Amazon has taken action against one of the worst offending Kindle unlimited scammers, but in a disappointingly limited way. They are also causing a major headache for Australian customers.
Amazon has introduced new rules aimed at stopping the abuse of Kindle Unlimted, and authors fighting back against Faleena Hopkins over Cockygate score an initial win in court.
In the first week of GDPR there has been general disruption. The Cockygate incident continues to rumble on with further lawsuits being issued. And Amazon's review policies continue to confuse.
GDPR is coming and indies need to understand what it means for them. A big breakthrough for indies is the vote by the Romantic Novelists' Association to grant full voting rights to self-published members.
A date has been set for an end to net neutrality rules, Open Library launches an embed feature for bloggers, and Amazon considers expansion into the Arab world.
A self-publisher's attempt to trademark a word in the title of her bestselling series has indies up in arms. The ebook market in India continues to expand, and Dropbox launches an ePub reader.
Amazon Prime raises the price of its full year Prime membership, Barnes & Noble adds new features to its self-publishing dashboard, and the Young Writer of the Year Award is open once again to indies.
Google has launched Talk to Books, which moves discovery beyond metadata and inside books' covers. Amazon has launched Prime Reading in China, and a new group of small independent publishers is seeking to change the way the industry works.
London Book Fair saw an emphasis on audiobooks, big data, and blockchain. And Amazon runs into problems with scammers while Kobo expands its audiobook offering to France.
Amazon has taken action against manipulators of its Kindle Unlimited programme, as well as more hapless terms and conditions violators. They have also launched Great on Kindle, a scheme for non-fiction ebook authors.
In a bad week for erotica writers, Amazon doesn't seem to know what it is doing with their rankings. And a major new umbrella organization, the Independent Bookshops' Alliance, launches in UK Parliament.