Amazon KDP publishing and distribution: Some anomalies

I suspect that like a lot of people, I had the impression that Amazon was a monolithic organisation that had its tentacles pretty well everywhere ... but I have recently discovered that this is not true.

When I published THE PORTABLE PIKE AND SHOT WARGAME book in paperback and Kindle editions, I assumed – wrongly, as it turned out – that it would be sold by Amazon worldwide. In fact, although this is true for the Kindle edition, the paperback edition cannot currently be bought online in quite a few countries. The following table shows where the paperback and Kindle editions can (indicated by a tick) and cannot (indicated by a blank space) be bought.

Whereas I suspect that sales of the book will not be particularly high in most non-European countries, the anomaly that the paperback cannot be bought online across the globe is something that I hope to address. To this end, I have ordered the printing of several 'author's copies'. When they arrive, I intend to sell them direct to those purchasers who are currently unable to buy the paperback in the country where they live. I am not sure how I will do this, but it will probably involve purchasers emailing me a request and me responding with an invoice that – once paid – will result in the book being posted to them.

All of this will, however, have to wait until I have had my forthcoming operation. In the meantime, I ask those potential purchasers to remain patient.