Dear Author (or Author Representative), Thank you so much for your interest in Four Seasons Books. We appreciate the time, effort, and heart that goes into writing and publishing a book — truly, we do.
However, we are unable to consider books published through Amazon’s self-publishing platforms (including KDP, CreateSpace, or any Amazon-affiliated printing services). There are a few reasons for this decision:
We do not financially support Amazon or its subsidiaries. Amazon is not just another distributor — it’s a direct competitor whose business practices actively harm independent bookstores, small publishers, and local economies like ours here in Shepherdstown and the Eastern Panhandle. As part of the indie bookstore community, we are also engaged in larger efforts to hold Amazon accountable for these harmful practices.
It’s a matter of ethics and sustainability. Even if the legal and competitive issues didn’t exist, we believe in aligning our business choices with our values. Supporting Amazon-published books works directly against the survival of stores like ours.
It’s not smart business. As a brick-and-mortar indie, we simply cannot put our limited time, money, and shelf space into supporting the operations of a company whose long-term goal is to put stores like Four Seasons Books out of business.
If you choose to publish through other means — especially using services like Ingram Spark or other non-Amazon distributors — we’d be happy to reevaluate your book at that time.
Thank you again for your understanding and for respecting the hard work it takes to keep an independent bookstore thriving. We wish you the best in your publishing journey and hope to hear from you if your distribution path changes.