Let's have a conversation about Amazon.

I want to make a few statements right out of the gate:

• Amazon's model relies on exploiting the poor and undercutting less resourced companies

• Jeff Bezos is an opportunist

• Amazon is not a champion for authors

Ok, now that we have all of the obvious out of the way, we can have an actual conversation.

I have been very vocal about my refusal to abandon indie authors over the years.

Let me lay out some facts that I like to keep very central in my approach to this conversation:

1. The publishing industry has developed standards that we (reader communities) have largely accepted as the blueprint for successful and enjoyable literature. Some of those standards are universally important (e.g., a book must be readable), some of them are useful but not functionally necessary (e.g., a book must be grammatical), and some only exist to gatekeep (e.g., a book must be produced and polished in a similar manner to other books in its genre).

2. Those standards serve many purposes but it's important to recognize that the primary reason our publishing standards exist is so that the rich can more successfully capitalize on this artform. These standards were not created to improve reader experiences. In fact, many of our most classic books defy them. The majority of our non-negotiable standards were created to comply with classist language barriers and to empower rich men to capitalize off of the power of everyday people's art. (It's also important to note that saying this does not change whether those standards are useful. I am not telling you to abandon them, only to approach them honestly.)

3. Because rich men were allowed to build a handful of massive publishers that have now monopolized this industry, literary standards now serve to reinforce their power just as much as they have standardized our reading experience. Evidenced by the fact that even our judgement of a book's failure to meet those standards depends on whether it was published by them or not. A traditionally published book is allowed mistakes that an independently published book would never be forgiven for.

4. All of this together means that the "publishing industry" has come to only mean large publishers and, by default, everyone who creates literary art outside of their purview is automatically less professional and less trusted.

I share all of this because I want you to really understand just how deep this bias goes. Indie authors are not just less celebrated because massive publishers have more money to market their books. They are less celebrated because this industry has been redesigned to require money and white validation in order for books to be qualified for celebration. Which brings me to a fifth fact... one that is most important to me, personally:

5. Because publishing has been so monopolized by rich white men, the vast majority of Black authors (all marginalized authors, but especially Black authors) will be indie for their entire careers. Which means that the standards we are discussing (whether useful standards or not) serve to reinforce systemic racism in this industry, and as a byproduct, reinforce it in our society, as literature does play a role in shaping society.

Ok, I have laid the groundwork for my argument, now let me get to the meat.

A mutual of mine posted a status on Threads last night that I want to highlight, not in criticism of them, but because I want to point something out to all of you.

The status came from resist_bks, and it reads:

As an independent bookstore competing with Amazon, I can't order indie books from there. I would be funding my own oppression.

The best option for me is direct order or Ingram from an indie author/publisher.

I repeat, I am not highlighting this quote in order to criticize them. I want to have an open conversation and I think this status is a wonderful entry point. Because I actually agree with them. It is not in an indie bookstores best interest to stock their shelves with books printed by Amazon. In the same way that major publishers became billion dollar companies by convincing the average reader that only their books were worth reading, Amazon is actively--and successfully--convincing the average reader that only their books are affordable. They are exploiting readers in order to push out competitors and capitalize on the literary industry, because art is powerful. And while that power can and should be used to push society forward, men like Jeff Bezos (and the executives who run your favorite publishers, I'm so sorry to inform you) are far more interested in directing that power toward their bank accounts.

So they are completely right. Amazon is not a competitor in this industry. It is a wrecking ball that is actively redefining the standard for book purchasing. And they are doing that by making book buying:

• Convenient: People can buy books with the click of a button and do not have to leave the comfort of their homes. And while many other book retailers also have this accessible option, Amazon comes with the convenience of being able to order everything else you need. Rather than buying something off of your TBR on your local indies website and then heading over to another website to order lightbulbs or a new x-box game, you can grab all of it in one convenient shopping cart.

• Affordable: Because Amazon is a trillion dollar company and has tied your book buying to your regular shopping, they can afford to offer books at a much lower profit than a bookstore can. For the average bookstore, they do not see enough traffic to be able to sell books for $1 or $2 profit, or at a loss as Amazon often does. Doing so would cause them to go under. So even if you prefer to shop at an indie bookstore, many of us don't because in this economy, a $3 or $4 difference is not just convenient: it is important.

• Diverse: Amazon does not operate like a traditional publisher. They are not investing in projects. They are a retailer and have opened the door for authors to produce and sell their own work, using Amazon's printers and cutting amazon into their royalties. Further enabling them to profit and undercut indie booksellers. Which means that authors who do not have access to traditional routes of publishing are able to make their work widely available by listing their books directly on Amazon.

As I said, I agree with my friend that stocking from Amazon is not in a booksellers best interest. Amazon is directly attacking their position in this industry and attempting to undercut them and outsell them. Not just to profit more than them, but to replace them. Amazon is doing the same thing to bookstores that traditional publishers did to authors, which was to create standards that only they could meet, thereby becoming the standard.

