That being said, there are some things about Amazon that make things difficult for authors: 1) Ratings on Amazon have a strong basis in reviews, and 2) Author Central doesn’t provide information about e-book sales (which I don’t understand at all). Now the problem with reviews is that even if people enjoy reading your book, writing a review is often difficult and time consuming in a world where people have precious little time to spare. I am always so appreciative when someone takes the time to write a review for one of my books because I know what a pain it can be. Any form of entertainment requires word of mouth to prosper, I understand that, but it is much easier for people to mention a favorite movie to someone at their leisure than to go through the process of writing an Amazon review. As for Amazon not providing information on e-book sales, I’m at a total loss as to why they wouldn’t do that, and I find it very frustrating as e-books are the new medium of literature.
But what do other authors out there think of Amazon? Has it been good for new authors to give them exposure without the need for agents and big publishing companies or has it flooded the market and overwhelmed the public with books such that work from today’s authors gets lost in an ocean of literature? An inquiring mind wants to know.