Earlier this year Amazon quietly stopped paying commissions for ads for Kindle-format books, and Steve Weber, an expert on selling through the retail giant, sensibly protested.
Now here’s the real kicker for many e-book writers—an annoyance that beset me today when I wanted to advertise the Kindle edition of my own novel. Amazon’s database setup wouldn’t even let me run the ad for $0 commission so I’d at least earn extra money via royalties from my publisher. Jeff Bezos’s people would permit only an ad for the paperback edition of the same novel.
But why did Amazon cut out the Kindle e-book ads from affiliates in the first place? Because, among other things, Amazon apparently wants people to shop for e-books through their Kindles’ built-in store, not the Web—so the company reduces affiliate payments.
As helpful as the new arrangements are for Jeff, however, this is yet another indication that Amazon needs close watching by federal regulators—just as rivals such as Google do.
Who says corporate abuse of suppliers—not merely consumers—is just something out of the history books?
Related: Amazon botches my ‘Scandals’ listing, hurting sales: Others harmed by inept database work?
Thanks for this.
I had the same problem as you – I was looking to send people to Amazon to buy my Kindle book and was prepared to do some advertising too, but it’s not possible for the reasons you outlined.
Still, Kindle is a wonderful device and I’m 100% behind it