Amazon Situation Continues and Lesson #1

Well, it's been a few days now and, so far, it seems Amazon is moving forward with plans to shut out anyone who wants to use POD but doesn't want to use their company, Booksurge.

Angela Hoy (see article below if you aren't familiar with the story) is posting updates to the original piece including the fact that several publishers, traditional included, have already been affected. I'm sure the list is much longer too as not all will let her know.

A couple of thoughts have come to mind for me about lessons that writers/authors can learn from all of this.

Lesson 1: If you've ever thought you can't be heard as just one humble voice in the vast crowd of the internet, this example throws that theory out the window. Yes, Angela has more than 70k subscribers to her newsletter but, until this week, most outside her niche and immediate audience would have probably said, "Angela who?"

Not anymore. Now, because she spoke up, her name and site are all over the net connected with one of the biggest names in the world, Amazon.com

Will she get lots of publicity for her site through this? Sure. Stuff like this is what Web 2.0 marketing is all about. But that's not why she did it. She did it because she cares. She cares about her business that is directly affected yes, but she cares about all the others too. That's why so many have chimed in, we care too. Sometimes, when you give the most, you get the most back and that's a big part of what's happening here.

So… what do you have to say? I won't guarantee you'll get national press coverage, but say it with the right attitude and see where it takes you.

Stay tuned for lesson #2


Cheryl Pickett
http://www.publishinganswers.com/