Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
I love being a part of SCRIBD. I'd be in KU as well, but it requires exclusivity. I also love being in libraries and am thrilled that it's possible. With KU, even though I'm not in it, I do sell less on Amazon. Now whether that is because Amazon no longer provides as much visibility for my books or because many readers are using KU and not buying as much, I have no idea. I'm not complaining. Fifteen years ago, I wasn't published at all. I was only selling a short story here or there. I sell well now and very well at certain venues. Would I like to sell more? Sure.
As a reader, I'm not complaining either. I have a lot of choices. I also have books available to me at under 5 dollars.
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As whining, I meant more like authors that end up on such articles and they are often the loudest. There are some that seem to do very well with KU, others not at all and then there are those that would do it, were it not for the reasons you mentioned, exclusivity.
Just seems that lately, this year especially there have bee a lot of complaints by authors. KU, Amazon, reviews, readers not acting like they "should", etc.
There was a time were there were more positive stories about authors. Maybe that isn't enough click bait anymore. Just the tone this year has become quite negative a lot with self publishers. Overall, not all of course.
Maybe a side effect of the sea and competition getting larger and larger.
I think overall sales have to go down if there are more and more books being published. Just a sheer numbers game I think.
When I had KU, I read books I would not and didn't buy. I read books I didn't want to own. It wasn't an either or. I would not have bought those books by those authors period. My borrowing was additional income, not loss of income because I borrowed. I think that is where these authors go wrong, like the article.
I still bought books that weren't in KU or in Scribd. I am sure there are some readers that just read KU stuff, but I don't think that is sustainable for long term for any serious voracious reader. Most of us have series we follow, authors we follow. The more years one reads, the longer that favorite author list goes and KU just doesn't have much of those authors and books in it. So I think it goes in waves. 3-6 months subscriptions seems to be about where I see readers start cancelling. Of course then Amazon refreshes that pot with the offers of 6 month of KU with Fires like they had recently. Not sure how long that will hold.
Its just sometimes tiring as a reader to see all these demands by some indy authors, sometimes comes across as entitlement. Loss of sales do not always have anything to do with KU. Sometimes readers also get burned out by authors that just keep churning out book after book, one a month, 2 a month, 1 a week etc. Those are often the authors I hear the most complaining from. That relates to the authors cited in the article posted.