Category Kindle Unlimited

Feb 16 2015

Kindle Unlimited—Amazon Just Paid out $8,500,000 for January, 2015

KOLL GSF Chart

KDP Select Global Fund from July, 2014 thru January, 2015

 

KDP SELECT GLOBAL FUND

Amazon has raised the KDP Select Global Fund significantly since the launch of Kindle Unlimited.

The monthly KDP Select Global Fund had been around $500,000 in the days of Amazon Prime, which grew to around $1,000,000 when Prime expanded to Europe.

This figure doubled to $2,000,000 with the debut of Kindle Unlimited in July, 2014, which was just a partial month.

It has grown fast since, reaching $8,500,000 in January, 2015:

  • July, 2014: $2,000,000
  • August, 2014: $2,875,000
  • September, 2014: $4,700,000
  • October, 2014: $5,000,000
  • November, 2014: $5,500,000
  • December, 2014: $7,250,000
  • January, 2015: $8,500,000

This suggests to me that the Kindle Unlimited subscriber base has grown tremendously.

Since Amazon is paying $8,500,000 in royalties through Kindle Unlimited for the month of January, 2015, this shows that this is a significant share of the digital market.

Not every book in KDP Select is benefiting from this, but very many are, which is why Amazon quotes a 95% (or higher) renewal rate in KDP Select each month. That is, most authors and publishers in KDP Select have been content enough with the program to continue their books’ enrollment.

KOLL PAYMENTS FOR KINDLE UNLIMITED

In the days when it was just Amazon Prime, the monthly KOLL payment had averaged around $2 per book.

The KOLL payment has dropped significantly compared to those days, but borrows are way up (overall).

If your sales have held steady and you’re seeing those increased borrows, this is a great combination. In this case, the drop in KOLL payments doesn’t matter. There are many authors in KDP Select who are enjoying this.

Some authors’ sales and/or borrows are declining. But if so, it may not have anything to do with Kindle Unlimited. With so many other books being released and so many other authors marketing their books, sales have a natural tendency to drop off at some point, unless you continue to deliver fresh content to the market and implement effective continued marketing of your own. Plus, after January, many books’ sales tend to decrease. It’s a seasonal trend. There are so many factors involved, it’s very hard to pinpoint a single culprit when sales turn south.

I look at two things in a recent announcement from KDP:

  • The 95% renewal rate in KDP Select shows that the vast majority of KDP Select authors are content with the program.
  • This quote: “Total earnings on titles priced $2.99 or greater are growing faster than the overall average. The same is true for titles 150+ pages in length.” It looks like many serious authors with long-term goals are thriving in KDP Select.

KOLL payments have started to level off around $1.40 per book. In January, 2015, KOLL paid $1.38 per book. Here is the trend:

  • July, 2014: $1.81
  • August, 2014: $1.54
  • September, 2014: $1.52
  • October, 2014: $1.33
  • November, 2014: $1.39
  • December, 2014: $1.43
  • January, 2015: $1.38
KOLL Chart

KOLL payments from July, 2014 thru January, 2015

 

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2015

Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • 4-in-1 Boxed set includes both volumes and more

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

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Jan 16 2015

Kindle Unlimited Myths

Kindle Myths

KINDLE UNLIMITED MYTHS

There are many myths about KDP Select floating around.

We now have several months of data, including data released directly from KDP.

In some cases, these facts debunk popular myths.

Let me begin by answering a question that may be on many authors’ minds, and then I’ll get to the myths vs. facts about Kindle Unlimited.

WHAT DID KINDLE UNLIMITED PAY IN DECEMBER, 2014?

Kindle Unlimited paid $1.43 per download read to 10% in December, 2014.

This brings me to the first myth.

MYTH #1: KINDLE UNLIMITED IS GOING DOWN EVERY MONTH

Actually, it’s gone up a little the past two months.

In October, 2014, it was $1.33. It climbed up to $1.39 in November, 2014, and again to $1.43 in December, 2014.

Despite the extra holiday traffic in December—especially, the after-Christmas traffic with people who received new Kindles—the Kindle Unlimited payments went up.

I think that’s a great sign.

MYTH #2: MANY AUTHORS ARE DROPPING OUT OF KDP SELECT BECAUSE THE ROYALTIES ARE TOO LOW

Amazon released data today (January 15, 2015) that contradicts this myth.

According to Amazon’s announcement, the renewal rate for KDP Select has remained above 95% each month in 2014.

Have you heard that 25%, 50%, or even 70% of KDP Select authors are dropping out of Select? Have you heard that soon there won’t be any good books to read in Kindle Unlimited? Wrong!

Fewer than 5% are dropping out.

This also shows that the vast majority of KDP Select authors are content (at least) with the KOLL payments.

At least, many feel that the benefits of staying in outweigh the cons of leaving, or continue to wait one more month to see which way things are headed.

