On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports on Amazon's decision to withdraw online support from Kindle devices released in 2012 and earlier, and what that means for readers who still use them—including a silver lining for indie authors distributing DRM-free books. He also sounds the alarm on a surge in sophisticated scam emails targeting authors, and reminds us of the enduring wisdom of Yog's Law: money flows to the author, not from the author.
Listen to the Podcast: Amazon Retires Early Kindles; Publishing Scam Emails on the Rise
Sponsor
Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by PublishMe—helping indie authors succeed globally with expert translation, tailored marketing, and publishing support. From first draft to international launch, PublishMe ensures your book reaches readers everywhere. Visit publishme.me.
About the Host
Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet, and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines, He competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
If you’re an ALLi member, head over to the SelfPubConnect forum for support from our experienced community of indie authors, advisors, and our own ALLi team. Simply create an account (if you haven’t already) to request to join the forum and get going.
Non-members looking for more information can search our extensive archive of blog posts and podcast episodes packed with tips and advice at ALLi's Self-Publishing Advice Center.
Read the Transcript
Dan Holloway: Hello and welcome to another Self-Publishing News, from a rainy spring day here in Oxford. This week we are talking mainly about obsolescence. As a fifty-something writer, this is something I feel impinging upon me ever more closely — but we're talking about it this week in relation to Amazon and specifically the Kindle.
This comes as Amazon has announced that it is withdrawing service from the earliest Kindle e-readers. Those affected are essentially devices released in 2012 or earlier. It doesn't feel as though it was that long ago that we welcomed the Kindle into the world, although for some people it will have been their entire life as readers. Nonetheless, by 2012 there were a number of Kindles in existence, and those Kindles as of May 20th this year will no longer be supported. The complete list is the first and second generation Kindle, the Kindle DX, the Kindle DX Graphite, the Kindle Keyboard, the Kindle 4 and 5, the Kindle Touch, and even the first generation of the Kindle Paperwhite.
What does this mean in practice? In essence, you will not be able to connect these devices online. Amazon is framing this as a security issue — they can no longer guarantee the safety of what happens when these older devices connect online. So they will no longer be able to connect to the internet, which means you will not be able to download new ebooks to those devices, nor will you be able to do any online syncing of the ebooks you have on them.
Importantly, though, this does not mean the devices will become totally unusable. Amazon insists you will still be able to read everything that is already on them. And here's an interesting consequence: if these devices can no longer connect online and you keep the books that are on them, those books cannot actually ever be taken away from you either. Unlike ebooks on devices that are always online, you no longer merely license those books — you effectively own them. Which is an interesting wrinkle.
You are also still able to import books using the wired method — plugging in a USB cable and uploading a book directly, particularly DRM-free books. PC Mag has published a useful set of guidelines on how to use your older Kindle to read new ebooks this way. Interestingly, they point to websites where DRM-free books are readily available — including Smashwords and other places where indie authors tend to distribute their work. So it may well be that users of these older devices become more drawn to indie books, since they can no longer access the Amazon store directly from those devices.
This has not been met with the most positive of reactions, as you might expect. There has been quite a lot of upset that these are perfectly functional devices — simple text-file readers with no particular reason to be going out of service. And it has not gone down well with e-waste campaigners, who point out that making devices obsolete that don't need to be made obsolete contributes to a significant amount of electronic waste. So to be clear: these devices will still be usable, just not with the Amazon store. That is the main news this week — Kindles from 2012 and earlier will no longer be able to connect online as of May 20th, 2026.
A Reminder About Publishing Scam Emails
What else has been going on in the news? There has been growing awareness — and a big piece in The Bookseller — about scam emails. A lot of my author friends will know about this already, but for anyone who isn't aware that the emails flooding everyone's inboxes right now are largely scams, I hope this raises awareness.
The particular form of email this article focuses on is emails claiming to be from an editor at a respected publishing company — Penguin Random House and the like — who is very interested in your backlist and future projects and really wants you to get in touch about the possibility of publishing your work. They ask if you have an agent. That is the opening to a back-and-forth that will eventually lead to someone asking you for money.
Publishers in this article are very keen to point out two things. First, check where the email is coming from — if it's from a genuine publisher, it will have the publisher's domain in the email address, not a Gmail address. Second, no reputable publisher or agent is going to ask you for money. This is not a new principle. I believe it is called Yog's Law, and it is something we have known for a long time: income should flow to the author, not from the author. So if you get emails that seem hugely excited by your work, they are almost certainly a scam.
It's not just emails claiming to be from publishers, either. A lot of my friends are also getting emails from people claiming to be authors in their genre who say they are very excited to have discovered your work. These follow the same pattern and eventually lead to a request for money. The request is genuine enough — it's just not actually from the person it claims to be from.
Please be aware of scam emails in your inbox. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. And if an email is asking you for money, it is not from a genuine publisher, respected author, or editor — it is from a scammer. With that, I'll leave you feeling a little like one of those crime-warning programs: don't get scammed. And don't panic — you can still use your older Kindle, you just can't connect it online. I'll speak to you again at the same time next week. Thank you very much.
