Amazon discontinuing Kindle store blog publishing on August 19, 2019
It’s the end of an era.
On August 19th of this year, less than a week away, Amazon will stop (at least in the USA) publishing blogs through the Kindle store.
While this affects me considerably, my first priority is to thank all of the paid subscribers who have supported this blog, and my other two blogs (The Measured Circle and 221B Blog Street).
Seriously, I’ve really appreciated it!
This blog started on August 28th, 2009…so it won’t quite be a decade when they end it.
During that time, I’ve had great discussions with readers. I feel like I’ve helped a lot of people. I think I’ve written some good things.
It’s also been a source of income for me. While that went down a lot over time (the number of people paying to subscribe to blogs has always been a small market), it’s still significant.
I’m an anomaly on that, though. I doubt 99% of blog publishers through Amazon make, say, $20 a month.
That’s why they are stopping it, I’m sure.
Why did people ever pay?
Really, the reason why is to get it on Kindles…people reading on tablets, phones, or computers, read it through a browser.
Let’s start there.
I expect to keep writing the blog. While the money has been nice, and I’ve been able to use it to buy Amazon products to test for you, that’s never been the main reason.
The site on the web for this one is here:
https://ilmk.wordpress.com/
There are a lot of ways to subscribe to a blog like that: it’s available through RSS (Really Simple Syndication).
I’ll write more about this, maybe give you some specific apps.
I really wanted to get this out tonight, and at least hit the high points:
- If you subscribe through the Kindle store, no new posts will appear starting on August 19, 2019
- They’ll refund any prorated money you have coming out of the $0.99 month
- This blog will continue to be published through WordPress…although the nature of it might change a bit
I may have to think about another way to earn money from my writing. One way would be to start doing ads on this blog…not my favorite. Really, this is affecting me emotionally. I’ll think about that another time.
Thank you. Thanks especially to the subscribers, but also to everyone who has read and hopefully will continue to read this blog.
Special than you to reader Karin, who alerted me to the e-mail received from Amazon about the discontinuation. That’s what I got…just an e-mail, with no special features to call it out. The subject line? “Notice About Your Kindle Blogs”.
I’m thinking about the other bloggers…maybe there’s a way for us to get together to do an oral history kind of thing…
Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!
All aboard The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!
Bufo’s Alexa Skills
* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get. 
Shop ’til you help!
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
I Love My Kindle 