With another month of the KOLL payments increasing, they’re headed in a positive direction.

MYTH #3: AUTHORS ARE LOSING MONEY WITH KINDLE UNLIMITED

In an announcement released by Amazon today (January 15, 2015):

  • KDP Select authors have seen faster “a la carte sales growth” than both KDP overall and Kindle overall during the five full months of Kindle Unlimited.
  • The total royalties paid to KDP Select authors for the full five months of Kindle Unlimited “more than doubled” in comparison to the same data from 2013.

No wonder there is a 95% renewal rate.

For every author who is losing money with Kindle Unlimited, there are several others whose books are thriving in the program.

MYTH #5: KINDLE UNLIMITED FAVORS 99-CENT E-BOOKS

This myth comes from the notion that 99-cent e-books earn the same Kindle Unlimited royalty as $9.99 e-books. In fact, for a 99-cent e-book, the KOLL payment actually exceeds the list price. Imagine earning $1.43 for a 99-cent book, instead of the usual 34 cents.

The worry is that more authors will put out less effort, writing shorter and shorter books.

But wait! That doesn’t mean that Kindle Unlimited subscribers are suddenly going to start preferring e-books that reflect less effort! Most authors who write shorter e-books will discover that the shorts market isn’t easy to crack.

Here’s the FACT:

According to Amazon’s announcement today, “total earnings on titles priced $2.99 or greater are growing faster than the overall average. The same is true for titles 150+ pages in length.”

Aha! Kindle Unlimited subscribers aren’t diving down for shorter e-books after all. They’re looking for a good value, just as might be expected.

A related worry is that authors of $2.99 and higher e-books will put out of the program, so all that will be left are shorter e-books.

But here’s another FACT: There is a 95% renewal rate. With KDP Select authors seeing the fastest Kindle growth, many will be staying in the program.

MYTH #6: AMAZON DOESN’T CARE IF THE KINDLE UNLIMITED PAYMENTS GO DOWN

Back in the days where there was only Prime, the KDP Global Select Fund was around $1,000,000.

This jumped up to a few million when Kindle Unlimited came out.

In December, 2014, the KDP Global Select Fund started at $3,000,000.

Amazon added another $4,250,000 on top of this.

This brings the December, 2014 KDP Global Select Fund up to $7,250,000.

They more than doubled the three-million dollar starting value.

That’s a lot of money.

Amazon paid a huge sum of money, much more than originally announced.

Amazon did this to raise the KOLL payments up to $1.43 from November.

They could easily have dropped it down to the $1.20’s, not much lower than it had been, and this small difference would have saved Amazon a very large sum of money.

To me, this shows that Amazon wants to retain the authors who’ve remained in KDP Select, by trying to prevent the KOLL payments from dropping too low.

MYTH #7: AMAZON DOESN’T CARE ABOUT AUTHORS

I know, Amazon is first and foremost a business. The number one priority is profit, right?

But the customer is paramount toward long-term profit, and Amazon has proven itself to be focused more on long-term gains than short-term gains (sometimes to the dismay of its investors).

Amazon has also demonstrated itself to be strongly oriented toward customer satisfaction.

Amazon rolled out its red carpet to indie authors who were being rejected time and again. Amazon has thrived from this decision, and continues to do so.

Amazon pays upwards of 70% royalties to indie authors for sales.

Kindle Unlimited is benefiting indie authors. KDP Select authors are seeing faster growth than non-Select Kindle authors. Amazon released data to support this today.

In Amazon’s announcement today, they specifically mentioned great feedback that they have received from authors, and that they are considering this feedback and how to continue to improve Kindle Unlimited for both authors and readers.

Amazon needs the support of both authors and readers to make Kindle Unlimited work.

Amazon just poured $7.25 million into the KDP Global Select Fund for December to raise the KOLL payments to $1.43 per borrow. That’s a big investment in the program.

MYTH #8: AUTHORS ARE LOSING MONEY BY ENROLLING IN KDP SELECT

If your book is priced $2.99 or higher, your royalty is $2 or more (unless you have a huge delivery fee).

Some argue that if a customer borrows your book through Kindle Unlimited and you earn, say, $1.43, you’re losing money because a sale pays $2 or more.

But here’s the thing: The customer who borrowed the book probably wouldn’t have bought the book.

I’m a Kindle Unlimited subscriber myself. In the past month, I turned down several books that I was strongly considering, but which weren’t in Kindle Unlimited. If they had been in Kindle Unlimited, I would have borrowed them. But they weren’t and I passed.

There are now three main markets:

  • Customers who aren’t in Kindle Unlimited who buy Kindle e-books.
  • Customers who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited who borrow Kindle e-books.
  • Customers who buy non-Kindle e-books.

KDP Select authors reach two of these markets.

The Kindle Unlimited market is a huge potential asset for indie authors. Customers might be willing to try a book they normally wouldn’t have read because they incur no additional cost to take a chance on that book.

