Amazon is testing “Kindle Unlimited,” an ebook subscription service for $9.99/month

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Yes, it can only download to an app. I turned wifi on on my Windows phone, downloaded and installed the app, then plugged it into my computer and transferred them via the audible app on my PC.

I can play them (wifi off FYI, no streaming) but can't find them when I plug the phone into the PC. They must be hidden somehow.

Use Audible on your KF. The files will be on the external data area when you plug it into the PC. Probably under a folder called Android and then Audible (or there in the root, I don't use it on my Androd devices, so I wouldn't know).

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Also got my first complementary credit through KU. Do I have to cancel anything after the 3 months? I intend to keep KU, but don't want to pay for audible. Would I still be able to listen to KU audiobooks with only paying the $9.99 for KU?

You need to cancel your Audible trial membership before the end of the 3rd month; otherwise, you'll be charged $14.95 for the next month. Do it several days before the next credit is due. That avoids problems with of your interpretation of due dates vs Audible's interpretation.

[fjtorres]

First (estimated) numbers on KU borrows and author payouts:
http://www.publishingtechnology.com/...uthor-earnings

Nearly two months on and the service seems to have been well received by readers. So much so that Amazon issued a bulletin to KDP authors announcing it was adding a launch bonus of $500,000 to the $2,000,000 monthly pool of money from which enrolled authors are paid every time a user downloads one of their books and read more than 10% of the content. It also announced that for July it would waive the stipulation that authors only get paid if a reader gets past the 10% point and added a further $285,000 to the fund to pay royalties on books that had been downloaded and opened.

At this point it’s also worth pointing out that this $2,000,000 pot of money also includes the $1,200,000 that was set aside for Amazon’s older lending scheme the Kindle Owners Lending Library. The fact that Amazon launched Kindle Unlimited with a fairly modest bonus pool (only an additional $800,000) and then chose to up its size not just once but twice suggests the service has so far exceeded expectations.

While Amazon tries not to release hard numbers about the scheme into the wild, enough KDP authors blog openly about how much they earn from the programme for us to make a few guesses.

June 2014

Total monthly pool = $1,200,000

Estimated payment per borrow = $2.25

Estimated total number of books borrowed in June = 533,333

July 2014

Total monthly pool = $2,785,000

Estimated payment per borrow = $1.80

Estimated total number of books borrowed in July = 1,547,222

Assuming these numbers are accurate, the launch of Kindle Unlimited resulted in Kindle users downloading an extra million books in July 2014.

More at the source.

It should be noted that the per-read payout to the indie authors is roughly equal to the royalties a traditionally published author earns on the sale of a $10 ebook. And that it works out to a 60% payout on a typical $3 indie title.

The real measure of KU success is still to come: how many readers subscribe long term and how many checkouts they consume. If future months show consistent payouts and checkouts, or even pool size growth, the experiment can probably be deemed a success.

[GameMonsters]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

In order to get all 3 Audible credits, you must maintain an active KU membership. I plan to terminate KU at the end of the free 30-day trial, so I'll lose the remaining 2 Audible credits.

I don't know if this is an exception ... but after I cancelled my KU membership after 30-day trial was up, I still received the other 2 credits from Audible.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GameMonsters

I don't know if this is an exception ... but after I cancelled my KU membership after 30-day trial was up, I still received the other 2 credits from Audible.

That would be an exception, because after I cancelled I didn't get the other two credits.

[booklover6]

Who knows of a way to find on their Amazon account page where the subscription dates are located?

I finally found it, under manage your content, settings.

[BearMountainBooks]

Sometimes I swear they rearrange things just to make it more likely you can't cancel a mistaken order (happened to me the other day with a book. One stray mouse move and book was accidentally purchased!) or subscriptions.