Mel Hopkins

the best way to succeed in boycotting is to provide the alternative. not suggest it but provide it

@Troy   I checked his website - http://kwamealexander.com/  Not on there yet. I'll keep you posted

@richardmurray, on this site unless an author gives me an alternative link to direct visitors to purchase a book I generally link to AbeBooks (owned by Amazon), Amazon, BarnesandNoble, Books-a-million, IndieBound, and the Library (as shown in the graphic below).  I also have hundreds of books link to the publisher sites, or go to authors sites and a few I sell myself.  Despite the option the vast majority of books I sell are sold through Amazon.

I have, at various times, I've offered books for sale that were autographed and priced less than Amazon's and still the sale went to Amazon!  This was not always true but it is true today.

Amazon completely owns the online sales of Black books!

Amazon also owns our eBook market too. For an increasing number of Black authors, Amazon is the ONLY place you can buy their books and their Amazon's author page is the primary web presence. For authors like this @richardmurray, there is no immediate alternative.

However for consumers I can provide alternative options for buying books.  This of course will hurt authors who are "all in" with Amazon, as they will continue to push Amazon to the exclusion of all other booksellers-because that is the only place their book is available.

In fact it will also hurt me, because my online sales will completely evaporate if people do not take advantage of the alternative methods. 

For years I have considered my role in promoting Amazon.  Before the most recent upgrade all of my website's pages were hard coded, typed like a Word document and all of my links went to Amazon.  It was not possible to remove or replace my links to Amazon.  Today however I can very easily remove the AbeBooks and Amazon options--site wide.

I need to get others to do the same and help spread the word on why we are ding it.  But unless I can get the "elusive white co-sign" I'm afraid my little effort to promote a boycott of Amazon will go nowhere.  But I will try it nonetheless.  

Hi @Mel Hopkins I our course looked as well.  Yes if you see it on his site please let me know.  I'll reach out to Kwame as well.