MYTH #9: KDP SELECT WAS BETTER WHEN IT WAS ONLY AMAZON PRIME

The KOLL payments were higher when it was only Amazon Prime. The KOLL payment was usually $2 or a little more.

But Amazon Prime customers can only borrow one free book per month.

This means that most books didn’t receive many borrows when it was only Prime.

Kindle Unlimited is paying about 30% less, presently, than in the days of only Amazon Prime.

But there are many, many more borrows through Kindle Unlimited than there ever were through Amazon Prime.

Many KDP Select books are benefiting from these additional borrows. Not everyone, of course.

But according to Amazon’s announcement today, KDP Select authors are seeing the fastest growth, and most authors are content or happy enough to renew their enrollment.

MYTH #10: KINDLE UNLIMITED DOESN’T HAVE MANY CUSTOMERS

Amazon just put $7.25 million into the KDP Select Global Fund for December, 2014.

Yet the KOLL payment was $1.43 per download read to 10%.

That’s a very large customer base. There are millions of downloads read to 10% each month.

The KDP Select Global Fund continues to rise, a sign of a growing customer base.

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2015

Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • 4-in-1 Boxed set includes both volumes and more

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

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Jan 3 2015

KINDLE UNLIMITED

Kindle Image

Background image from ShutterStock

 

KINDLE UNLIMITED

Toward the end of July, 2014, Amazon introduced a new subscription service called Kindle Unlimited, which allows customers to read unlimited books for $9.99 (US price) per month.

  • This includes 100,000 traditionally published books in addition to 600,000 KDP Select books.
  • Most of the traditionally published books are from smaller publishers, but include some popular books such as Harry Potter.
  • Customers can borrow up to 10 different books at a time (whereas Amazon Prime allows just one borrow per month).
  • Kindle Unlimited only pays a royalty when a customer reaches 10% of the book’s length.
  • All Kindle Unlimited downloads affect sales rank, regardless of whether or not the customer reaches the 10% mark.
  • Royalties for Kindle Unlimited borrows have been as low as $1.30, down considerably from around $2 prior to Kindle Unlimited.
  • Many books receive numerous Kindle Unlimited borrows, while borrows were much more scarce when it had been only Amazon Prime.
  • The KDP Select Global Fund has increased dramatically, from around $1 million to around $5 million per month.
  • Self-publishers must enroll in KDP Select in order to participate in Kindle Unlimited. The trade-off is exclusivity: You can’t publish your e-book elsewhere while your book is enrolled in the program (and you can only opt out when your 90-day enrollment period is about to renew; you must deselect the auto-renewal first).

PUBLISHING IMPACT

Remember the early days of self-publishing?

  • The naysayers claimed that it would ruin literacy, that it would be impossible to find quality books, that it would devalue books, that customers wouldn’t support it.
  • Traditional publishers and their advocates either ignored it or marketed against it, highlighting its faults and the benefits of traditional publishing.
  • Thousands of authors who had heard successful self-publishing stories sought to get rich quickly with little effort. They soon realized it wasn’t as easy as it seemed, that you really have to produce quality content for a target audience and package and market the book well, and the worst tend to fall to the bottom where they don’t get in the way.
  • But millions of readers continue to support self-published books, it’s not too hard to find good books with a little shopping wisdom, and self-publishing now takes up a significant share of the publishing industry.

History is repeating itself with Kindle Unlimited.

  • Some authors see the low payout (around $1.30) and the 10% threshold and feel that Kindle Unlimited favors shorter books. But those authors who plan to use Kindle Unlimited to get rich quickly with less effort will find, just as with self-publishing in general, that you still need to produce quality content that pleases and attracts a target audience. Nothing is easy, and there is much competition. Just turning out crud isn’t likely to be rewarded.
  • Naysayers continue to complain about literacy being ruined and books being devalued, especially now that you can read books for a low monthly subscription. But really, this works out to $120 per year, which isn’t cheap in the long-term. Kindle Unlimited may actually encourage more reading than ever before, as you need to read more books to feel like you’re getting your money’s worth.
  • Traditional publishers and their advocates aren’t sure what to make of Kindle Unlimited. Hoping it will go away doesn’t appear to be a viable solution. Some self-publishing books landed on bestseller lists when Kindle Unlimited launched.
  • There is a significant audience for Kindle Unlimited. Just compare the $5 million or so global fund to the $1.30 or so payout. There are very many books being read through Kindle Unlimited.

NEW AUDIENCE

What Kindle Unlimited really does for the publishing industry is divide the digital audience into two distinct groups:

  • Customers who purchase e-books.
  • Customers who borrow e-books through Kindle Unlimited.

Both audiences are significant.

A Kindle Unlimited subscriber isn’t likely to purchase an e-book. Not when you can get 600,000 for free. For the most part, a borrowed book isn’t a lost sale. It’s in addition to sales.

