Indie Thoughts: It’s a business

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Complaining is not a business strategy ~ Jeff Bezos

I love that quote.

That doesn’t mean folks should never express dismay, fear, or frustration. It can sometimes be very helpful to voice it.

Name it.

Pin it to the wall.

And then move forward.

So Amazon changed how they approach paying authors with Kindle Unlimited (KU). I think the move is fantastic. It rewards value provided to the reader. If you’re in the business of selling value to the reader, that’s a no-brainer.

I also think this whole KU 2.0 thing illustrates why Author Earnings is so important.

It reminds us that we are NOT Amazon.

It reminds us that we are NOT the publishers.

It reminds us that we are NOT the agents.

We are a totally different group.

Amazon is simply a partner. A great partner right now, but they are NOT us.

Which means we’re responsible to make our own way. How do you do that? The only way I can imagine is to own the idea that you’re a business. And then think like a business.

How?

I haven’t run any better way than the lean startup approach.  I’ll be sharing some posts over the next few weeks that explains just what that means.

Happy 4th of July! May God bless America and the disruptive freedom-loving form of government she introduced.

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5 Responses to Indie Thoughts: It’s a business

  1. Tanja says:
    July 5, 2015 at 12:11 pm

    That’s a great quote! I totally agree with thinking like a business and I’m looking forward to reading your posts about it.

    And well done on finishing another first draft! 😀

  2. Rick H says:
    July 5, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    Looking forward to this information – it looks to be helpful as I start various on-line businesses (web sites).

    And how about a new Progress Bar for the next step on Frank’s new story? (I know a guy who can help….)

  3. John Brown says:
    July 5, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    (grin)

    Yeah, I know that guy too. And it’s perfect timing. The 2 week manuscript rest ended today. Tomorrow I start the read-through.

  4. Mike D says:
    July 12, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    I like the quote.

    As someone who is an avid reader (I own all your books in Kindle format, and I was thrilled to see you on the Baen website), and is also self-employed – I’m in IT rather than being an author, I think this is good advice.

    Looking forward to getting the eArc of your new book, and then the finished version too. 🙂

    Mike

  5. John Brown says:
    July 12, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    eArc…

    Hum, Baen and I never talked about that. But that’s definitely something to explore. Thanks, Mike!