Buy New, Get Secondhand? The Latest From Amazon - Kara Isaac

A couple of months ago there was a bit of a kerfuffle (to put in mildly) in the publishing world when Amazon announced a change in their "buy box" policy when it came to books. That magical little box that looks a lot like this...

Previously, the buy box for books was always Amazon (see above) which meant that when someone bought a book it was (a) brand new and (b) the publisher (and by default the author) were paid for it. Recently, Amazon changed their policy to allow other third party sellers to "bid" for the buy box and sell "as new" copies of books as if they are new "new".

So now, we have a buy box that can now look a little something like this...

The impact is huge because, honestly, who really looks at who the vendor is in the buy box? Most people just assume it's Amazon and that they're supporting the author by buying their book new. At least I did until this all happened. So now we have a situation where a whole lot of consumers are clicking on the buy box thinking they are buying a new book when in fact what they are buying are secondhand copies in "as new" condition. Because Amazon is now the biggest seller of books in the world ultimately this reflects in an author's sales numbers and could impact on whether or not they receive another contract with their publisher.

There seem to be three ways that books are making their way to this market:

1. Remainder copies: sometimes when publishers have excess stock they will sell some older books (12 months+ post release) at a deep discount just to make space in their warehouse. Authors usually don't earn any royalty on these titles and they are sold with the condition that the vendor only sells them as secondhand, not as new. Remaindered copies are usually marked by lines of black marker across the bottom of a book. Reports have come in from a number of sources that these resellers are ignoring their agreement with publishers and selling remaindered copies as new ones;
2. Review copies: reviewers who are sent copies of titles to review but who instead of reading the book turn around and resell it;
3. Giveaway copies: winners of giveaways reselling their copy instead of reading it. 

Initially, I kept an eye on it but thought my two traditionally published books wouldn't be impacted. I'm not a big author so it's not like my publisher sent out hundreds of review copies to people who might not read them, or gave away hundreds of copies and (as far as I know) they haven't been remaindered (yet). 

And then I woke up one morning to a message. A friend bought a copy of Can't Help Falling on Amazon, thinking she was buying it new. When she received it she was surprised to find that it was personally autographed by me with an inscription that was so specific it look me literally two clicks to find out which one of my giveaway winners had turned around and sold it 

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with people buying second hand books. I know that many people are on tight budgets and that is what they can afford. This is totally okay! What this is about is the changes Amazon has made that means people think they are supporting an author by buying a new book and inadvertently buying a secondhand one (that doesn't earn the author a royalty and isn't counted in their sales numbers).

So, if you want to support your favourite author/s, here are some thoughts:

• If it's a toss up between buying an eBook or a paperback go for the eBook. Not only are you guaranteed that it is new and the author and publisher are getting paid but the author earns a better royalty for eBooks. For one of my paperbacks with a list price of $14.99 (USD) I earn between $0.34-$0.95 depending on where it is sold and through what channel. For an eBook of the same title with a list price of $9.99 (USD) I earn roughly $1.50;
• If you do shop on Amazon, prefer paperbacks, and want to make sure that what you're buying new is actually new then check the buy box and make sure it says "Ships and sold by Amazon.com". Any other vendor will almost definitely be a reseller. If it is another vendor keep on scrolling down the page and look for "Other Sellers on Amazon" on the right hand side and find the Amazon listing in there;
• If you want to read a book and are on a tight budget then consider requesting your local library purchase it. Most libraries allow customers to make purchase requests and if they do order a book will often order more than one copy;
• If you are in the market for secondhand then make sure you support vendors who are being honest about marking books as such, get a bargain and don't pay more than a few bucks for it ;-) 
• Tell your avid reader friends who buy their books from Amazon so they also know what to look out for!

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She is the author of Close to You, a RITA Award Double Finalist, and Can't Help Falling, an RT Review Top Pick. Her next book Then There Was You releases on June 22. When she's not chasing three adorable but spirited little people, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connect on her website, on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Author and Twitter @KaraIsaac   

Omega Writers Needs You

Hello ACW people. 

Let me introduce myself, if you haven’t run across me before. My name is Meredith Resce, and I am the new president of OmegaWriters—a formal members group who seeks to connect writers from around the Australasian region, and to put them in touch with resources and educational programs.

I first became aware of Omega Writers about nine years ago, and at that time it was a Christian writers’ group based only in Queensland. They invited me as a guest speaker from South Australia to one of the initial writers’ conferences, and it was the first time I had connected with other Christian writers in Australia.

From that time to this, Omega Writers has expanded at a steady rate. One of the affiliated resource/Face Book groups is AustralasianChristian Writers, and I don’t need to tell you how valuable this group is. I might take this opportunity to congratulate Narelle, Iola and Jenny on the quality of information they make freely available to us as Christian writers. 

We are all part of a large body of writers—a team, if you like—who unselfishly work to encourage and assist other writers to improve their craft and find success in their dream of being published.

Omega Writers as a group has been working to increase the benefits of membership. There are not nearly as many paid up members as there are Australian and New Zealand Christian writers, and I would like to take this opportunity to again encourage you to become a financial member. Well how does that benefit me? You may well ask. There are a number of things that are accessible to you as a member:

1.       If you are a writer, publisher, editor or illustrator you may give us your profile, details and picture to add to our resource directory.

2.       You will receive discount on conference registration, CALEB prize entry fee, and a number of editing services will offer a discount to OMEGA members.

