Cool Daniel has a problem with Kindle Unlimited (KU), and as a result, he has decided to pull the entire Vinestead Anthology from the KU program over the next few months. Most titles will disappear on March 24, 2025, with a couple of stragglers following on in May. After that, if you want to read his books, you'll need to purchase them outright, and all things considered, he recommends the more expensive print versions, not for his sake, but for yours.

So what's the problem, man?

Not familiar with KU? See: Kindle Unlimited FAQ

It would take a longer discussion to spell out the various moral and ethical problems with a service like Kindle Unlimited, so let's just look at the highlights.

• Lack of Ownership - it's the same problem as "purchasing" ebooks; you don't actually own anything at the end of the day. You have a license. Put that in one hand and a pile of poop in the other and you'll have a pile of poop.
• Library Limitations - KU includes traditionally published authors, self-published authors, and ding dongs who are trying to game the system with low-content books or literary nightmares written by AI–and the noise is only growing louder.
• Royalties - as far as I can tell, authors only get paid for the first time you read our books. If you remain subscribed for ten years, pay Amazon $$$$ in fees, we only see our $3 payout once.
• Censorship - we already saw Bezos bend the knee to Trump. What's to stop him from removing all "banned books" from amazon.com on the President's orders? Certainly not... you know... a spine.

For such a personal activity, we sure do put a lot of trust in Amazon and Bezos to allow us access to the books we want to read.

Between Us Girls 🔒