When Amazon first launched in 1995, it described itself as “the world’s biggest bookshop”. In 2026, that description is not far from the truth. The company has grown into the most dominant player in the global book market.
It has totally changed the way that books are published, discovered, and sold.
For authors, especially those like myself who self-publish, Amazon created an unprecedented opportunity. Today, the unknown writer can see their work published alongside best-selling, big-name authors. And if your book sells, it can be life-changing, like winning the lottery.
However, while Amazon makes the process of submitting a book for publication a relatively straightforward process, it has also introduced new challenges in what has become an increasingly crowded marketplace.
The Numbers That Powered Amazon’s Book Market Dominance
The scale of Amazon’s presence in the book world is remarkable. Today, the company takes approximately 37–38% of global book sales revenue (SmartBuy). It is the largest bookseller in the world by a wide margin.
The dominance of Amazon is even bigger online. Across the world, the majority of readers buy books through Amazon. It has become the online go-to place for those looking to buy a book. In the UK, around 68% of book buyers report purchasing from Amazon in the past year (Statistica).
The platform also dominates the digital reading market:
- They sell around 487 million Kindle e-books annually (Marketing Scoop).
- Kindle takes about 67–68% of the e-book market. That number increases when subscription services like Kindle Unlimited are included (About E-Books).
- Amazon lists more than 32 million titles online (The Small Business Blog).
When it comes to self-publishing, Amazon is the first place many writers will go to. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) dominates the self-publishing sector. Estimates suggest it controls over 80% of the self-publishing market (Gitnux).
Around 31% of all e-books sold on Amazon are self-published (Marketing Scoop).
The Opportunities for Self-Published Authors
In the past, writers had to persuade a traditional publisher to take them on. This can be a difficult and lengthy process. It is also one where you have to have a “thick skin”, as rejection is the norm. It can take years to be accepted, and even then, it might never happen.
The truth is, you not only need to be an excellent writer but also get lucky. Traditional publishers can be, and are, picky. For them, it is an investment, and they don’t always get it right. Many a bestseller was rejected by a traditional publisher before finally being accepted.
I chose to go the self-publishing route for one reason alone — my age. To put it simply, I don’t have the time left in my life to go chasing the rainbow of a publishing contract. I’m not against the idea; I would love to be offered one! There are obvious advantages to it, but I couldn’t wait.
If I were starting out again, in my twenties, I would try that now. But when I was that age, it still wasn’t easy. This was long before the digital age. You had to use a typewriter to write your book, and then employ a typist to make it look professional.
Then, there was a lot of legwork, finding a publisher. It was like that until PCs, laptops, and the internet came along. And now, AI. When I was young, it wasn’t a two-minute job to find things on the internet, asking ChatGPT for a list. You had to spend days in the local library, searching reference books.
Technology changed all that.
Today, once your book is written, anyone can upload a manuscript to Amazon’s KDP platform and reach readers worldwide within days.
For self-published authors, this brings several advantages.
Global Reach
Amazon gives authors access to a global audience instantly. There are millions of readers out there, buying books. A writer in the UK can sell books to readers in the United States, Australia, Europe, or India with no traditional publishing required.
The market is vast.
Higher Royalties
There is also the potential of higher royalties on each sale. Self-published authors can earn up to 70% royalties on many Kindle e-books, which is far higher than what a typical traditional publisher will pay.
Amazon reportedly pays hundreds of millions of dollars each year in royalties to independent authors (wordsrated.com), creating genuine income opportunities for successful writers.
Speed and Control
Self-publishing also means:
- Faster publishing timelines
- Full creative control over cover design, pricing, and marketing
- The ability to update or revise your books whenever needed
For writers, Amazon offers an opportunity now that would have been unimaginable a generation ago.
But, like most things in life, it’s not a straightforward ticket to making riches.
The Downside: A Crowded Marketplace
Do you remember that figure that I mentioned earlier, the 32 million books on Amazon?
It’s a big one, and the success of Amazon is obvious, but for writers it has created a new problem: sheer volume. Millions of books are now available on its website, and the number grows every day.
And it has become an even bigger concern with the rise of AI-produced content.
When you go through the publishing process, Amazon now asks if the book is AI-written. However, even if it is, on their website, they do not separate the AI-produced content from what has been written by “human” writers.
They all sit there together.
AI Slop
The end result is a lot of AI slop, and the independent author’s book might be surrounded by it.
AI can produce a book in an hour or two and a short story in a few minutes. I would suggest that it is not AI that is the issue here; it is the people exploiting it. Often, their only interest is making money, creating another source of income.
But searching for books on Amazon will likely return many AI-written books, most of which probably haven’t been checked for accuracy (especially non-fiction). There is no way of separating them on Amazon’s website (not that I know of).
Visibility
The rise of self-publishing means that barriers to entry are now low, but so is visibility.
Statistics suggest that 90% of self-published books sell fewer than 100 copies (Gitnux). That’s a lot of time and effort for very little reward. I know; I’ve been there.
In other words, simply uploading a book does not guarantee readers or sales.
This leads to one of the biggest challenges for independent authors.
How Do You Make Your Book Stand Out?
With millions of titles competing for attention, authors must think beyond just writing the book.
It has been said, for independent authors, writing the book is the easy bit.
Let me assure you, that’s not the case! Writing a book and trying your best to produce something that people will want to read is hard work and takes something that you will never get back — time.
Once it is written, the next job is doing all the work that a publishing company would normally do for the author — marketing and promotion.
Successful self-published authors now have to master other skills:
Professional presentation
- An eye-catching cover design
- Strong book description
- Proper editing and formatting
Then there is Amazon optimisation. Amazon is almost like a search engine. Carefully selected keywords and categories are required to help books appear in relevant searches.
I enjoy doing some of these, for example creating a cover. It means being creative in other ways, but you now have to be a Jack of all trades to publish a book.
Marketing and audience building
Then we are told we have to use.
- social media
- newsletters
- blogs or websites
- reader communities
- Amazon advertising
All of the above are not guaranteed to lead to sales, though.
On social media, you can end up doom-scrolling for hours, lost in what has become a toxic world. Reader communities are often full of writers just like you, doing exactly what you are doing — trying to find an audience, perhaps the same audience. And of course, Amazon want you to advertise with them — they make money from that.
Writing the book is only part of the process now. If you just publish and hope for the best, chances are no sales will be the result, other than maybe from family and friends. So, we have to do marketing. It is another skill that indie writers need to master.
A Double-Edged Sword
Amazon has democratised publishing in ways that were unimaginable when I was young. Writers no longer need to find a traditional publisher to reach readers.
But that freedom has created intense competition. With millions of books available now, standing out requires persistence and typically a willingness to learn the business side of writing.
And here is the truth.
Amazon has become the biggest opportunity in publishing history, but it is also the most competitive marketplace writers have ever faced.
The challenge is no longer getting published.
The challenge is getting noticed.
And the self-published writer might need a bit of luck along the way.
Photo by Marques Thomas on Unsplash
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