The year 2025 has been off to a rocky start as a Canadian author. Truth be told, I never really considered being Canadian a potential obstacle in my publishing journey, but the political climate lately has ruffled my feathers a bit. As a self-published author who publishes through KDP ( Amazon), I see that the bulk of my sales and page reads are in the United States. Changing that has felt almost impossible and with the divide, I’m currently feeling the change in the air.
Earlier this year, social media helped with the spread of a strike with Kindle Unlimited. Honestly, I have published every one of my books through KU for a number of reasons. First, I’m kind of an unknown. Though I’ve seen success with my books, it hasn’t been consistent and the review numbers don’t mirror the number of reads or sales, so to a new reader, my books may not appear as read as they actually are. “Unpopular” books tend to be overlooked by new readers, so being in KU (Kindle Unlimited) felt like a good call because readers are more likely to pick up a book by an author unknown to them in KU since it feels like there is no financial risk. With most of my income from my books coming from Kindle Unlimited Page Reads, this feels like a good call on my part.
The second reason is Amazon has a monopoly on publishing. With the odds of getting on store shelves stacked against me as an unknown BIPOC author, I needed the reach Amazon provides. It’s no secret a lot of authors have become big names after self-publishing through KDP.
The third is because, as a Canadian author, shipping can be a real b***h. Having a print-on-demand company that is affordable through the printing and shipping process was important and as an extra incentive, their user interface is simple compared to alternatives.
With that being said, we are leaning heavily into the eat the rich narrative. Seeing firsthand how much freedom billionaires have in avenues we always suspected but never had the opportunity to openly witness as we have since November, I get it. As helpless as we often are, we like to make our dollars speak loudly in our stead. Boycotts have proven effective, and Zon has been accused of taking advantage of their warehouse workers, union busting, and a bunch of other things that have made a lot of consumers withhold those dollars when and where they can. For readers, Kindle Unlimited felt like the right place to take a stand, and the authors have felt that strike.
For myself, as a reader first, I can’t fully justify giving up my KU subscription or pulling my books from Kindle Unlimited because their catalogue holds one of the largest collections of BIPOC authors. I have discovered countless amazing authors I never would have found otherwise, the bulk of which are Kindle Unlimited exclusives. As much as I would love Zon to lift its exclusivity clause, I will always keep my subscription if so many marginalized voices use it to be heard. Another reason is their reach and accessibility.
That being said, I support everyone’s right to choose where and how they spend their money. I feel like 2025 is a time when we will see constant boycotts, cancellations, and strikes. We are living in a time where the average person is struggling to be heard.
With that being said, I’m hoping to build my Canadian readership. For whatever reason, since I first published, Canadians have only accounted for 1-3% of my readership. With a number of my books being set in Canadian cities (mostly around Toronto, where I’m from) I was hoping to find my Canadian readers and hold them with an iron-tight grip. Hopefully, I can start sending out PR Book boxes to Canadian readers in hopes of building my Canadian following with the possibility of doing in-person events around Canada.
Fingers crossed I can pull this off.
Now for the meat and beans of it… the publishing.
This year is looking a little bleak for me. With everything going on, I seem to have hit a mental wall I can’t quite get past. *Incoming pity party warning* I’ve been at publishing for a few years and have done everything suggested. I’ve done the silly TikTok videos, joined the socials, commented, posted, and shoved my book in faces. I’ve followed the trends, and if I’m being real, it’s been absolutely exhausting. I hit the ground running, publishing ten books in four years and I am just running out of steam. I had hoped around October last year when this all hit me like a ton of bricks that it would all be temporary, but I’m getting a little worried these days.
Anywho… as of right now, I have no concrete plans to publish anything this year. If that changes, I will let everyone know.
To all my readers who constantly support me, thank you so much!
SJ
SJ Stewart Books 