A Tale of Two "A's": Amtrak and amazon

Last week I attended a writing conference in Albany, NY for people who write ‘sapphic’ fiction. (This is a ‘new’ term meant to be more inclusive than ‘lesbian fiction.’ Hmmm. Let’s save that topic for another discussion.)

Since I find air travel exhausting (and haven’t yet gotten around to getting a Real ID) I decided to take the train. I rode the Empire Builder from Red Wing to Chicago (riding in coach, which had lots of room to stretch out because the car was almost empty—Had five times the room I would have had on an airplane,)

Once I arrived in Chicago, the walk from the train to the station took forever. This is a loooong track.

I then boarded the Lake Shore Limited train to Albany. This leg was overnight, so I sprang for a ‘roomette.’ I love being tucked into the little room at night, watching cities and small towns go by, their streetlights and house lights flashing at me in the dark.

Meals are included in the roomette price, so I had a tasty breakfast and lunch the next day. It was a lovely trip, with an interesting surprise. The last time I took the train (and booked a roomette), the bathroom was at the end of the car, so I brought sweats and tshirt for sleeping in order to be ‘decent’ before swaying down the very narrow corridor in the middle of the night.

But as I was getting settled into my space about 9 pm, I noticed there was a fold-down sink in the room. Amazing! There was also a small ledge under the sink that had a lid. I opened it to discover…a toilet! Now many of you may not be thrilled to be sleeping right next to a toilet, but as one who finds her bladder waking her up at 2 am, I was so excited! What a treat it was. No muss, no fuss, no toilet smell. No need to stagger down the narrow corridor in the middle of the night. It was great!

(Note on return trip: At the last minute I decided to do the roomette thing again for the overnight portion. I was so glad I did. My friend Nancy was in what she lovingly called “steerage,” where it was not only a rough night, but the toilets in her car stopped working. She had to visit the next car for relief. Amtrak is great for sleeping car passengers. For coach passengers? Some days? Not so much. I am grateful I was able to go that route, at least for this trip.)

Okay, enough of my love of the roomette toilet. On to something more serious…

One of the conference sessions was about small publishers/authors publishing independently, where I learned something. Remember in March when many people, including me, boycotted amazon?

Detailed records show that the boycott did not harm Bezos or amazon in the slightest. But small publishers and independently published authors? They had the most devastating sales month ever. As one presenter said about the giant retailer: “amazon is not morally clean, but it’s strategically necessary.”

Why? Because it’s the best way for small presses and independent authors to be found. When you are part of the amazon search engine, your sales will be higher than if you’re not. Also, many small presses and independent authors are part of Kindle Unlimited (KU.) Readers who pay a monthly membership fee can download a set number of books every month. Authors are then paid by the number of pages those readers actually read. Many non-traditionally published authors make a decent living this way.

Here's the kicker: If an author or small press participates in KU, they are prohibited from selling their ebooks anywhere else. (Is that great? No, but that’s how it works.) If Kindle learns that you are selling your book elsewhere, they will ban you by Social Security number so you will never be allowed back onto the platform.

So when we boycott amazon and stop buying books, the authors on KU lose all their sales. They have no ability to switch platforms. They are stuck.

Also, hundreds of small businesses, many minority-owned, provide stock for amazon, or do fulfillment for the website. So boycotting amazon means the small businesses lose, not amazon.

This is one of those situations in which people (including myself) take an action thinking we are helping or making an important statement, but in reality our actions may be boomeranging back upon the people least able to absorb the resulting losses.

Because boycotts can damage the very people we don’t want to harm, I will be rethinking these in the future.

And now, back to trains. If you’ve never ridden the train, the most exciting part, the part that always gave me a thrill as a kid, was moving from one car to the next.

Come with me as I move between cars. Hold on, ‘cause that baby sways and rattles and can throw you from side to side:

Whee! That really gets the heart pounding.

Thanks for reading!