☕ When Amazon Sneezes, Authors Catch a Cold (But Don’t Panic Yet)
Okay, mis amores, let’s talk about the big scary cloud in the room — literally. ☁️
What happens if Amazon Web Services (AWS) — the digital behemoth behind Kindle, KDP, and half the internet — decides to take a long, unexpected nap? Today’s indication hints that this could be possible.
Deep breath, cafecito sip. ☕
The good news: Amazon has backups for their backups, and even those backups have babysitters. The bad news: a big outage could still send us indie authors into a brief telenovela-level panic.
💻 1️⃣ When AWS Crashes Like a Bad Telenovela Ending
If AWS ever went poof in a catastrophic, unrecoverable way, it wouldn’t just be authors crying into their coffee — it would be millions of businesses around the world.
Think websites freezing, streaming platforms collapsing, and a lot of tech people frantically rebooting things that don’t want to reboot.
Realistically, a total, permanent collapse is about as likely as me giving up pastelitos. 🥐 Not happening. AWS is built on global redundancy (fancy tech for “lots of backup servers in different places”), so while temporary outages can happen, a total digital apocalypse is rare.
Still, it never hurts to plan — because being prepared beats dramatic fainting every time.
🕵️♀️ 2️⃣ What It Means for Authors (AKA When Your Dashboard Ghosts You)
If Amazon ever has a major, prolonged outage, here’s what it could look like for us cozy authors:
Your KDP dashboard goes dark — no stats, no royalties, just the spinning circle of doom.
Book listings freeze — no new purchases, no downloads.
Promos, ads, and Kindle deals? Stuck in digital limbo.
Royalties temporarily on hold (don’t worry, they’ll come back once Amazon finds itself again).
Your manuscripts and covers still belong to you, but you might not be able to access them if they’re stored only in Amazon’s cloud.
So yes — cue dramatic music and one very strong cafecito. But remember, it’s temporary.
💾 3️⃣ How to Protect Yourself (and Your Sanity)
Let’s trade panic for digital resilience — think of it as prepping your author casa for storm season.
🔐 Step One: Back Up Like Abuela Taught You
Save your manuscripts, formatted interiors, and covers in three places:
💻 Your computer
🧱 An external hard drive or SSD
☁️ A non-Amazon cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud — pick your favorite flavor of safety)Keep a little KDP spreadsheet with your metadata — book descriptions, keywords, ISBNs, prices, and categories. Because when chaos hits, organized authors sleep better.
🗞 Step Two: Build Your Own Reader Channels
Amazon may be your marketplace, but you are your brand. Don’t give one company all the power over your career, cariño.
✉️ Email list: Platforms like MailerLite, ConvertKit, or Substack help you stay in touch no matter what.
🌐 Your website: Keep it hosted outside of Amazon’s reach (Squarespace, WordPress, or Wix).
💬 Social media: Keep your Cozy Mystery Village, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest communities alive and brewing.
These are your lifeboats — or, as I like to call them, your backup bookstores.
❤️ Final Sip
In the unlikely event Amazon’s cloud drifts away, your readers will still be out there waiting — cafecito in hand, ready for the next adventure.
So breathe, back up your files, keep your community close, and remember: even if the internet catches fire, a good mystery (and a good writer) always finds a way to rise from the ashes. 🔥📚☕
💬 Now, mi cozy crew…
If Amazon disappeared tomorrow, what would you do first — panic, pour another cafecito, or finally start that blog you’ve been putting off? 😅
Tell me in the comments — I promise not to judge (unless you say “switch to decaf”).
A Dios, Goodbye, Addio, et Au Revoir, mes amis.
Stay cozy my friends!
☕ Ileana Muñoz-Renfroe
Fueled by Cafecito & Contingency Plans
