So this post was meant just for my readers and for me to link to, but it was viewed a lot.

Including for hours on Monday by at least one person at one of Amazon’s offices.

👀

In case they come back *waves* I just want to say, you are simply doing your job and not making a lot of these decisions, so I hope I’m sufficiently polite with you. If you enjoyed browsing my site, please consider buying my books!

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Now, genuinely I am not somehow who enjoys stirring up distrust and while I have had plenty of criticisms of boneheaded choices being made by folks at Amazon, the truth is that I don’t want to have to leave another distribution partner in terms of eBooks. I also prefer the quality of KDP’s paperback and hardcovers (even if their warehouse workers are incapable of packaging them properly so I need to get replacements or refunds with almost every order) and I’m grateful for that option for selling books, or else the Waverly hardcovers wouldn’t exist.

So credit where credit is due: I did receive a response today about my last email.

Most of it is rewording information I already know or ignoring some questions entirely, but we’ll get to that. Here is the important thing:

I made that a screenshot direct from my email, but it says: “First, I want to clarify that creating a Recap does not result in any generative AI training with the book’s content.”

That statement is per Erick Heizer, Executive Customer Relations, Kindle Direct Publishing

If that’s what you’ve been wondering for over a month now, you have an answer!

…Recaps were launched early April, I’ve been asking since April 23rd when some other folks had been talking about it for a few days, and it’s taken this long to get this simple statement. I admit I am not exactly filled with confidence however! I appreciate this gentlemen’s definitive statement.

Another question I had was about side-loaded books bought elsewhere and whether they would eventually be scanned and summarized. To that question: “I don’t have information about future plans.”

That is fair! It’s likely only the higher-ups making decisions know.

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So first I should show the email I actually sent on Friday when another Executive Customer Relations rep contacted me.

Here are my main questions no one has been able to answer:

• Are scanned Kindle books “forgotten” after being scanned by the generative AI program recapping them or are they made part of the system? As just about everyone with a book on Kindle has already had their work stolen by Meta, OpenAI, DeepSeek, etc without permission or compensation, understandably this is a major concern for most authors. 
• Why was there no Terms of Service update made at KDP clarifying how authors’ works are used? Is scanning their books with generative AI considered part of usage for marketing?
• Will the “Recaps” feature ever apply to books bought elsewhere but side-loaded to Kindle devices by users? (Meaning will side-loaded books be scanned and summarized as well?)
• What is the environmental impact of this usage of generative AI to create Recaps?

Additional questions:

• What is being done to prevent readers from returning ebooks if they read the Recap after purchase and decide they don’t want to read the book based on it? Readers buying series books and immediately returning them after reading only to buy, read, and return the next is already an issue for many authors; the Recaps system seems ripe for abuse.
• Will Recaps share a system with the customer-facing AI chatbot Rufus, e.g. could a reader ask Rufus about a book’s ending and have it spoiled before purchase? At this point Rufus seems to be focused on summarizing customer questions and book information, but if there’s no ToS update for KDP authors about how their books are used and in what context, it seems like something well within the realm of possibility.
• On Amazon’s “Help” pages, it’s admitted there could be errors generated in Recaps–has there been any consideration as to how this will affect series sales for authors? Given we’re not offered the opportunity to review and correct recaps, we’re reliant entirely on this generative AI’s capabilities and for readers to notify us of any errors that might have impacted their reading experience. 

I admit I’m surprised that this program was announced six weeks ago but no one had any answers prepared for writers using KDP. Even those using distributors like Draft2Digital to sell on Amazon found D2D hadn’t been given any clarification either. D2D, in fact, recommended to inquiring authors that they pull their books from Kindle distribution entirely given there was so much confusion over rights issues and what KDP was doing with the books in question, which is not a good look for such an important and valued distribution partner like Amazon.

Given that this program is presently limited to US audiences, English-language books, and only bestsellers (although I’m unclear what qualifies something as a “bestseller”), it seems like an excellent opportunity for Amazon to get ahead of more problems and issue clear usage terms for those using KDP.

✔️ So first one: check! Answered!

❌ Second one, why there was no ToS update–not answered. (I am assuming he doesn’t know, which is fair–I’ll allow it.)

✔️ Third–answered! (Not right now and he doesn’t know the future plan.)

❌ Fourth–not answered. Again, fair, that’s a different department, but I still want to know.

Hitting my next batch:

✔️ Fifth–they monitor for abuse of returns and take action. I mean…do they, though? Plenty of authors would argue about that, but okay.

