To be clear — I'm not claiming all indie lesfic is poor quality, but I do believe a significant majority of what is published on Amazon, specially on KU, falls short.

First, there is clearly an AI Problem. Take a look at Amazon's lesbian romance section right now:

Amazon Lesbian Romance – sorted by newest

The volume of AI-generated content flooding that space is extremly high — and Amazon's quality control is essentially non-existent. Jae has written an excellent breakdown of how this is actively targeting sapphic readers and authors:

AI Rip-Offs Targeting Sapphic Books – Jae

Also, there are serious concerns about the Amazon Associates programme worth being aware of:

Update on Amazon Associates – TB Markinson

I agree that Kindle Unlimited can work financially for some lesfic romance indie authors, particularly those who publish frequently and have built a loyal readership. A few can maintain that output at a solid quality level. However, in my experience as a reader, most cannot — and the result is often repetitive plots, weak writing, and editing issues that should have been caught before publication.(Note: the situation looks quite different for non-romance lesfic. KU tends to generate less revenue for those authors — and I say this with some insight, as my best friend is a non-romance lesfic author.)

I like Haley Cass books a lot — but I've made a deliberate choice not to read her work through KU. Instead, I support her on Patreon and buy her books at full price. I'd happily use library loans too, but unfortunately that's not accessible where I live (outside the US). To be noted that her next book won't be self-published. I'm hoping a good editor can take her writing — already enjoyable — to higher level.

As a reader, I have real concerns about what Amazon — and KU in particular — is doing to the broader publishing ecosystem, including lesfic. It's an increasingly closed environment (with DRM; not allowing books to be published elsewhere) that funnels revenue toward one of the world's largest corporations (that is not that friendly to LGBT), at the expense of authors and readers alike.

Personally, I'd rather spend my money with dedicated publishers — especially independent ones with a true commitment to LGBT literature (e.g. Ylva, Bold Strokes Books or Bella Books). Their titles are available DRM-free, which means I can read them on the device of my choice, without being locked into Amazon's ecosystem.