Amazon

Trends and takeaways in a popular romance subcategory.

Amazon has dramatically redesigned the Amazon Author Page, removing the ability for authors to include supplementary media.

Indie author Nicholas Erik calls it “nothing short of a marketing gamechanger.”

The brightest sparks of the year.

In our last issue, we discussed limitations Amazon has made to how many categories a book can rank in simultaneously.

Amazon has announced it’s ending magazine and newspaper subscriptions for Kindle next year along with print textbook rentals.

Amazon has new category ranking limitations; whether these changes are intentional or a glitch remains unclear

During the pandemic, Amazon hired more than 800,000 employees, mostly at its warehouses. Now there is a hiring freeze.

Amazon is tightening its belt by laying off workers, pulling back on expansion of its fulfillment network, and closing some warehouses.

To break into the rich romance market, look for a subgenre with high sales and lower competition.

While books can be assigned up to 10 categories, Amazon has now disallowed books from ranking in more than three categories.

On the heels of a major change to its ebook returns policy, Amazon has modified its policy for audiobook returns in Audible.

Earlier this year, a viral TikTok post sparked an online petition by authors demanding that Amazon change its returns policy.

Right on the heels of the TikTok and Barnes & Noble marketing partnership, TikTok and Amazon have announced that Amazon will now sponsor the TikTok Book Club.

The popular genre of urban fantasy is competitive, but with a lot of sub-category crossover.

This subgenre has high sales but low title growth, making it attractive for authors wanting to break in.

Self-publishing authors, among others, have long complained that Amazon’s ebook return policy is far too permissive.

In our last issue, we raised a red flag for self-published authors using 979 ISBNs who might experience trouble selling print editions via Amazon.

Amazon will stop selling Kindles in China and close its China ebookstore in June 2023.

Sarah Selects is a new book club whose monthly selections will be made by Sarah Gelman, Amazon’s editorial director for books.

Sales of this category have grown over the years, attracting writers from multiple genres and blurring the lines with women’s fiction.

Amazon saw great growth and profit during the pandemic, but during the first quarter of 2022, the company posted a loss.

Female authors, protagonists, and readers contribute to gains in historical fiction as well as mystery, thriller, and suspense.

Through Buy with Prime, Amazon will allow merchants to sell from their own website while taking advantage of Amazon Prime delivery.

Earlier this month, Staten Island Amazon workers voted 2,654 to 2,131 in favor of forming the first Amazon union in the United States.