The problems with Amazon, and why they matter for authors

When Amazon started out it changed the game for indie authors and self-publishers. It meant there was a real, viable option for writers who couldn't or didn't want to go down the route of traditional publishing. It created a whole industry and gave a voice to thousands of new authors.

For most of us indie authors, Amazon is still our main channel for selling books and making - or at least trying to make - a living from writing.

So it's great that Amazon exists and allows us to create and sell the work we want to share with the world. But it's getting increasingly hard to ignore some of the ethical problems associated with Amazon: the way they treat their warehouse and delivery workers, the way they structure tax to avoid contributing their fare share towards the common good, their impact on the environment. And as an author using Amazon as a platform I don't believe these are problems we can turn a blind eye to.

At the same time there are some less-than-ideal conditions for indie authors selling on the site too, because of some fairly arbitrary rules that get books and authors banned for opaque and arguably unfair reasons, with little recourse.

All companies are kind of shitty sometimes though, right? It's just kind of how the world works. And to some degree Amazon is no exception to a bunch of trends that are prevalent in many large companies.

But on some fronts - particularly worker rights and union-busting - Amazon is among the worst. And as one of the biggest companies in the world, Amazon sets the bar for what other companies can get away with, and has huge resources to put into efforts to make sure the rules stay in their favour.

Amazon's behaviour is also particularly relevant to indie authors because we're part of their supply chain and their business model. I'm not suggesting that you need to feel guilty for being part of it, but I do think it's important to understand and acknowledge what they're up to. So take your seat for a whistle-stop tour of what Amazon's been up to and what effect it's had on the world.

Workers

Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world, employing about 800,000 people and with a massive amount of other people connected through its supply chain. That includes us self-published authors.

So how Amazon decides to treat its workers sets the standards that flow on to other companies. And by all accounts, some of those practices don't look good.

You may have already heard the now-infamous stories of Amazon staff having to urinate in bottles instead of taking toilet breaks. That's because staff on some warehouses literally can't make the massive distances across the warehouse and through security to the bathroom and back on the meagre break times they're allowed.

Amazon's record on health and safety is concerning. It made the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health’s 'dirty dozen' in 2019 as well as a dishonorable mention in 2020. It has higher injury rates than high-risk jobs like logging and law enforcement, and higher injury rates than any of its competitors in the warehouse industry. A union-backed study of safety data found Amazon workers in the US had 5.9 serious injuries per 100 people - almost 80% higher than the rest of the industry. And we don't really even know the full extent of the problem, because Amazon have been found to be hiding data about increasing levels of workplace injuries.

"In Rugeley, there have been 115 emergency callouts for Amazon staff, with paramedics tending to a litany of complaints from workers being electrocuted because of faulty machinery, to slipping on water caused by leaking pipes, and being knocked unconscious by falling items. Many simply become sick on the job due to the enormous physical stress it entails." (Marcus Barnett, The Tribune)

Amazon fired a staff member who complained about the lack of covid-19 protocols and it's alleged that they deliberately smeared him to undermine worker organising.

And they've actively tried to undermine efforts by their workers to organize to secure better and safer conditions. In Bessemer, Alabama Amazon was found by the U.S. National Labour Relations Board to have interfered with its workers' union election. In Jefferson County they asked county officials to change the timing of traffic lights outside their warehouse facility to prevent union officials from talking to employees.

They've also piled huge resources into disseminating anti-union propoganda, and fired staff who tried to start unions in their workplaces.

There have been allegations that Amazon is spying on its staff as well as spying on union activity and environmental groups.

"Between March and September 2020, at a time when most businesses were struggling, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his personal wealth increase so much that he could have given all 876,000 Amazon employees a bonus of $105,000 and be as wealthy as he was pre-pandemic." (Ethical Consumer)

To be fair, pay is one area where Amazon have made some improvements since 2020, when it was found that over 4,000 of their staff were relying on food stamps to make ends meet. Since then Amazon has raised their minimum hourly rate to $18, which is a significant improvement and is setting a higher benchmark for other employers in the industry. I believe that shows that if the pressure is sufficient, and Amazon see that it's necessary, they can be willing to make change.

