Making deals and negotiations.
Some folks don’t want It’s 9AM.
I’m okay with that.
But they have told me they do want to know when books are out.
And I’m okay with that too.
Here’s the deal part.
It’s 9AM comes out daily and includes free books, audiobooks and more, plus will expand and grow.
Stay in it if you like, and if not, just click the unsub button.
If you want to just know when books are out, click this link on Draft2Digital which will let you know whenever a book is released on Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Google Play, and/or maybe Amazon, plus in libraries and on other platforms.
Simple.
Easy.
And hopefully effective.
That way, you get what you want.
So what’s the deal with Amazon?
The short answer is, I don’t know.
Mailchimp raised their prices in February and it was going to cost to much to use them as an email provider.
I follow a couple of people on Substack and thought I would give it a try.
On Feb 14, I sent It’s 9AM to folks with a link to my books on Amazon and a few hours later, my account was closed.
No notice. No email.
And they kept the payments.
Huh? I said.
So I checked SPAM to see if I missed the notice.
Nada.
Then I emailed Amazon contact and waited.
I also did some deep dives on a few groups and message boards to see if I could get a chat link or phone number and speak to an actual human.
Now I have the inside scoop on Amazon, the company, because I also happen to work there.
Communication is not their strong point.
In fact, one might argue through experience, the company actively and routinely pursues a non-communication strategy across all their business platforms.
On the groups, I learned that hundreds of authors lost their accounts that day because bots identified suspicious activity.
Like a ton of traffic coming from one source was listed as “suspicious activity.”
So I waited, because this should be easy to clear up.
Two weeks later, after submitting an email through their contact page every 48 hours with no response, I got the first email from them me letting me know that they thought I was trying to “manipulate page reads.”
The email was canned, meaning just a copy and paste job, and it said if I had questions, just respond.
Which I did.
And it came back with an answer.
I was responding to an auto email to an address that doesn’t accept incoming mail.
Huh? Hmmm.
Working inside the Company should give me insider access, but remember, KDP is in Seattle (and remote) while I work in a Fulfillment Center (a different silo).
But I had a computer and access to the network.
More digging.
Here’s what I found.
KDP does not publish contact details of that division even within the company.
It is a Fort Knox.
Part of their strategy I think.
Meanwhile, I’m still emailing.
I email Author Central.
They direct me to the non-working email that is standard.
I contact Amazon Ads Platform.
They direct me to the non-working email that is standard.
I even email Jeff@amazon.com, the published email of Mr. Bezos himself, and get a response from someone.
It directed me to the non-working email that is standard.
I’ve read stories about authors who got their accounts back after a few weeks.
I’ve read stories about authors who got their accounts back after months.
Me…
I’ll keep trying.
And in the meantime, plan B.
Which moves up to plan A.
Go wide with all books.
So now you can find me on Barnes and Noble, and on Kobo and on Apple, and soon on Google Play and Payhip.
Plus in libraries, through Overdrive and Libby.
All of it takes a little time because I thought, since I have to reformat the books, might as well give ‘em an edit and once over.
And adding the audiobooks to Youtube, so you can access them at your leisure.
Each book has a social media plan to get the word out about the new locations and availability.
Plus, I have been approved as a Wal Mart seller, so I’ll order paperbacks and offer them on Wal Mart online.
While I wait to hear back from Amazon.
Failing that, I have a plan C.
And plan D.
Through it all, I’ll keep offering stuff up for you.
Free, discounted and otherwise.
Because if a window of opportunity closes, there’s always the back door.
You are subscribed to the free version of 9AM.
I hope you find some inspiration out there.
If you’d like to upgrade to the paid version, you’ll get access to exclusive content, including even more free books, excerpts and snippets. Your support is awesome.
Don’t miss The DIPOLE SHEILD on Youtube and stay tuned for ALL JACKED UP next week.
Books by Chris Lowry
Classic Sci Fi
Super Secret Space Mission
Bovine Bloodbath
High Steaks
Epoch
Eon
Era
Backwoods Station
The Dipole Series
All Jacked Up
Lunar Hustle
The Invasion Earth Series
Phalanx
Beachhead
Bridgehead
Lodgement
Ultima Thule
Infilade
Dust Off
Sheriff Ben Logan Series
Stolen Relics
Needs Must
First Rodeo
The Marshal of Magic Series
Guns and Magic
Big Easy Witch
Viva Witch Vegas
Rules for Fighting Demons
The Battlefield Z Series
Sweet Home Zombie
Zombie Blues Highway
Bluegrass Zombie
The Shadowboxer Files
Sideways
In The Dark
The Jake Burbank Mysteries
A Pint of Problems
A Fifth of Trouble
A Shot of Revenge
A Double Shot of Revenge
Agh, trials and tribulations! Commercial models in this strange, online world are becoming puzzling... I certainly feel for you, and not in a throw-away fashion.
I had tried to leave a review for a book on Amazon recently (one understands that good reviews sell books). It was brought to my attention that I had spent less than $50 this past year so my services of good will were not required by Amazon. The fact I'd just bought the flagship Paperwhite Signature from a licensed local store was immaterial.
It's not intuitive logic to require a volunteer to pay for the right to help Amazon sell books.
I presume it weeds out trolls but it hinders the chances of the little guy to help others become successful authors.
When a person has money they often give that, their duty paid. When they don't have money a person sometimes gives their time in the form of a review.
In this case the latter was only accepted if you are one of the former.
Deep breath. And out again.
It was a pretty darned good review, too!😅
It sounds like an absolutely insane nightmare! I hope that it works out well for you and I am thankful for your persistance.
Daniel