With mixed emotions I am announcing that the last day to purchase the Kindle version of Homeschooling for College Credit is September 5th, 2022. It will not be renewed or republished and will go out of print. The paperback will remain, this only applies to the Kindle version.
When I wrote Homeschooling for College Credit, my one and only objective was to share the content with as many people as possible. In the years since, I’ve come to understand the “business” side of things a bit better, and realize how naïve I was.
Without whining, I want to tell you why. I’ll be honest to say that my relationship with Amazon has been a blessing and a curse – mostly a blessing. It’s a blessing because they provide all aspects of book publication and distribution for me. An author literally does nothing (for distribution) once the book is published. But, that convenience comes at a cost. For me, especially in 2012 when I first wrote Homeschooling for College Credit, I had no audience so I had nothing to lose. I was vulnerable because I didn’t understand what I gave away until it was already gone.
- I happily agreed to give Amazon 65% of all my sales, but what I didn’t fully understand was that I was also giving up the rights to my Kindle book. As you read this today, Amazon holds full rights to my Kindle – they have full autonomy to do what they please with it. Amazon could even sue me if I tried to share parts of my Kindle here with you or if I tried to sell my own “ebook” version of Homeschooling for College Credit.
Since Amazon handles everything, they promise authors protection from being plagiarized. Kindle versions are supposed to be formatted and encrypted (by Amazon) in a way that prevented people from copying and reselling the content. My book was plagiarized immediately, but the real problem for me was finding paperback versions of my Kindle for sale on Amazon. These are photocopies of my Kindle inside a fake cover with fake author, all being sold on Amazon.
After months of fighting with the enormous Amazon machine to remove those fake books (unsuccessfully) and talking with dozens of other helpless and frustrated authors in the same situation, I’ve decided to opt out. I’m no longer going to participate in Kindle. My contract with them expires on September 5, 2022. Future books, if I write them, will not be available on Kindle. I can’t beat Amazon, and I don’t want to waste precious energy trying any longer.
And I know this will upset some of you, but I will also no longer allow Amazon to ship my paperback outside of the United States. If you or someone you know lives outside the United States and wants a paperback, they can contact me directly and I will personally send the book (this is especially important for our HS4CC Military Group). cookderosa@gmail.com
The last day to buy Homeschooling for College Credit (Kindle) is through September 5, 2022. At that time it will be deleted.