The real question for authors is this: Would you sell enough e-books through Nook, Kobo, and elsewhere (keeping in mind that Apple customers can use the Kindle app) to compensate for the borrows that you would get through Kindle Unlimited?

For new, self-published authors trying to establish themselves, it may be wise to start out with Kindle Unlimited. Many feel that Kindle Unlimited customers are more likely to give their books a shot, since there is nothing to lose. If you’re not happy with Kindle Unlimited, you can always opt out when the 90-day enrollment period ends (but you have to uncheck the auto-renew box).

I’ve read a few articles about various ‘problems’ with Kindle Unlimited. To me, these articles are ‘validating’ Kindle Unlimited more than anything else, even when they highlight drawbacks.

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2015 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • 4-in-1 Boxed set now available for Kindle and in print

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

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Dec 15 2014

The KOLL Payment is up 6 Cents per Borrow

KU Trends 2

KINDLE UNLIMITED, NOVEMBER, 2014

For the first time since the launch of Kindle Unlimited, the KOLL payments have risen.

Only by 6¢ per borrow. But a step in the right direction.

Kindle Unlimited downloads read to 10% (and all Amazon Prime borrows) paid $1.39 per borrow in November, 2014.

KU Trends 2b

Amazon launched several new Kindles this 4th quarter, they were giving away Kindle Unlimited subscriptions early in Black Friday week, and they have an option to gift Kindle Unlimited subscriptions. All these new Kindle Unlimited subscribers will lead to many Kindle Unlimited downloads for the next 2-3 months.

This means there will be many customers reading books via Kindle Unlimited, but it also means that the payout for the KOLL Global Fund probably won’t rise significantly at least until March, 2015.

The question remains: Is it better to be in KDP Select, or out? Personally, I like seeing a large number of subscribers actively reading books in Kindle Unlimited, even if the KOLL payment has decreased somewhat from the days where it was only Amazon Prime. My sales continue to improve slightly overall each month, and the KU downloads are a sweet bonus, even at the lower royalty. Not every book is thriving in the program, but many are.

KINDLE STREET

Like Wall Street, but just for Kindle finances. (I made this up, by the way.)

We don’t care about the dow. We care about the ku.

We invest our books in the ku.

And hope to see a return on our investment.

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • 4-in-1 Boxed set now available for Kindle and in print (both at special introductory prices)

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

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Dec 14 2014

Give the Gift of Reading with… Kindle Unlimited

Gift Kindle

GIFT KINDLE UNLIMITED SUBSCRIPTIONS

Give the gift of reading this holiday season.

Print books make for great gifts, but did you know that you can gift e-books, too? It’s easy to gift e-books to recipients in the same country. Click the following link to read Misha Burnett’s article and learn how:

http://readtuesday.com/2013/10/09/how_to_gift_an_ebook

Note that gifting a Kindle is more of a suggestion. The reality is that the customer can buy anything on Amazon with that gift, not necessarily the book that is linked to it. (Though not all customers realize this.) This can be a good thing, in case you gift someone a book he or she really isn’t interested in.

But what’s better than gifting a book?

Gifting a subscription to Kindle Unlimited, of course!

Type Kindle Unlimited in the search field at Amazon’s home page. The first match in the search results is Amazon’s ad for Kindle Unlimited. The rightmost link in the ad is called, Gift Kindle Unlimited.

You can select a membership duration of 6 months, 12 months, or 24 months. The cost is $9.99 per month.

The recipient gets to read unlimited books from a collection of 700,000 books. This includes KDP Select books along with about 100,000 books from smaller traditional publishers, including some popular titles like The Hunger Games. Instead of clicking Gift Kindle Unlimited in my instructions above, click Browse the Catalog to see some of the more popular Kindle Unlimited titles.

It’s not necessary to have a Kindle device to read Kindle Unlimited books. There are Kindle apps to help read from tablets, pc’s, laptops, or smart phones, for example.

Authors, if your books are in KDP Select, it might be in your advantage to spread the word about the Kindle Unlimited gift option. Who knows, if the recipient discovers that it was your idea, maybe they will check out your books. At the very least, KDP Select authors should like to have more Kindle Unlimited customers.

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • 4-in-1 Boxed set now available for Kindle and in print (both at special introductory prices)

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

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Nov 26 2014

Amazon Is Attracting New Kindle Unlimited Customers This Holiday Season

Unlimited Reading

KINDLE UNLIMITED

When I visited Amazon’s home page today, there was a large advertisement to receive $40 off of a Kindle with a free six-month subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

That’s a compelling offer. It will surely create many new Kindle Unlimited customers.

It’s a temporary promotion, but it seems like a sign that Amazon may be working to bring more readers into Kindle Unlimited.

The readers will go where the authors are and the authors will go where the readers are.

