I have a question for my fellow writers/bloggers. Is it possible to boycott Amazon and still give your book a fighting chance?

I’m definitely getting ahead of myself here, because I’m not yet a traditionally or self-published author of any type of book, but like so many, I plan to be some day very soon. I’d like to think it will be one of my many novel starts, but more likely I will complete and self-publish (and self market) a guide to business social media before finishing anything else, but I digress.

I already know the P.O.D. publisher I will approach first. I’ve been a fan of Angela Hoy and her Writers Weekly newsletter since about 2002. Her other business she shares with her husband BookLocker.com will be my first choice for publishing for a number of reasons, which don’t particularly matter for the purposes of this blog.

I closely followed BookLocker’s antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, and some of you may also remember when your “buy” buttons disappeared on your Amazon listings. After reading about the incredible fight and “settlement” (in my opinion, Booklocker won), and hearing about all the ways Amazon is trying to take control of books away from authors, I’ve developed a healthy distaste for this Goliath of the industry.

So that’s why I’m asking, do you think any book has a fighting chance if it’s not listed through Amazon? I tend to think if an author is doing his or her own marketing anyway, where the book is available doesn’t really matter, but I recognize that’s likely wishful thinking and/or naivete. If you’re driving traffic to your book, that traffic should follow the roadmap you give them to get to your book, shouldn’t they?

I also live in the Pacific Northwest where Powell’s Books is a regional leader. I tend to think an online listing with them would be almost as good, and certainly ethically preferable, to listing on Amazon.

Thoughts anyone? Have any of you out there chosen not to list with Amazon due to ethical objections to any of their business practices? Please comment and educate me.