Self-publishing authors, among others, have long complained that Amazon’s ebook return policy is far too permissive. It allows for ebooks to be returned for seven days in the US and 14 in the UK—more than enough time for someone to read a book to the end. Adding insult to injury, Amazon sometimes charges self-publishing authors a small delivery cost when someone downloads their book, and that fee is not refunded when a book is returned. While Amazon warns customers that a high rate of return requests may lead to the refund option being blocked, no one really believes or trusts that Amazon is monitoring returns or exercising that option.
Now that the permissive returns policy has been actively discussed and even recommended by TikTok users, big media outlets (CBC and NPR, among others) are starting to report on the policy, mainly reiterating authors’ complaints that they’re unfairly losing royalties to readers who treat Amazon like a digital lending library.
Shouldn’t Amazon reconsider the policy? After all, ebooks are the only digital product for which Amazon allows returns. But Amazon analyst Tim Carmody doesn’t think change is coming and in fact argues that a clear solution is not obvious. Still, he offers a number of potential resolutions, none of which would satisfy authors.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