Presently, there are 700,000 titles in Kindle Unlimited. It’s not all from KDP Select: There are about 100,000 books in Kindle Unlimited from smaller traditional publishers (including some popular titles, like Harry Potter).

If you love to read books, you can surely find worthwhile reads among those 100,000 titles from smaller traditional publishers or the 600,000 KDP Select titles.

There may be some indie authors pulling out of KDP Select because they aren’t happy with the $1.33 payout from October, 2014, but there are still many attractive authors and books in the program. No matter how many indies pull out, there are still 100,000 books from smaller traditional publishers (and those traditionally published books aren’t available through Amazon Prime).

The $1.33 also shows that the population of Kindle Unlimited customers is very large, considering that the KOLL Global Fund was $5,500,000.

Now Amazon is attracting new Kindle Unlimited customers this holiday season. The Kindle Unlimited readership will grow, and with free six-month subscriptions, many will use the program actively for half a year (and perhaps become hooked on it).

Here is another thing to consider: The more customers who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, the fewer customers there are outside of Kindle Unlimited.

Authors must choose which side of the fence to stand on. It’s not an easy decision. I’m staying in KDP Select, as my sales have improved a little and my borrows are way up. Not every book is thriving in the program, but the potential is there.

Read Tuesday

Imagine a Black Friday type of event just for book lovers.

You don’t have to imagine it. It’s called Read Tuesday, and it’s free: www.readtuesday.com.

Please support the Read Tuesday Thunderclap. This will help spread awareness on the morning of Read Tuesday (December 9, 2014). It’s easy to help:

  • Visit http://thndr.it/1CkO2Bg.
  • Click Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr and sign in.
  • Customize the message. (Optional.)
  • Agree to the terms. All that will happen is that the Thunderclap post about Read Tuesday will go out the morning of December 9.
  • (The warning message simply means that Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr need your permission to post the Thunderclap message on December 9. This is the only post that Thunderclap will make.)

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • Boxed set (of 4 books for less than the price of 2) now available for Kindle

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

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Nov 15 2014

Kindle Unlimited Trends

KU Trends

KINDLE UNLIMITED

Historically, Amazon Prime borrows paid around $2 per borrow through KDP Select until the introduction of Kindle Unlimited.

The KOLL global fund has paid less for Amazon Prime borrows and Kindle Unlimited downloads read to 10% since the debut of Kindle Unlimited in July, 2014.

The most recent KOLL payout of $1.33 for October, 2014 shows a significant downward trend:

  • $2.00 or thereabouts prior to July, 2014
  • $1.81 for July, 2014
  • $1.54 for August, 2014
  • $1.52 for September, 2014
  • $1.33 for October, 2014
  • Added: $1.39 for November, 2014
  • Added: $1.43 for December, 2014

$1.33 is a significant drop for KOLL payments.

Books with a list price of $2.99 or higher earn royalties of $2 and up for sales (using the 70% royalty option, assuming a negligible delivery cost).

In the past, KOLL borrows have paid close to the royalty for the purchase of a $2.99 book.

But $1.33 is 33% less than the 70% royalty on a $2.99 book. That’s quite significant.

READERSHIP

There is another important trend to factor into this analysis.

While the KDP Select payments for Amazon Prime borrows and Kindle Unlimited downloads read to 10% has diminished, another important measure has increased.

The KOLL Global Fund has improved tremendously:

  • $1 to $2 million prior to July, 2014.
  • $2.875 million for July, 2014.
  • $4.7 million for August, 2014.
  • $5.0 for September, 2014.
  • $5.5 million for October, 2014.

This reveals a significant increase in KDP Select readership.

In October, 2014, Amazon paid a total of $5.5 million for borrows and downloads, yet this translated to just $1.33 per qualifying KDP Select borrow.

What does this mean?

It means there are very many Kindle Unlimited customers and that many of them are actively downloading KDP Select books and reading them to 10%.

It also means that many KDP Select books are thriving in the program.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that every KDP Select book is thriving under Kindle Unlimited.

For some, sales and/or borrows have dwindled.

But for many, sales and/or borrows have improved.

My Kindle sales had steadily declined all year, but steadily improved each month with the introduction of Kindle Unlimited, while the borrows have improved tremendously since July, 2014.

However, I’ve met authors whose numbers have dropped. Every book is different.

A $5.5 million dollar payout with a $1.33 KDP Select payment shows that there are very many Kindle Unlimited customers and qualifying borrows.

The Kindle Unlimited readership is significant and the potential is there.

Every active customer in Kindle Unlimited is, in general, one less customer who would otherwise purchase a book.

DECISIONS

Some authors are starting to question the wisdom of enrolling in KDP Select.

Those whose sales or borrows have improved significantly probably aren’t questioning it at all. If it’s working out for you (like it is for me), it makes sense to stick with it.

But authors whose sales or borrows are declining now wonder what it’s like on the other side of the fence.

