Notice to Authors!
Last Day to Sign Up & A Few Words About Going DRM-Free
Two items of note.
First: It’s the Last Day to Sign Up!
Today Monday May 18 is the last day to sign up for the Summer 2026 Based Book Sale.
For one week, readers across the parallel literary ecosystem will descend upon a growing trove of based science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, dramas, mystery and non-fiction with titles discounted to $0.99 or free.
If you’ve been meaning to join, this is your last call before the gates close.
Bring your best work. Based Readers are waiting for you. Click through to the Call for Authors post, follow the instructions, and leave a comment.
Second: How to Go DRM-Free on Amazon
Second, another note for participating authors: if you want your ebook to be DRM-free on Amazon Kindle, you must explicitly select that option on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) page for your book. Go to a title on your Bookshelf , click the three dots, and select “Edit eBook Content.
Choose “No, do not apply Digital Rights Management.” Check the “I understand…” box. Click “Save and Continue” at the bottom of the page.
That takes you to pricing. Click “Publish Your eBook” at the bottom of that page.
Amazon allows authors to decide this on a per-title basis. DRM mainly restricts copying and device portability; many indie authors choose to disable it because it can frustrate legitimate readers more than it deters piracy. Amazon’s KDP documentation explains how to check or change DRM settings from your Bookshelf dashboard if this isn’t working for you for some reason.
As of Amazon’s 2025–2026 policy changes, DRM-free Kindle titles may also be eligible for EPUB and PDF downloads, making them easier for readers to archive and read across different devices and applications. Older titles may require manually revisiting the DRM settings in KDP for those download options to become available.
What About Readers?
Once you purchase a DRM-free ebook on Amazon, you can generally download it through your DRM-free books from their Manage Your Content and Devices page on Amazon. Depending on the title and Amazon’s current rollout, DRM-free books may be downloadable in Kindle, EPUB, or PDF-compatible formats for transfer to Kindle devices, tablets, phones, PCs, Kobos, and other e-readers. The exact options available can vary by title and publication date.
Readers should also remember that “buying” most ebooks on major platforms is technically the purchase of a license rather than permanent ownership in the traditional print-book sense. Many authors participating in the Based Book Sale prefer DRM-free distribution because it gives readers more control over their purchased libraries, makes archival easier, and reduces dependence on any single corporate ecosystem.
What About Other Platforms?
The Based Book Sale is not Amazon-exclusive. Authors are welcomed and encouraged to include direct links to their own websites, publishers, alternative storefronts, EPUB downloads, Kobo listings, or any other lawful platform where readers can purchase their books. The goal is to build a parallel literary economy, not funnel every transaction through a single corporate gatekeeper.
That said, our public sales statistics and leaderboard data are derived from Amazon Affiliate Link tracking. If a reader purchases your book through a non-Amazon link, we generally have no reliable way to measure or attribute that sale within the sale-wide metrics. Those purchases still benefit the author directly, but they will not appear in our aggregate statistics, rankings, clickthrough reports, or “top seller” summaries generated from affiliate data.
In practice, this means authors face a tradeoff between maximizing independently controlled sales channels and maximizing visibility within the sale’s shared statistical ecosystem. Some authors may prefer to prioritize direct ownership of customer relationships and DRM-free distribution; others may prefer the discoverability and ranking effects generated by concentrated Amazon traffic during the event. The Based Book Sale supports both approaches and leaves the balance to participating authors.
Here’s the sale link!
Be sure you are signed up to get the sale post when it goes live on Wednesday.
Our next Based Book Sale will be May 20-26, 2026.
That’s it for now. Thanks for being part of the Based Book community.
Appreciate the Based Book Sale, but maybe not quite enough to spring for a paid subscription?
Then click on the button below to buy me a coffee. Thanks!
"The goal is to build a parallel literary economy, not funnel every transaction through a single corporate gatekeeper." this is very important imo.
Another note for authors who are not part of the Kindle Select program: since you cannot schedule an Amazon sales promotion, change your price today or tomorrow, as it can take up to 72 hours for the change to finish processing. For me, it consistently takes only a few hours, but better to have an extra day or two at $.99 than to potentially miss out on the first day of the sale because your price chance is still processing.