Creative Reviews discussion

This may or may not be the right place for this so Amy/Cambria/Jenn just go ahead and move it to another folder if there's a better place (Author tips? I felt it went better here)

If you haven't already heard, Amazon just started a new program called KDP Select. It's a program where Amazon PRIME members get to download one Kindle book a month from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library (KOLL). The book is free to download with no due date. You just have to be a member of the $79/year Amazon PRIME program (and that's only available to US residents at this time) but there are benefits to the PRIME membership.

I wrote a blog about this (focused as much on the customers as on the Indie Authors potentially providing the content for Amazon's KOLL) here:

http://webbiegrrl.blogspot.com/2011/12/tuesday-tip-2-new-promotional-tools-you.html

I do not, personally, have any books in the KOLL and because of the requirement to make my book exclusive to the Amazon store for 90 days (as well as the difficulty opting out in time) I'm not planning to participate next year when I release my first book so I really don't have any vested personal interest here.

Some of the Indie Authors represented, however, are quite popular and they've enrolled some of their better works so I felt it was important news to share with readers/reviewers who are also Kindle owners. It's definitely worth checking out! This also might--MIGHT--be of interest or use to some of the Indie Authors in this group. Just proceed with caution.

I go over all of the ups and downs in my blog. I neither flatly condemn nor recommend the program. It's really for a specific audience and if you're that audience, it's awesome. If you're not, it's a deathtrap....or at least, a headache you don't need to invite.

-sry

Cool post. Amazon does report the KOLL downloads. The KDP screen contains an additional column for downloads if your book is enrolled. I have 2 titles enrolled. So far, I'm pretty pleased with the potential added visibility of Select, and not very concerned with the exclusivity aspect. I sold 9 copies of my books on Smashwords, and 12000 at Amazon. They're doing something very right for Indies over there. I'll give Amazon some exclusive time with my books, for now.

Steven,

Thanks for the feedback on my blog post--and on the program! You're the first participant to speak up in response to my blog post and I've been asking for feedback! I know Amazon reports KDP Select sales for your titles the same way they do for the other titles you have on the KDP platform. That's not what I griped about; it was the lack of DAILY reporting. You get a lump sum for the month and no clue where your standing is in the "pool" nor any clue if your report is accurate. I'm also unclear as to when or how you know if/that a customer has "returned" your book to the KOLL.

Despite my apprehensions from the Indie Author side, I'm extremely in favor of the KOLL concept for the readers and if you're an Indie who needs and wants a 90-day free offering, the KDP Select method sure is a win/win (if you can make it work without catching you up). A lot of writers aren't cut out to be businesspeople (i.e., authors, not just writers) and being a passionate group of artistic types, I just wanted to warn the writers out there to read the fine print - as in proceed with caution, not reckless abandon ;-)

Thank you so much for sharing the personal experience with the program. There is NOTHING that beats hands-on experience ;-)

One last note, Smashwords is not a direct competitor with Amazon, as in Smashwords is NOT A STORE though you CAN buy direct from Smashwords just like you CAN buy direct from Simon & Schuster or Ballantine or other DTB publishers. People just don't go to distributors and publishers to buy books, though. They go to stores. That's why Smashwords distributes to online retailers--like Amazon's Kindle Store and B&N's Nook Store.

Smashwords' greatest strength for US Indie Authors is the ability to get distribution to non-US markets who are not Kindle customers--or even to Kindle customers who want American books, since Amazon US won't allow non-US customers to buy things there but Smashwords sells to anyone and simply charges VAT to non-US customers (including for Kindle/MOBI files)

-sry

My pleasure. I see what you mean by the end of month reporting on the total standing in the "pool." That would be a great feature for an author to see. And the return differentiation would also be a nice feature. From my own experience, I saw a spike in returns since joining KDP. Nothing alarming, but statistically significant. I would love to confirm them as related to the KOLL, but many Select participants think they are new Prime members making a purchase mistake. Who knows.

I love the Smashwords concept. I was extremely pleased with the simplicity of their design and the reach they provided. I guess the issue for me, is that Amazon is my sales base, and has been from the start. My situation allowed a relatively easy decision regarding Select. Other authors may not have that decision making luxury.

Uhm... Sarah... Splitter already started this topic here...
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

Hi Barb,

No, I didn't know Splitter had started another topic to discuss this. Thanks for the link. I'll go comment over there (copy my remarks below) but I think when I saw all of the Amazon-bashing negative remarks, I didn't realize anyone was actually discussing it. That is, it seemed at first glance at that thread (only glanced through the first two screens) that all the comments were focused on Amazon bashing and nay-saying Amazon's decision to launch the new service--as though Indie Authors who are NOT participating could actually influence Amazon's decision to offer a service which serves as a revenue stream for Amazon. Once I started reading the comments, I remembered having seen it before and I remembered thinking, they're not actually discussing this. That's why I started a new thread with a more explicit subject line, in the hopes someone (like Steven! :-) would come along and have intelligent discourse instead of talking about Evil Empires and monopolies.

No one is forced to join the KDP Select program and the PRIME service isn't designed to benefit any of the content providers. There are other agreements with us (the terms and conditions of the KDP platform are not the same as for the KDP Select program). Since enrollment in KDP Select is totally voluntary--oh, AND despite being enrolled, a customer COULD still buy your book--I didn't understand why the discussion had turned to some kind of defensiveness against the "coercion" Amazon was allegedly asserting. I mean, no one is forced to take part nor are any customers forced to get the book free of charge. (snort)

The one thing I DID note in my blog post is that the program may or may not be for everyone--author or reader alike. For those readers or authors for whom this IS a potential match, it's a really great match. But no one program is for everyone--nor even for anyyone all the time.

Steven, your remarks and discussion are much more what I was looking for, so thank you for sharing the information here. The program exists and there are participants--lots FWICT--so I think the whole nay-saying discussion about whether or not Amazon should be launching the program is kind of missing the point.

I'm probably not entering any of mine but I might--especially now that I've read your comments, Steven! If I get up into the upper ends of 5-digit numbers of sales it might be a really great way to push up into the 6-digit market where you are. Maybe it's not for the people selling dozens or even hundreds of books (or less than dozens) but once you get to a certain point (like tens of thousands), you have to do something new and different to get new and different readers. Basically, you need to seek out ways to be (re)discovered by new readers! And if you stay on top of the situation, it's only a 3-month risk.

I'm glad you're actually getting money out of it, too. Theoretically, there's revenue from this program for everyone but in my blog, I was trying to stress that money should not be the motivator for the authors. Exposure to new readers should, as that's the only real guarantee. I think at some point, if Amazon gets too many authors enrolled, the monetary returns will dwindle to the point of non-discussion since it's a percentage of a total cap of $500k per month--and monies are NOT rolled over from one month to the next. The more authors enrolled/downloaded, the less each one gets. The exposure to new readers, however, should never dwindle, as it's STILL a more focused spotlight for each author in front of a qualified audience of readers.

If getting new readers is the point, I think the KDP Select Program will benefit authors for a short, finite period; and the KOLL definitely is beneficial to existing PRIME customers.

For those who were teetering on the fence about buying a PRIME subscription, getting one free Kindle book a month might be the tipping point. AFAIK there are a LOT of PRIME subscribers (more than 50% of Amazon's "regular" customer base) and even more new PRIME subscribers who defected from Netflix for the video part of the PRIME service when Netflix screwed up this summer/fall with all the price changing and name changing back and forth.

I think the key is to understand the demographics of the PRIME subscriber. If that demographic also intersects the likely audience for your book, the KDP Select Program might be a boon to your book's launch on the charts at Amazon.

-sry