This Is Our Revolution

I came across a great article today, regarding how cheap books should be, and the strong possibility of an upcoming backlash caused by the alleged price fixing by Apple and the major New York-based publishing houses. The article itself raises some great points, but what really stood out for me was this:

“Amazon, he [Barry Lynn] noted, controls 20 percent of the domestic book market – including 70 to 80 percent of e-book market. Many publishers fear that Amazon’s power, unchecked, could eventually force them out of business. (It doesn’t help that the company is now running its own imprint). Even if they survive, they will have to play by Amazon’s rules.”

More importantly to our cause, the article goes on to say:

"There was a time, Lynn writes, that the government would have been more concerned with limiting the power of a potential monopoly like Amazon than making sure consumer prices stayed low."

The government. Would be concerned. The government.

Wait. Is that what it's come to? Do sites like Amazon and Smashwords have that much leverage and power over publishers and our industry that it's time that our government step in? Publishers - these corporations like the big six and Apple, for crying out loud, are bowing under Amazon's whip. And this has gone so far that there is actually a dire need for the government of the United States to step forward and crack a whip of their own?

Yes. The answer is yes. Absolutely yes, it has gone that far. But will somebody step in? Anybody? I don't know. And I don't care, because I'm ready. I'm stepping in.

I'm an indie. I don't have an army of suits and lawyers backing me up, I don't have cameras to smile at but I do have you. A community. A cause. A revolution. And I intend to use everything at my disposal to raise awareness in my community TODAY. I want you all to know, right now, the time is now. The moment we band together for the indie cause is now and I know we can revolutionize our livelihood as self-published authors by standing up for ourselves and making it known to these entities, these corporations: we're here now. This is our revolution, and we're not going away.