❌ Sixth with that chatbot–not answered. He probably doesn’t know because it isn’t currently a feature. Personally, I expect it to be eventually, much like scanning side-loaded books.

…Seven, and I’m going to quote the answer here: “I also wanted to address your concern that authors wouldn’t be able to review and correct recaps. We are using Amazon moderators in addition to technology to ensure the accuracy of Recaps; however, any author who notices an error in a Recap for one of their books can notify customer support and we will quickly review that Recap.”

This stuff I knew, the info is out there–I’ve been looking.

Except it doesn’t really answer my question, does it?

Without a way to view Recaps from our KDP dashboard, this means we’re reliant to either a) wait for a reader to notify us about errors or b) buy our own books on Kindle (if in the US) and review them that way.

So to, uh, “recap” here: KDP admits Recaps could be inaccurate, authors have no way to review them unless they’re American and they *buy their own books* and view them in the Kindle app.

I truly don’t find this nefarious! But I do find it sloppy.

Recaps are for readers, I get that. This is why we can’t opt out–it’s to provide a consistent experience for Kindle users.

But you don’t have books to sell without authors and publishers. And poisoning an already rocky relationship with your Kindle partners by completely disregarding their consent and not having basic consideration for what they might ask is a very bad look.

I have asked the following regarding Recaps, errors, and moderators:

This information was found previously in the research I’ve done, yes, but the problem remains that authors will have to rely on readers to tell them if there’s an error or buy their own books on Kindle to check the recaps. Requiring authors to buy their own books to merely review recaps for errors is a deeply questionable business practice, but if there is no place within our existing dashboards to review them, they are forced to do so or potentially suffer consequences that can impact their sales. 

As well, who are these moderators? Are moderators reading entire books to double check summaries are accurate or are they merely scanning for typos? What assurances are there that the moderators will know if a story error has been generated in a recap?

I have also repeated, again, the environmental impact of Recaps should be made known and whether or not this will be incorporated with the Rufus chatbot, allowing readers to ask for a book’s summary and ending before making a purchase.

I acknowledge this fellow likely doesn’t have answers to a lot of this.

I’m asking stuff that multiple departments are involved in. Stuff that decisions haven’t been made about yet.

But this is why I said the rollout is sloppy: before launching a major new feature like this, someone should have been asking these questions and prepared to address them.

No one did. So, alas, I must continue to be annoying.

I hope KDP Customer Service Reps are well-compensated for having to deal with me–someone ought to be.

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If you enjoy me wasting my actual work hours doing this as end-of-the-month expenses barrel down on me, please consider buying me a ko-fi and/or buy my books!

So, as I said, I’m removing my books from Kindle.

I’m starting with series but I expect to pull the rest too. No future books will be published there.

Early April, Amazon announced their new Recaps features for series books–US readers were the first to try out recaps for bestselling English-language series books.

Nowhere on there do they mention generative AI creating the recaps, of course–people had to reach out for that info.

I’m not sure if authors and publishers whose books are already available that way were notified or not, but I know the rest of us weren’t. This is all the information available on KDP’s site about it.

These “recaps”, summaries of books in a series, are generated entirely by AI. They admit it may contain errors. There is no opportunity to review or correct. There is no way to opt-out.

There has been no update to their Terms of Service for KDP authors/publishers clarifying whether books are scanned and “forgotten” or whether they become part of Amazon Nova’s training data.

I don’t have an issue with recaps, in and of themselves. If this were optional, if users could provide their own (many authors do within books themselves), I might not care. But any feature that cannot be opted out of raises a pretty big red flag in my eyes.

So I reached out to KDP with some basic questions.

• Are the scanned books “forgotten” or made a part of Amazon’s training data?
• Why was there no update to the ToS explaining this?
• What is the environmental impact?

That was on April 23.

When it was clear the first KDP rep could not answer my questions, I was told to wait a few days while he researched. Then I got a new one who told me to wait a few days while he researched.

At last I got an answer today, May 12.

They can’t tell me.

No one knows. Or at least no one wants to say. They took weeks to get back to me and still did not have an answer.

No one will reassure me how our books are used. No one will say why there’s been no ToS update warning us about this. And even if this is not as nefarious as it seems, even if i take this at face value as something truly benign: if they get no pushback, if they do not allow opting out, and they refuse to offer transparency, this is the first step in many that will lead to very bad places.

Why should it matter at this point, right? It’s inevitable. My stolen books have already been sold to various copies to build their plagiarism machines like Facebook’s “AI” chatbots, right?

It matters. Everything, every little bit, matters.