Here is what I want to point out though. If you look at Amazon's model as I've laid it out for you, you may notice that they are quite literally cornering the market... by appealing to marginalized people.

Now, this isn't particularly a secret. In fact, over the last few days, I have seen several people talk about the fact that they are only joining boycotts against Kindle Unlimited because they are tired of Amazon exploiting marginalized authors. And I don't think they are wrong. I do think Amazon is exploiting marginalized people in order to create power for themselves. But here is where I object:

Our answer to this problem cannot be to abandon marginalized authors.

Here are some more thoughts for you:

• While social media and trade shows have created an environment where the average reader is becoming increasingly friendlier toward indie books, the industry (including bookstore owners and bookish influencers) are continuing to shun them.

• The vast majority of bookstore's have no interest in stocking indie books. They are not refusing because they do not order from Amazon. They are refusing because they do not see value in shelving those books. (I am speaking generally, not toward the previously quoted store. I know them and firmly believe in their devotion to indies).

• Many of the bookstores who are willing to stock indie books treat indie authors like they must become their employees in order to earn a spot on their shelves. I regularly see bookstore owners chastising indies for not promoting their stores and exclusively linking to them online. (Which, I'm happy to talk about in another blog if y'all want to know why I think that's a bad standard).

• While there are publishing alternatives for indie authors, because Amazon has created the most convenient environment for book buying, Y'ALL AREN'T USING THOSE ALTERNATIVES.

So, here's where we are: We are currently drawing a moral line in the sand and saying we are going to band together to take down Amazon, while refusing to create space for marginalized authors in the spaces we are aiming to preserve. All while painting indie authors like they are the one's participating in our collective oppression.

So what do we do?

• We can actively support indie bookstores by buying indie books from them. If we want to dismantle Amazon's approaching Monopoly, we need to dismantle the systems the industry currently uses to exclude marginalized authors. We all know that publishing is filled with bigotry. It is racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, etc. And I HOPE that is a problem for all of us. And the truth is, we cannot dismantle ANY of that without indie authors. If we fight for bookstores by throwing indie authors under the bus, we end up reinforcing the same bigotry we are trying to combat by pushing out amazon. That doesn't work. The future of ethical publishing requires that our solutions to today's problems includes dismantling the standards that keep indies dependent on amazon. Use your marketing dollars to make it abundantly clear to bookstores that indie books are not a risk on their shelves. Support indie bookstores that stock indie books. And go out of your way to ask your local stores that don't to start. Instead of pre-ordering on amazon, go ask your local indie to place an order for you. It makes a difference. If indie authors had a reasonable shot at being stocked at retailers, more of them would use platforms like ingram in order to make their books available. As it is now, they all know they aren't going to be stocked no matter what they do.

• Utilize other platforms that indies already use. If bookshop.org and indie bookstore sales start actually competing with amazon sales, even more indies will prioritize them. If kobo keeps up with kindle, less authors will feel pressured to opt in to Kindle Unlimited.

• Actively celebrate and fight for indies the same way you do the handful of marginalized authors being published traditionally. Our marketing power extends beyond our wallets. The way we talk about books and authors does have an effect on sales and once again, more sales equals more freedom. Especially if we are engaging in these conversations publicly and pointing those sales toward more ethical channels.

• Engage in conversations that approach publishing standards honestly. There is nothing wrong with having expectations of a book, but if we can critically engage with our standards and with the motives behind them, we can maybe dismantle some of the bigotry that has kept marginalized authors from thriving.

• Bring this same energy into other areas of your life. Boycotting Kindle Unlimited while you still give Amazon your money for your household items and technology makes me want to fight you. Like... for real. It's irritating.

  I want to be clear, I am not telling you that it is wrong to give up amazon. Amazon is horrible. Take your money from them. Whatever. But an organized effort to stop the exploitation of marginalized authors needs to start with us dismantling the systems that force them into that position to begin with, otherwise all we are actually doing is taking marginalized people's money away and telling them we did them a favor.

  Here is what I will be doing:

  I already dedicate a ton of my time and energy into creating change for indie authors, but one concentrated thing I am about to do is a regular sales boost. A few times a month, I will be asking my discord to help me partner with a different marginalized indie author to boost their sales by collectively pushing their book as hard as we can. We tested this out with a recent pre-sale campaign for a Black author, and it was very successful. So, I want to do it more regularly and in a more organized way. If you want to be a part of that, feel free to pop into our discord so that you can be a part of those conversations: https://discord.gg/9Mgzxcnaqw

As for what you do, that is your call. I am just giving you my thoughts. I am all on board for taking down Amazon. But first, I need y'all to stop treating indies like trash. Because as it stands right now, I just don't believe that reader communities will continue supporting those authors after pulling their income out from under them. We have work to do. Because at the end of the day, Black and brown indie authors are at the bottom of the publishing world. And as we all know, change has to come from the bottom. We can't skip steps if we want to win.

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