Tax

Amazon's profits tripled over the pandemic but the amount of tax paid only increased minimally. In 2020 Amazon made 44 billion euro and paid zero corporation tax. That's because they use all kinds of tactics to ensure that their tax bill is low.

And that matters because it means Amazon is benefiting from the public infrastructure being built with people's tax dollars, without contributing a fair amount towards it themselves.

Amazon doesn't just avoid paying its fair share, it's also happy to take government money. Amazon has received more than $1.5 billion in government subsidies in the US since 2000.

And they've used their power to help make sure the rules don't get changed. For example, Amazon threatened to withdraw investment in Seattle if the city passed a business tax intended to help address the city's homelessness crisis.

Climate

Amazon has an impact on the climate that's bigger than many entire nations. A lot of that comes down to its business model, based around quick global shipping.

Over 7,500 Amazon employees asked for a comprehensive climate-change plan, but it was voted down by shareholders on Amazon's recommendation.

Amazon has taken some significant steps on climate in the last few years. However it's alleged that they use a bunch of loopholes to drastically undercount their carbon footprint, making them appear to have less of an impact than they really do.

They also play a role in perpetuating climate change denial, by selling climate change denial books and by promoting them in Amazon algorithms.

Advance Democracy found that 20% of the top 60 search results for “climate change” returned products containing “misinformation about climate change,” including three of the first four sponsored results in the main product list. (LA Times)

And when Amazon founder took his Amazon-funded trip into space, he burned up the same amount of greenhouse gases in about ten minutes that a person from the world's poorest billion would emit in about 75 years.

Authors

The existence of Amazon has transformed the publishing industry, and it's enabled independent self-published authors to access a market that would never have been possible before. That's all good stuff.

But Amazon's dominance in the market means small-scale authors are at it's mercy, and many have been stung by the way the platform operates.

One issue is their returns policy, under which customer can receive a full refund for an ebook within 14 days of purchase. The policy applies regardless of how much of the book has been read, meaning people can read entire books and return them, regardless of enjoyment. When this happens the person returning the book gets a book for free, and the writer gets nothing for their work.

Obviously Amazon isn't the villain here, unscrupulous readers taking advantage of authors are the problem. But Amazon allows it to happen and as yet (at time of writing) hasn't addressed the issue despite a growing number of critics, and a petition that has already gained more than 45,000 names.

If you follow author forums on places like Reddit you'll probably come across a whole bunch of indie authors who have had books, or even their whole account banned for reasons that don't seem to make any sense. Like Amazon refusing to believe you're the real author of your work, or breaching a rule about sexual content you didn't realise existed. Often the customer service is close to non-existent, and Amazon will refuse to explain their decision or reconsider. When this happens they can simply refuse to pay out your royalties and there's nothing you can do about it.

So what?

The reason I'm laying all this out is that I think Amazon has some serious problems, and I believe that the authors who form part of the Amazon supply chain and business model have a responsibility to acknowledge this stuff and do what they can - even if that's only a little - to work for positive change.

That's why the Indie Author Solidarity initiative exists. I'm under no illusion that a group of small-scale self published authors can make Amazon change its entire business model and culture. But there are people pushing for change on multiple fronts - from governments looking at tighter regulation, to unions and worker organisations making progress on better working conditions - and the more voices they have supporting them and speaking out alongside them, the more public pressure there is. That combined pressure might be enough to make Amazon see the benefit in changing, or it might give governments the political cover they need to come down harder with better regulation.

If you want to know more

There's tonnes of information out there if you want to find out more about Amazon's practices. A really good source that brings it all together is a podcast series by Jake Hanrahan called Megacorp. It's available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, iHeart and Podchaser (and probably a bunch of other places too).

There's also a bunch of information on the Ethical Consumer website. They've called a boycott of Amazon (I'm not necessarily advocating for a boycott; I think there are a bunch of ways you can take action and boycotting Amazon isn't feasible for some people) and their website explains why.

If you want to do something about it

Indie Author Solidarity is about indie authors and self publishers doing what they can to show solidarity with other groups taking action to demand better from Amazon. If you're interested check out how you can get involved.

---

Thumbnail image by Soumit, used under Creative Commons Licence Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)