Jaid Black, a 43 year old writer of self-published erotica ebooks, says Amazon is needling into her market: hardcore erotica for women.
She once netted $(removed) million a year, a figure that dropped to $(removed) million in 2014 and will probably continue to drop.
As recently as 2012, Ellora's Cave was netting more than $(removed) million per year, an unfathomable sum to Engler when she started the company in 2000 as a way to self-publish. Most of the money was flowing in through Amazon at a rate as high as $(removed),000 or $(removed),000 per month, according to Patty Marks, Engler's mother, who works as Ellora's Cave's CEO. But in 2013, revenue dropped by more than $(removed) million, a trend that continued in 2014 and seems destined to continue this year.
For this, Engler holds Amazon responsible, claiming that it's started competing with Ellora's Cave titles by offering similar works by other authors, many of whom self-publish via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), at free or discounted rates—even when customers search specifically for one of her company's books. Engler's eyes well up at the first mention of the online-retail behemoth. "Without them, I never could've risen to the heights that I did," she says. "It's feels like we're going through a painful divorce."
Vulture: Did Amazon Sink the Queen of Online Erotica?, by Phoebe Reilly
Description for Jaid Black's The Empress' New Clothes: "Modern day Earth woman Kyra Summers is kidnapped and wed by a seven-foot tall, thickly muscled warrior claiming to be her Sacred Mate. Life on his home planet Tryston takes some getting used to, as the laws of the world cater to erotic hedonism and leave females at the sexual subjugation of the barbarians who claim them. No one said love with an alien would come easily. Enjoy Kyra's spicy escapades as she adjusts to life and love in another dimension."
UPDATE: Erotica Publisher Sues Blogger For Exposing Its Financial Problems
