There are dozens of places to by a book, both online and of course in a physical store. It has always been my intention, from the beginning, to have all of my books available to buyers wherever they may be. And I must say that I’ve been greatly warmed by the response from both readers and critics. The reality of the situation, though, is that while I may wish to have my work available everywhere, including internationally, Amazon controls roughly 68% of the digital book market. The market dominance rises to more than 80% if Kindle Unlimited is included.
For those that don’t know, Kindle Unlimited is a subscription program wherein readers pay a set monthly fee and are able to read an unlimited number of books that are part of the subscription service. Think Netflix for books. The Kindle Unlimited reader is able to browse thousands of books in the program. The Kindle Unlimited author isn’t charged to enter any of their books into this service, however, their books MUST be exclusively available to Amazon only.
I’m personally not a fan of subscription services as they tend to commoditize the product. Being exclusive to Amazon alone is even less palatable. The release of “The Baptism of Power,” was in my opinion a success and appears to be well received…that, unfortunately, is the problem. Success across the many available book buying platforms suggest that even greater success might be possible if committed to Kindle Unlimited. This is an issue I’ve wrestled with from the very moment I decided to publish. Unfortunately, when the next highest competitor to Amazon (Apple Books) can’t even manage 10% market share…one must eventually bend to market reality.
I’m not exactly pleased to announce that the entire Mirrors in the Dark series will be exclusive to Amazon from 7/2. The series will still be available for order in print form from bookstores and online (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc), but digital versions will no longer be sold other than on Amazon.
I’m aware that many people have become invested in the series and that there is one book to go until its completion. Rest assured that accommodations will be made for buyers that don’t/can’t use Amazon when book five releases.