3.       You will receive a 25% discount to become a member of the Australian Writers’ Guild.

4.       There have been some substantial discounts offered from Day Translators (a reputable translating group) for OMEGA members.

5.       You will get information on groups that are forming in your region, or who are aimed specifically at your genre. (eg state chapters, the screenwriters group, the science fiction group etc)

Other ideas have been floated that would add value to your membership, but I need to remind everyone, that this organisation is run by volunteers, who give up time and effort to pull all of these resources and opportunities together.

                Being a financial member helps us pay the bills, and at times we would like to be able to remunerate certain volunteers who pour months of work into the jobs done.

                Next month, I will be initiating a fund-raising strategy (currently being prepared by a fund-raising professional, free of charge). We want to bring some better known writing specialists to our next conference, and this of course takes money. We would also like to offer some good prizes for our writing competition, while at the same time being able to offer some remuneration to the judges and other hard working officials.

                What do Omega Writers need you for? Well at the very least, if you would consider becoming a paid up member, that would encourage us, and give us a little bit more in the kitty. But wait, there is more you could do for us. We need judges for the CALEB prize; We need enthusiastic, confident members who will help enact the fund-raising strategy; We need conference help volunteers.

                One thing I’ve learned from over twenty years in the Australian writing scene, if we don’t band together, and each carry some of the load, there won’t be an Australian or Australasian writing scene. We do not have the huge Christian population of the US, and we have to fight for every small thing we achieve. Will you become part of the team?

                Omega Writers needs you!

                Check out this short promo video I made last year.

Blessings and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Contact me: president@omegawriters.org

Writers Supporting Other Writers

By Narelle Atkins 

How can writers support each other? What does this look like in practice? 

These are questions that have been discussed among my writing friends in recent weeks. I’ve personally experienced a lot of support from my writing friends and writing organisations. A non-romance writing friend has suggested my positive experiences reflect my involvement in the romance writing world. 

In recent weeks I’ve attended the Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio and the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Sydney last weekend. It was lovely to catch up with Dotti and Mary in Sydney.

Dorothy Adamek, Mary Hawkins & Narelle Atkins at #RWAus14

The four days I spent in Sydney were very valuable. James Scott Bell’s Friday workshop was a definite highlight. I received my first sale ribbon at the conference. I was welcomed into the Harlequin Australia family at their fabulous author dinner. 

I loved catching up with old friends and making new friends. I attended Rowena Beresford’s helpful workshop on YA fiction. Dotti, Mary and I met Ian Acheson in person for the first time when he stopped by Olympic Park for a morning coffee at Gloria Jeans. 

During the Sydney conference I reflected on why this community of romance writers is so supportive of each other. The answer was obvious in every aspect of the conference. There’s a culture of generosity and volunteerism in the romance writing community. I’ve also seen this in action as a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) community. ACFW started out as American Christian Romance Writers, and the culture of volunteerism is very strong in ACFW. 

Romance Writers of Australia have members who are volunteering many thousands of hours each year. Yes, I said thousands. The organisation has nearly one thousand members. Their entire conference committee is run by volunteers who give up their valuable time, sacrifice their writing time and family time, to pull together an amazing conference each year. There are members doing a long list of jobs for the organisation behind the scenes, too many roles to list. They run a large number of writing contests and have volunteers who co-ordinate and judge the contests. 

The volunteers are willing to give generously of their time because they love the organisation. They don’t do it to get something in return. Although, when you have a culture a volunteerism you will ultimately receive benefits from the work and generosity of others. 

I’ve heard people complain about having to pay membership fees to writing organisations. They question if they will receive value for money from their membership dues. I think this can be the wrong question to ask. In a culture of volunteerism, we join a writing organisation with a view to give and contribute. We have a servant heart and ask the following questions: How can I help out? What unique gifts, talents and skills can I offer? 

The membership dues for organisations like Romance Writers of Australia would be unaffordable for nearly everyone if those thousands of volunteer hours were performed by paid employees.

Many writing organisations offer membership discounts, for example to attend their conferences and enter their contests. There are some costs, for example newsletter printing, postage, website hosting, that can’t be covered by volunteer labour. In most cases the annual membership fees are small when compared to the potential benefits for members. If you don't believe the membership benefits are relevant or helpful, it may be wise to consider joining a different organisation that could better suit your individual needs as a writer.

If your primary goal in joining a writing organisation is to get something out of it, and if you’re not willing to contribute your time, money and resources, you’re taking an unhealthy step in the direction of selfish author syndrome. The writing organisations I value would not exist without the selfless contributions by willing volunteers. 

My challenge for you: Examine the writing organisations you belong to and see if you have any capacity to volunteer in a big or small way. How can you ‘pay it forward’ by helping others in their writing journey?

NARELLE ATKINS writes contemporary inspirational romance and lives in Canberra, Australia. She sold her debut novel, set in Australia, to Harlequin's Love Inspired Heartsong Presents line in a 6-book contract. Her debut book, Falling for the Farmer, was a February 2014 release, followed by The Nurse's Perfect Match in May 2014, The Doctor's Return in August 2014, Her Tycoon Hero in November 2014, and Winning Over the Heiress in February 2015.

Narelle blogs regularly with International Christian fiction Writers and Inspy Romance. http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.inspyromance.com/ 

She is also a co-founder of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance (ACRBA).
http://acrba.blogspot.com/ 

Website: http://www.narelleatkins.com
Blog: http://narelleatkins.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NarelleAtkinsAuthor
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins