Listen to the audio version of this article here: https://youtu.be/NktloedGPls
I’m excited to announce the release of my latest project:
“No” Doesn’t Always Mean No: Strategies for Influencing Behavior and Winning Cooperation
(The Audiobook)
This project is the long-delayed fraternal twin of my first baby, a collection of thought-provoking and effective material for building the bonds you care about most and understanding why we fall short when looking to make headway in business and our careers.
Here’s an excerpt from the audiobook, offering my commentary on the project:
The audio version will be available nearly everywhere where audiobooks are sold, including Google Play and Audiobooks.com. The book is still going through the distribution process as of this post, so other services like Spotify and Apple will have it available in the coming weeks.
And if you want to ensure yours truly keeps the most of that sale, you can download the audiobook files here:
Anyone who buys the audiobook directly from that link will receive an added bonus in the audiobook package as well.
Unfortunately, you will not find the audiobook on Audible (Amazon) for reasons I’ll explain below.
Many of you may not have much experience selling goods and services online, so I figured I’d devote some time to exploring this. I’ve got an extensive history in e-commerce, so I’m familiar with a lot of behind-the-scenes jockeying that occurs.
You can read one of those stories here:
https://justtaptheglass.com/post-148308361159-kene-examines-ebay-business-ethics-part2/
When I first released the book in 2012, Amazon had an e-book pricing policy that encouraged sellers to list their e-books at prices between $2.99 and $9.99, no matter what the length or genre of the book. Products listed at a higher or lower price than that range were penalized, receiving royalties at half the rate than those within Amazon’s preferred pricing parameters.
That royalty structure still exists today:
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634560
As a business move, this makes a lot of sense for Amazon—they can set the market for book prices and steal margin from other online sellers who lack the bargaining power to drive pricing down on the sell side. Undercutting the market is how Amazon got so big in the first place, selling dollar bills for ninety cents to win customers and then raising pricing gradually as they eliminated competition.
It’s a Monopoly strategy come to life, forcing other sellers to mortgage assets in a bid to keep their heads above water.
I was always going to have my paperback available on Amazon, even with concerns about rumors of Amazon underreporting sales and some questionable handling of back-end minutiae; there’s just too much gravitas that comes with listing your book on Amazon and that was worth something.
For me, deciding not to offer an e-book option via Amazon was an easy choice, especially since I wasn’t (yet) some New York Times best-selling author awaiting a seven-figure advance as soon as my work was published. I could not, in good conscience, support a policy that contributes to the devaluation of e-books everywhere and sets a bad precedent for creators going forward.
I’m adopting a similar stance here with the audiobook.
In order to be eligible for certain royalty payments, Amazon audiobook sellers must agree to a seven-year distribution deal that allows the company to dictate how and when you distribute your work.
I’m walking a fine line between idealism and pragmatism, forgoing future sales that come with placing your work on the busiest marketplace, but I’m fine with it. I don’t mind the trade-off of retaining the freedom to distribute and control my work as I please and avoiding some of the procedural and ethical headaches that come with doing business with Amazon.
I love Amazon as a customer; very leery of them as a seller. Your user experience with the company is largely-dependent on your relationship with them.
So, hopefully this was an educational look behind the e-commerce curtain.
Do go pick up a pick up a copy of the audiobook: https://justtaptheglass.com/report
As always, I appreciate your support and you can shoot me a message with any comments.
– Kene