For almost exactly a month,
my Amazon sales
were a fraction of
what they normally were.
I suspect (strongly)
Amazon was not only
not sending traffic
to my listings
but they were also suppressing
the effectiveness of the traffic
I sent there.
Why?
My books are available
at all booksellers,
not just Amazon,
and Amazon has been known
to ‘force’
writers/publishers
to be exclusive.
If suppressing my sales
was how they
were trying to do this,
they failed.
It had the opposite effect.
I realized
my Amazon sales
were dependent
on the whims of Amazon.
I was at their mercy.
I also saw that my sales
at other booksellers
are fairly constant.
I add another book
at these booksellers.
My sales increase.
I’ve decided to
increase my focus
on the other booksellers.
Bullying vendors
into being exclusive
sometimes works.
Sometimes, however,
you lose the respect
of that vendor
forever.