The million-dollar question is: Would it be better to opt out of KDP Select?

There are a few points to consider:

  • Many customers who previously purchased indie books through Kindle or elsewhere are now in Kindle Unlimited. There are still many who aren’t in Kindle Unlimited, but not as many as before. (Of course, some books are thriving on all markets, including markets outside of Kindle. There are apt to be exceptions to any rule. But $5.5 million and $1.33—these numbers show that many customers have migrated to Kindle Unlimited.)
  • Are customers satisfied with Kindle Unlimited? It’s a renewable subscription and customers who aren’t happy with it may opt out. The general tendency is for customers to keep their subscriptions once they sign up. It will take significant dissatisfaction to move many customers out (and others will be joining as others opt out). If more high-profile books and authors opt out of Select, this might have a small impact. But look at KDP Select All-Stars. Amazon is paying huge bonuses to the top KDP Select authors to encourage them to remain in the program. Plus, Amazon persuaded smaller traditional publishers to include 100,000 books in Kindle Unlimited. If a few top indie authors do opt out of Select, it probably won’t make much difference. It will take a huge content change, and as long as 100,000 traditional books remain in the mix, that will be hard to change.
  • The main drawback of KDP Select is the exclusivity clause. This is only a drawback for books that would sell significant quantities through other outlets, like Smashwords, Kobo, or Nook. Some customers can still purchase Kindle e-books for other devices, like iPhones and iPads, so exclusivity doesn’t really impact those markets. How do you know if your book would sell well on other markets? Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to experiment. Each book is unique.
  • If you opt out of KDP Select and publish elsewhere, it can be a royal pain trying to unpublish elsewhere and get back into Select. You’re likely to receive emails from Amazon indicating that your book is available for sale elsewhere until it completely disappears, which can take longer than you might realize. So what if Amazon comes up with some new feature to make KDP Select seem suddenly more enticing? It’s a risk that you take. Whether or not that risk is worthwhile is hard to say, and it will be different for each book. Does Amazon have a marketing surprise coming for the holiday season to make Kindle Unlimited even more worthwhile? Who knows? They do have a new line of Kindles out, hoping to attract new customers this holiday season, and many of those customers will be looking for Kindle books after Christmas.
  • Marketing is another factor. It’s possible to market the benefits of Kindle Unlimited in such a way as to help you get more KDP Select downloads. It’s even possible to market specifically to Kindle Unlimited customers. It may not be easy—when is book marketing ever easy?—but the potential is there. If you opt out of KDP Select, then you should be thinking of how to reach customers outside of Kindle through your marketing endeavors—another challenging task.
  • Then there is the issue of prediction. There is a current downward trend in KDP Select payments. Will it continue to decrease? Will it level off now? Will it climb back up? Any of these are possible, and any analysis at this early stage is really “precision guesswork.” If you can figure it out you should also be making a killing off the stock market. 🙂

99 CENTERS

Another issue is 99-cent books in KDP Select.

Imagine setting a list price of 99 cents and earning $1.33 for a book that was read to 10%. That’s fantasy land.

Meanwhile, an author has a 1,000-page book selling for $9.99 and receives the same KOLL payment of $1.33, over $6 less than the royalty for a sale.

We all knew signing up for KDP Select that KOLL payments would be the same regardless of list price, so it’s really no surprise.

However, most of us were hoping for the KOLL payments to remain around $2, like they were with Amazon Prime prior to Kindle Unlimited.

At least then the payments were comparable to the royalty on a $2.99 book.

Many authors presently wish that KDP Select would make a lower payment for 99-cent books, which would help to elevate the KOLL payment for books priced $2.99 and up.

It seems like it would be reasonable. Even if KDP Select paid 40 cents per borrow for 99-cent books, those books would be making a higher royalty than for a sale.

Maybe it wouldn’t have a significant impact on the KOLL payment for other books, but it would at least alleviate a little frustration that some authors are expressing.

There is a general feeling that Kindle Unlimited favors lower-priced, shorter books. With a separate payout for 99-cent books, Amazon could easily demonstrate that this isn’t the case.

But presently all books receive the same share of the KDP Select Global Fund regardless of list price.

Read Tuesday

Imagine a Black Friday type of event just for book lovers.

You don’t have to imagine it. It’s called Read Tuesday, and it’s free: www.readtuesday.com.

Please support the Read Tuesday Thunderclap. This will help spread awareness on the morning of Read Tuesday (December 9, 2014). It’s easy to help:

  • Visit http://thndr.it/1CkO2Bg.
  • Click Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr and sign in.
  • Customize the message. (Optional.)
  • Agree to the terms. All that will happen is that the Thunderclap post about Read Tuesday will go out the morning of December 9.
  • (The warning message simply means that Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr need your permission to post the Thunderclap message on December 9. This is the only post that Thunderclap will make.)

