Bookshops Aghast at Self-Published Winner

As if to prove to me that the world operates in perfect synchrony, during the last week I wondered why so many broadsheet newspapers ignore self-published authors and considered writing a letter to an appropriate reviewer to enquire why. Then I read that in France bookshop owners are up in arms because a literary award has been given to a self-published writer.

For your info, there are a much higher proportion of bookshops in France than say the UK and ebooks represent a very thin proportion of novel purchases. This translates as the French have culturally rejected the advances of Amazon as a book sales platform. The winner’s book is only available on Amazon and it is worth noting he had previously published the traditional route.

Now I’m happy that a KDP author won an award and I’m also surprised about the insular nature of the French marketplace. The reason I mention this is the negative response by the local bookshop owners. It is one thing to want to protect your livelihood and it is another to have a go at someone who has found a way to get their work into the hands of readers without going via bricks and mortar. Whether you like Amazon itself is irrelevant, ebooks are part of the future. Not the whole part but as a self-published author I can get my work into the hands of people wanting to read my novels without any intermediary. The Case is available for sale direct on the web site today. But I still respect that internet sales platforms exist and can help me. I don’t have a stand on the street corner where people from around the world come to buy my wares.

Rant off and relax.