# Amazon Sales Decline Causes Layoffs For Ellora's Cave



## Marc (Aug 23, 2014)

Interesting article in Publisher's Weekly (am I allowed to post the link?)

Anyway,  the digital romance publisher Ellora's Cave says it had to lay off  staff due to a "sharp decline" in Amazon e-book sales. They called the  decline "drastic" and that it has “resulted in large net short-term  variable production losses and negative return on investment on almost  every new book we publish.” The decline seems to be confined to Amazon  although they haven't determined the cause. The publisher is encouraging  fans to buy books via the EC website which provides authors with the  highest royalties. Then they listed other retailers in order of highest  royalty per sales: B&N, AllRomance.com, Kobo and Google Play.

But  if fans are purposely (EC is not saying this, I am only speculating)  not buying from Amazon, then wouldn't they be buying from somewhere else  and EC would see an increase in sales in non-Amazon stores  proportionate to the drop in Amazon sales?


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## Blade (Aug 23, 2014)

That would seem logical. One of the inherent risks of on line retailing is that it is quite easy for the consumer to have a change of heart and move their purchases from one supplier to another. In any case I have not heard of this and would like to see the link to the story. I think posting it is acceptable as it would be a news story rather than promotional. Thanks.:eagerness:


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## Marc (Aug 23, 2014)

Blade said:


> That would seem logical. One of the inherent risks of on line retailing is that it is quite easy for the consumer to have a change of heart and move their purchases from one supplier to another. In any case I have not heard of this and would like to see the link to the story. I think posting it is acceptable as it would be a news story rather than promotional. Thanks.:eagerness:



Okay then, here's the link:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...-cuts-staff-blames-big-amazon-sales-drop.html


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## PiP (Aug 23, 2014)

Marc said:


> Interesting article in Publisher's Weekly (am I allowed to post the link?)



As it's not a promotional link to your own blog that's fine


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## Blade (Aug 23, 2014)

Marc said:


> Okay then, here's the link:
> 
> http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...-cuts-staff-blames-big-amazon-sales-drop.html



Thanks. There is not much explanation as to the cause.



			
				Posted article said:
			
		

> [“Ellora’s Cave has weathered storms before and we will this one as well,” Marks writes. “We are aggressively adjusting our business to the current publishing environment.”



Not very reassuring somehow.:|


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## Seedy M. (Aug 23, 2014)

When I said, on another thread, that people, mainly writers, are getting sick and tired of Amazon it was roundly rejected. Why did this not appear on that thread?
A large many of us have work on Amazon solely because our "publisher" has agreements with them. The market on Amazon is falling at about the rate it has been for some time.
The reason some independent publishers are only on Amazon is because they have programs that only publish to Kindle, which was a gimmick in their attempt to almost monopolize internet markets.
You may gather I don't much care for Amazon.


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## anthonyjmcgirr (Aug 23, 2014)

Hmm I've never heard of Ellora's Cave. I'll definitely have to check it out and see what it's about.


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## escorial (Aug 23, 2014)

i buy nearly all my books of amazon...usually from the world of books..i don't use kindle..just solid books..this week i took delivery of four books by stevie smith and i can say on the book side i'm buying more now than ever,


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## movieman (Aug 23, 2014)

I've never read any of these books, but there were some interesting comments from readers on another forum. According to them, the books are expensive, and facing a lot of competition from indie writers at much lower prices.

Worse than that, a lot of people are taking advantage of the free subscription offer for Amazon's new lending scheme at the moment, and many of the indie books are in the scheme, while most publishers' books aren't.


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## Marc (Aug 25, 2014)

Follow up article from Ellora's Cave CEO confirming Amazon sales drop. I found this quote curious/disturbing. Sounds like Amazon is fucking with Ellora's Cave as they are with Hachette?:

"According to Marks, the issue is likely related to a change in Amazon’s  search algorithm. Many of Ellora’s Cave’s bestselling authors and titles  simply don’t show up in the Amazon search engine anymore. She pointed  to one of the house's most popular authors, Laurane Donner, whose books  are _New York Times_ bestellers, noting that a search for her titles on Amazon initially retrieves only free giveaways."

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...ra-s-cave-ceo-confirms-amazon-sales-drop.html


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## Blade (Aug 25, 2014)

Marc said:


> Follow up article from Ellora's Cave CEO confirming Amazon sales drop. I found this quote curious/disturbing. Sounds like Amazon is fucking with Ellora's Cave as they are with Hachette?:



:disgust: The plot thickens. I have heard of such selective squeezing being applied by Wal-Mart on its suppliers though not by Amazon. As far as I know amazon is doing well so it does sound like the issues are specific to particular elements of its system. When best sellers are being marginalized you really have to wonder what is going on.:-k Avoiding sales is generally not good for business.:stupid:


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## movieman (Aug 25, 2014)

I'm guessing they're just being hit by Amazon's increasingly restrictive 'adult' filter that's been filtering and blocking indie books for years?


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## movieman (Aug 26, 2014)

BTW, the owner of Ellora's Cave is now saying that Google has pulled 85 of their books from sale. So it does seem likely that they've suddenly been hit by the 'adult' filter-bat that's been beating indies for a long time. From what indie erotica authors have said on other forums, "forced seduction" has been a no-no for indies for quite a while.

http://jaidblack.com/entries/general/female-sexuality-under-fire-again


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## Marc (Aug 26, 2014)

That's seems so ridiculous. Since when do these huge corporations care more about keeping the written word "chaste" over making money? I mean, Fifty Shades of Grey? What was that, rated PG?


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## movieman (Aug 26, 2014)

There seems to be a theory that it's due to credit card companies charging higher fees to companies that sell pr0n, supposedly to compensate for higher fraud and chargeback rates. So distributors would rather pull some books than pay more on everything.


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