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • Boxed set (of 4 books) now available for Kindle pre-order

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

Comments

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https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/kindle-unlimited-trends/#comments

Oct 25 2014

Are authors earning more or less with Kindle Unlimited?

Unlimited Reading

KINDLE UNLIMITED

Now that customers can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for $9.99 to read unlimited books, authors are wondering whether the grass is greener inside or outside of KDP Select.

One trade-off is exclusivity. Titles enrolled in KDP Select can’t be available in digital format anywhere other than Kindle.

Exclusivity actually works two ways:

  • The obvious way is that KDP Select books may lose potential sales to customers who love to read on Nooks, Kobos, etc.
  • Another way is that books not enrolled in KDP Select may lose potential borrows from Kindle Unlimited customers, who may strongly prefer not to purchase books outright.

There is another trade-off for higher-priced e-books: Kindle Unlimited has paid about $1.50 for the first two months, which is less than the usual royalties for most books priced $2.99 and up.

Another issue is that customers must read 10% of the book before the author will receive a royalty for the download.

In exchange for exclusivity, authors with books in KDP Select hope to:

  • Gain additional exposure through Kindle Unlimited. Customers may be more willing to try a new or self-published author through this program.
  • Improve sales rank. Every download through Kindle Unlimited helps sales rank, even if the book isn’t read to 10% (but no royalty is paid until the book is read to 10%). Better sales rank helps with exposure.
  • Get more sales. Even if the royalties may be somewhat less through Kindle Unlimited, more sales has word-of-mouth potential.
  • Occasionally earn double royalties. A customer who borrows a book may later purchase the book so as not to have to return it. This happens.

Authors with books not in KDP Select hope to:

  • Gain additional exposure on other markets, such as Nook and Kobo.
  • Sell more books on other markets than the sales that they may be losing by not being in KDP Select.

Kindle Unlimited is definitely affecting sales ranks of all books, whether or not they are in KDP Select. Some books are doing better, others are doing worse. Each book is different.

The question is:

Is it better to enroll in KDP Select, or is it better to opt out and sell across all digital markets?

It’s a tough choice. Some books do better in KDP Select, others do better outside of it, and some may net about the same either way.

Personally, I’m seeing a small increase in Kindle sales and the improved borrows are gravy. I sell many more paperbacks than Kindle e-books, yet I’m glad to see Kindle growing a little.

Following are a few very handy resources to help you with this decision:

OCTOBER 2014 AUTHOR EARNINGS

http://authorearnings.com/report/october-2014-author-earnings-report-2

  • This report breaks down author earnings and looks specifically at the impact of Kindle Unlimited.
  • On average, enrolling in KDP Select appears to reap a 13% reward. Again, it’s an average, so some are earning much more, some are losing.

KINDLE UNLIMITED ANALYSIS

Nicholas Rossis has a detailed analysis of the impact of Kindle Unlimited on his blog.

http://nicholasrossis.me/2014/10/25/kindle-unlimited-conclusions-from-hugh-howeys-latest-author-earnings-report

When you get about halfway through, you’ll start to see the Kindle Unlimited analysis.

HUGH HOWEY

This brief note from Hugh Howey is worth a read.

http://www.hughhowey.com/october-2014-author-earnings-report

One thing Hugh stresses is that it would be nice to see KU pay a different royalty for very short books. Many authors who aren’t selling short books agree with this.

Just imagine earning $1.62 for a book with a list price of 99 cents (where the royalty for a sale is 34 cents).

Amazon is inconsistent on this point:

  • If you price your book under $2.99, instead of earning a 70% royalty, you earn 35%. It seems like a clear incentive to produce enough content so you can charge $2.99.
  • If you price your book at 99 cents, we’ll pay you a royalty of $1.62 if you enroll your book in KDP Select.

I don’t think authors with 99-cent books could complain too much if, say, Amazon paid them 50 cents for every Kindle Unlimited download, so that Amazon could pay a higher rate per download of higher-priced KDP Select books.

If you feel strongly about this, well, you could send a message to KDP to express your opinion. KDP has made changes in the past (the new sales dashboard, pre-order options, grade and age ranges), which many authors had been requesting. So if you really want to see a new feature, it may help to voice your opinion.

Read Tuesday

Imagine a Black Friday type of event just for book lovers.

You don’t have to imagine it. It’s called Read Tuesday, and it’s free: www.readtuesday.com.

Please support the Read Tuesday Thunderclap. This will help spread awareness on the morning of Read Tuesday (December 9, 2014). It’s easy to help:

  • Visit http://thndr.it/1CkO2Bg.
  • Click Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr and sign in.
  • Customize the message. (Optional.)
  • Agree to the terms. All that will happen is that the Thunderclap post about Read Tuesday will go out the morning of December 9.
  • (The warning message simply means that Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr need your permission to post the Thunderclap message on December 9. This is the only post that Thunderclap will make.)

