A way to filter out NON Kindle Unlimited books?

[Cinisajoy]

My guess is he got his words slightly wrong. Since he used Kindle Unlimited and junk in the same sentence, my bet is he wants to get only non KU books.

[kyrilson]

Sorry everyone!! I didn't mean to confuse everyone. I do not want to see Kindle Unlimited books when I'm looking through bestseller lists, etc. My topic was definitely not accurate, I apologize.

Anyways, thank you to everyone that has responded. Some good ideas!

[Cinisajoy]

In that case, I have a couple of suggestions.
First of all stick with the main genres. Do not go too deep into the sub genres because many wannabe bestsellers put their books in a small subcat just so they can say they are a bestseller. Note: most of those are not even close to the genre they chose.
Also avoid that free tab. Once in a while you get lucky but anymore it is rare.

Another hint, if the first line of the description is #1 bestseller at Amazon avoid that book.

Note: I do know some actual best selling authors.
I don't know your genre but if you like science fiction might I recommend "Taste of Tomorrow" by Hugh Howey and friends. The ebook is 99 cents and I guarantee some good authors.
If you like prepper fiction, