As a Canadian published with an American micro-press, I, for one (two or three if you count my other personalities), am glad Amazon has finally been given the go-ahead to open a fulfillment warehouse in Canada. You can read the story here.
Until now, the trade paperback editions of my Amber Quill Press books were only available from American Amazon. Which meant Canadians either had to pay more for a copy of one of my books (depending on the exchange rates, which, until recently, sucked), or had to pay more for shipping, or maybe suffer a cost for the book to cross the border. Whatever. They had to pay more. Now, I honestly don’t know if Amazon opening a Canadian fulfillment warehouse means that searching for Cindy Procter-King on www.amazon.ca will eventually cough up search results for new copies of my books, but I’m hopeful. A lot more hopeful than I was two days ago, at any rate. Whether or not it actually happens is up to Amazon and my publisher, not me.
Right now you can buy used copies of the first edition of HEAD OVER HEELS from Canadian Amazon for exorbitant amounts, but not new copies. Not that I don’t think I’m important (the odd day, I do), but $40 or $60 for a used copy of one of my books? It makes no sense.
Please, anyone who thinks they might be doing me a favor by buying one of these used copies off Canadian Amazon, you won’t. Authors don’t make a dime, or even a penny, off the sale of used books. That the prices are ludicrously high…to me, it’s laughable. No wonder those used copies never sell. And I hope they never do. What a rip-off—for me and the reader.
I love ordering books on-line. I order from Canadian Amazon or Chapters—whichever site has the best deal for the books I want at the time. I always wait until I have an order over $39 so I can get free shipping. Yes, I’m cheap that way. And the thought that Canadian readers might eventually be able to take advantage of the same opportunity with my books tickles me.
Well, I don’t know that my books will ever be available on Chapters. That’s another issue. For now, I’m happy with the possibility of directing readers to other-than-a-buy-used-for-a-hefty-price-cindypk page on Amazon.ca.
As soon as I learn more, you can bet you’ll find the news here.
In the meantime, I’m keeping my “buy from author” option open on my website.