Halloween Reading

Looking for some spooky books to read this Halloween month?

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/scary-books

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • Boxed set (of 4 books) now available for Kindle pre-order

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

Comments

Click here to jump to the comments section:

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/are-authors-earning-more-or-less-with-kindle-unlimited/#comments

Oct 19 2014

Kindle Unlimited Affects Sales Rank (even if not read to 10%)

Good News

KINDLE UNLIMITED

Do Kindle Unlimited downloads affect sales rank? Definitely.

Do customers need to reach 10% of the Kindle e-book in order for sales rank to be affected? No.

All Kindle Unlimited downloads affect Amazon sales rank, even if the book isn’t read to 10%.

How do I know? I have Kindle Unlimited and recently tried this out. I downloaded two books with sales ranks above 1,000,000; these books hadn’t sold in recent months (poor books).

Although I didn’t even open the books on my Kindle, the sales ranks jumped down to the low 100,000’s. (Don’t worry. I’ll read them now.)

However, the effect wasn’t immediate; it took several hours for this to happen. (This lengthy delay is why I have now gone in and revised the finding that I posted on this yesterday.)

Authors only receive royalties when the book is read to 10%.

Kindle Unlimited customers: If you download a book through Kindle Unlimited, PLEASE read 10% of that book. Otherwise, the poor author doesn’t get paid. You could even scroll to the 10% mark. (Obviously, if the book turns out to be horrible when you open it and you feel that it doesn’t deserve a royalty, that’s different.)

This is good news: All Kindle Unlimited downloads help in some way. Even if it doesn’t get read to 10%, it still helps sales rank.

(Some books in Kindle Unlimited are losing ground with sales rank, though, simply because many other Kindle Unlimited books are being downloaded more frequently. Sales ranks have been somewhat wild ever since the inception of Kindle Unlimited.)

Read Tuesday

Imagine a Black Friday type of event just for book lovers.

You don’t have to imagine it. It’s called Read Tuesday, and it’s free: www.readtuesday.com.

Please support the Read Tuesday Thunderclap. This will help spread awareness on the morning of Read Tuesday (December 9, 2014). It’s easy to help:

  • Visit http://thndr.it/1CkO2Bg.
  • Click Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr and sign in.
  • Customize the message. (Optional.)
  • Agree to the terms. All that will happen is that the Thunderclap post about Read Tuesday will go out the morning of December 9.
  • (The warning message simply means that Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr need your permission to post the Thunderclap message on December 9. This is the only post that Thunderclap will make.)

Halloween Reading

Looking for some spooky books to read this Halloween month?

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/scary-books

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • Boxed set (of 4 books) now available for Kindle pre-order

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

Oct 15 2014

Kindle Unlimited KOLL Payment for September, 2014

Unlimited Reading

KOLL SEPTEMBER, 2014

Kindle Unlimited paid $1.52 per download read to 10% in September, 2014.

This is nearly the same as August, 2014, which was $1.54.

Both are down significantly from $1.81 for July, 2014 (which was a partial month of Kindle Unlimited), and are down from the usual $2 or more from the Amazon Prime days (but customers can only borrow one book per month through Prime).

Update: Kindle Unlimited payments dropped further, down to $1.33, for October, 2014. It’s back up tof $1.39 for November, 2014. It’s further up to $1.43 in December.

To me, the big number is $2,000,000. KDP started the KOLL global fund at $3,000,000 for September, and added another $2,000,000 to prevent KOLL from paying less than $1.50 per borrow.

This shows two things: (1) Amazon doesn’t want the KOLL payment to drop too low and (2) Kindle Unlimited is still very active. The second point shows that there is a significant Kindle Unlimited market presently.

Books with list prices of $2.99 or more draw a greater royalty through sales, but it’s quite possible that many customers who are reading books through Kindle Unlimited wouldn’t have purchased many of those books otherwise. There is some trade-off. Opting out of KDP Select opens up other opportunities at Smashwords, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Nook, etc., but will ‘your’ book sell well through those channels and will it make up for leaving KDP Select? It’s a tough call. And it’s possible that Amazon sales will go down if opting out of Kindle Unlimited (as Kindle Unlimited has a positive impact on sales rank).

Every book is different. I’m keeping my books in KDP Select. My sales ranks seem to have dropped somewhat, yet overall my monthly Kindle royalties have steadily risen from July onward. This shows that many more Kindle e-books are being read as a result of Kindle Unlimited. (Sales themselves have improved slightly for me, and the borrows make for nice gravy.)

Read Tuesday

Imagine a Black Friday type of event just for book lovers.

You don’t have to imagine it. It’s called Read Tuesday, and it’s free: www.readtuesday.com.

Halloween Reading

Looking for some spooky books to read this Halloween month?

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/scary-books

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • Boxed set (of 4 books) now available for Kindle pre-order

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.