to do. 🙂
PPS: Here are two sources cited at the end of the article.
FTC Sues Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power.
And here’s the ChatGPT summary of Roosevelt’s relevant remarks:
In this address, President Theodore Roosevelt discusses the role of government in regulating and controlling large corporations engaged in interstate business, particularly in the context of railroads. He emphasizes the need for government control and supervision to ensure that these corporations act in the interest of the public. Roosevelt suggests that instead of prohibiting all combinations, there should be a law allowing combinations that benefit the public but under the scrutiny and control of a National Government agency. He also highlights the importance of preventing improper favoritism and wrongdoing within these corporations.
Roosevelt argues for placing telegraph and telephone companies engaged in interstate business under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission. He expresses concern about the consequences of both a lack of government supervision and overreaching government control, stressing the importance of a balanced approach that ensures justice and fairness for all parties involved, including shareholders, employees, and shippers.
The second part of the address focuses on labor-related issues. Roosevelt advocates for reforms that would give wage-workers a greater share of the wealth they produce and allow them to invest in the tools and instruments necessary for their work. He mentions the need for improved employers’ liability laws, compensation for injured or killed employees, and consideration of the eight-hour workday. He also emphasizes the importance of cooperation and the need for government action to protect the rights of wage-workers, ensuring their well-being and safety.
Ah-hem! 🙂