So You're Against Amazon Changing Their Heinous E-Book Return Policy Because You Didn't Read The Posted Articles And Only The Titles.
Common messages in my inbox from the last 24 hours.
Wait, what is going on???
Amazon is changing its automated e-book return policy after pressure from authors/author unions, in response to a TikTok "hack" which encouraged people to buy books, read them in full, then return them for a full refund.
The refunds were then taken from the author's royalties, often leaving them/us with negative income at the end of the month. (That's bad.) These returns were automated and not monitored, so people could do this with multiple books repeatedly, often hitting an author's entire series in a week, leading to significant losses.
Authors begged TikTok influencers to stop promoting this trend and to use libraries instead if they wanted to read books for free. While many stopped and apologized, some with large followings doubled down on being amoral fucktrumpets and started targeting said authors, telling their fans to exploit the buy/refund policy while often using (undeclared) affiliate codes to link to the work, which meant they were earning directly from the author's misfortune.
As a fun aside, it is illegal in the US to use affiliate/promo codes and not disclose this to your audience. Just, y'know, throwing that out there.
This prompted two of the most prominent author unions, the Society of Authors, and the Authors Guild, to go into talks with Amazon Books. The latter agreed to end the automated return policy for books over 10% read.
If you have read under 10% of the book and find you are not enjoying it, you can still use the automated return system.
If you have read over the 10% mark and something happens which makes you not want to finish the book, you can contact customer support to start a refund.
Banning refunds is bad!
Refunds are not banned. They are merely stopping the automated system which was being exploited. If you have read less than 10% of a book and find you do not enjoy the style/tone/whatever, you can still return it for a full refund.
If you have read over 10%, you will be required to open a manual return ticket with customer service.
But talking to real people on the phone is scary!
As someone with profound social anxiety, I empathize, but you will most likely not be required to make phone calls if you don't want to. Amazon now uses an IM feature to handle a lot of customer service issues.
I can't afford books :(
As a disabled, self-employed, queer author who lives paycheck to paycheck, I also empathize with not being able to afford fun things. I also cannot afford to have people stealing money from me each month, which is what was happening with this trend.
If you cannot afford books, please reach out to your local library and request them. Doing so helps both the library and the author! Some of my most regular checks come from services like Overdrive and Libby.
You can do this online or by visiting your local library in person. The more people request things, the more likely libraries are to get them. You may have to wait a while if a book is popular, but waiting for a little bit is better than exploiting authors who really don't earn as much as you think they do.
If you do not have access to a library at all, try reaching out to the author or check out places like NetGalley.com to see if you can get approved for ARCs (advanced review copies). A lot of authors are happy to send out ARCS in exchange for reviews, as reviews really help to boost our credibility and also reader interest.
You can also do what I do and save up. Many a time, I've had to wait several months to buy a $5.99 book on Amazon because it just wasn't in my budget. But I got there eventually, one dollar at a time.
But that takes too long, and I want it now!
Listen, I get it. Instant gratification takes too long for me as well, but wanting something doesn't make you entitled to it. Especially not when it's at the cost of someone else's livelihood.
This isn't Walmart. The money isn't being taken from a big corporation. It's being taken from indie authors, often marginalized creators who cannot break into mainstream publishing because the whole industry is a monopolized racket. You're not stealing from The Man. You're taking food from the person next door, who is already struggling the same as you.
Is my Kindle Unlimited subscription harming authors?
Nope! Books that are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited (Amazon's lending subscription service) are not affected by this. Carry on reading and returning KU books to your heart's content. You're paying someone's bills. Just remember to scroll to the very end. Every page view counts.
Why don't more authors use KU, then?
Because KU demands exclusivity, which prevents ebook sales from other retailers and access to libraries. While some authors are fine with this and make their entire living on KU, many of us prefer to reach a broader audience and not give Amazon exclusive rights to any of our work.
It's your own fault for using Amazon!
Wow, such society. Very participate.
You're a bitch!
Probably.
Can we see Holly Mop? 🥺
Always.
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