How to slowly de-Amazon your (reading) life
I started off writing about de-Googling because Google is often the most difficult to disentangle from. Assuming you've done at least the 101-level tips (using an ad-blocker and anything other than Chrome), you're now in a good place to move off of Amazon.
The easiest and most obvious place to start is to stop ordering physical goods from them. Delete the app from your phone, remove all your payment methods from your profile, and block the website. Make it a hassle to pull up the site to browse. I know all big box stores are problematic and there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, but this is a step in fully divesting from Amazon. We do local grocery stores, direct websites, and yes, Walmart when we need to. It's practice in shopping with intent, and in asking yourself if you really need the thing if you have to pay $5 more for shipping or leave your house to buy it.
The next thing is my primary focus for the post: finding alternatives for your Kindle and Audible content. I know this is a small segment of the general population, but avid readers tend to be creatures of habit, and I think this is a task that people abandon too quickly because it feels so insurmountable.
Kindle devices lock you into an ecosystem and, like Google, it can be really difficult to break free. At the very least, Amazon used to offer a way to download your Kindle purchases to your computer and transfer via USB, but they restricted that earlier this year, making it even harder to take your books elsewhere. If you haven't already downloaded your Kindle library locally, it's nearly impossible to do now.
That said, before we get into anything else, resolve to stop buying ebooks and audiobooks from Kindle and Audible today. You do not have to abandon your Kindle to continue reading. You can use Overdrive/Libby to borrow ebooks from your local library.
For audiobooks, Libro.fm is a great alternative to Audible, allows you to download your audiobooks DRM-free so you can play them in any app, and shares profits with a bookstore of your choice. Bookshop.org is a similar alternative for ebooks, but you can also opt to get ebooks straight from the author or publisher. They will likely be more expensive than Amazon, but you will be getting files that you can use in any ereader or app of your choice and you will be supporting local bookshops or authors. To get these onto your Kindle, you can either use the regular Send to Kindle feature, or use Calibre.
Calibre is a library manager that you will need to download to your computer. Drop your books into the app, download the metadata to clean it up, then connect your Kindle to your computer to transfer. It's not gorgeous by any means, but it's a great way to deal with your ebooks without having to rely on Amazon.
With your library in Calibre, your books will be much easier to transfer to other devices. So WHEN YOU ARE READY (or whenever your Kindle finally dies), I implore you to look into the world of non-Kindle ereaders. Look up Kobo, Boox, or Pocketbook. Some ereaders run on Android, through which you'll still be able to download the Kindle app and read your previously purchased books, but you won't have to stay locked in the Amazon ecosystem.
I've had a couple of Boox devices and have been very happy using BookFusion (an awesome Caribbean company that just provided Jamaican students with free access to any of their textbooks) as my main reading app. BookFusion is also compatible with ebook/audio files for immersive reading.
None of this is sponsored; I'm just recommending things that have worked really well for me. These seem to be a couple of the biggest hurdles in people getting Amazon out of their lives, so hopefully this is helpful to some of you!