Kindle lying on a desk How well is Amazon actually taking care of the indie authors who contribute to its Kindle Unlimited (KU) platform? On the surface, Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program seems like a game-changer in the world of self-publishing. Countless indie authors found that they could self-publish their books with little hassle via Amazon and have them made accessible to large audiences. Additionally, authors get to choose payment plans that range from 35-70% royalties. KDP has granted opportunities to many indie authors and offers greater visibility to their work. However, Amazon certainly has its flaws and has been known to do little to stop fraud and abuse taking place on its platform, harming both sellers and consumers. Just as Amazon refused to combat unethical third-party-selling, it is now failing to use its resources to combat piracy, letting writers take the brunt of the negative effects instead. Now, authors are finding themselves in danger of being punished by Amazon due to piracy. Essentially, Amazon has a strict exclusivity agreement for those choosing to self-publish their books digitally via KU. In order for those in the KDP to make their self-published books available digitally via KU, they must enroll in KDP Select. KU has a lot of advantages for writers, including the opportunity to be paid based on pages read and to have their book readily available to readers worldwide. Hence, it isn't difficult to see why many would opt in to the KDP Select program. Amazon punishes indie authors for piracy Raven Kennedy, the author of Gild and Glint, was caught in a similar situation to Broadbent. She also reiterated the lack of control over piracy that writers have. However, despite receiving little aid from Amazon, Kennedy made a valiant effort to protect her work. She even detailed spending her own income to pay companies to issue "takedown notices" and constantly combed the web for pirated versions of her books. Despite her efforts, she continued to receive warnings from Amazon about her book being found elsewhere on the web. The situation became so stressful that she ended up removing her books temporarily because she felt she had no other choice. Upon re-enrolling them in KDP Select in hopes of making them affordable to her readers, she was notified by Amazon that they had removed two of her books and that a third was under threat of being removed. The issue has become significant enough that some are questioning if a KU strike is warranted. While it's true that many great alternatives to KU can be found and that some should consider distancing themselves from Amazon, it is also important to consider the impact that it would have on the many indie writers who have already been drawn into the company. Some writers are still depending on that platform and income for their livelihood. However, it is quite clear that Amazon needs to change its KDP Select policy. The first thing that Amazon needs to do is to double down on piracy. Right now, they are opting to punish their writers rather than deal with an actual issue that is threatening their contributors and their business. As said above, Amazon needs to revitalize its security system, put more research/resources into anti-piracy measures, and work with law enforcement to double down on piracy. Next, instead of just giving warnings and then abruptly banning authors, they need to assist writers experiencing this. Most indie authors do not have the legal knowledge and resources to know how to take steps to fight piracy. faux saint laurent bag