We know about the high environmental impact and massive carbon footprint and it’s worse than people realized. Grok is literally poisoning the air in entire communities. The humans paid pennies in developing nations to train this tech have severe PTSD and no support after being exposed to the firehouse of awful scraped from the internet.

Now the president of the US has fired the director of copyright after a report came out on AI training data and usage (suggesting the theft of copyright work to then compete with it is beyond fair use) and the GOP wants a ten-year ban on AI regulations–all this to loot from copyright, destroy entire industries and the fucking environment, to devastate the work force, to silence and stifle creative thought. genAI like this is built on stolen work, trained by exploited people, and is hastening climate change. It is the tool of fascism, supported by everyday users who are too fucking lazy to write a goddamn email.

I cannot stop it but I will not accept being a part of it.

Fuck the techbros. Fuck the pirates. Fuck Facebook.

And fuck Kindle.

There are two circumstances where I consistently make more on Kindle than I do Kobo–one is the day I have a new release, and the other is the rare time a book is recommended in a high traffic place or something with reach outside my circle (last time was about three years ago on recommendation thread for The Book Devouring Horde–that was for Livi). But it’s still the place most new readers go–the first question anyone in the US and most of Canada asks is “Is the book on Kindle?” So it’s next to impossible to have a career self-publishing with no real reach without also having things on Kindle for the sake of convenience, at least with a US audience.

But some things are wrong, and here we are.

I’m waiting until the end of the month to remove my books so readers who prefer Kindle have time to pick up what they might’ve been waiting for payday to get. That’s two and a half weeks.

Books can still be sideloaded to Kindle–I sell direct at Payhip for that reason. If you’re on your tablet or phone for reading, most other stores offer apps (like Kobo). And remember, your bought books on Kindle will remain in your library–they don’t go anywhere, you’ll still have your notes.

I strongly caution Kindle users to consider having an alternative in general because Amazon can fuck with them as well when they’ve got users locked in, but the likelihood is that everyone else will keep their books there because they can’t afford not to (I cannot afford not to either but, well, I would rather my career collapse than put up with this) so you’ll still have lots of books.

Godspeed to those who remain.

Follow-up post is here.

Edited to add: probably too late for this to make a difference, but having to devote a lot of time to dealing with Amazon and then keeping Bluesky informed, atop hours spent trying to get Barnes & Noble to pay me, has eaten into my regular work hours. If any of this has been helpful to you, please consider buying me a ko-fi.

The next one is here! You can listen to Solomon’s Seal at Everand now.

EX-DEBUTANTE. SINGLE MOTHER. TREASURE HUNTER.

Disowned and left penniless for getting pregnant as a teen, former celebutante Olivia Talbot was willing to do whatever it took to provide for her daughter…including become a treasure hunter. After the Pulse hit, activating relics of legend, there are plenty of artifacts to be had—not to mention wealthy clients willing to pay top dollar for them.

Just as her daughter’s private school tuition cheque bounces, Livi gets an offer that could be the break she needs to return to some semblance of her former life. A powerful man wants her to travel to Ethiopia and retrieve the Seal of Solomon—a mythical ring said to control demons and djinn—and this bounty comes with one hell of a financial pay off.

The deadline: a week. The team: unreliable. The competition: her world-renowned archaeologist older brother. Nothing Livi can’t handle… Except the danger goes beyond a few subterranean serpent-dragons she might encounter or tangling with her employer’s deadly second-in-command. This client isn’t all he seems, and handing him the ring might be worse than what he’ll do to her—and her daughter—if she doesn’t.

There’s a dedicated audiobook page now because some people only do that format, with the same FAQs I’ve already covered.

I haven’t listened–a few friends have heard the sample and liked it, and said the narrator really got it (she was one of my suggestions, based on a friend’s suggestion) including West, and I trust them so I hope readers enjoy it.

You have no idea how much I wish I could at least have gotten the seventh book drafted so it would at least be “done-ish” and I wouldn’t be in this place, but I am so severed from these books now I don’t even feel like I wrote them. Still hoping to come back to it, and maybe if I sell enough of something I can get that time devoted to focusing on it (which is what last fall was supposed to be but…yeah), but I can’t predict that right now.

Odin’s Spear will be available on May 6, I am told…which is also Waverly 4’s release date. Honestly, no wonder I’m a basket case this month, besides the fact that it’s April (so many death anniversaries, I’m always terrified of another hitting, and this past weekend was really rough on me) there has been the boxset release, three audiobooks now, and the main planned release coming in three weeks.

At least the fall will be quiet?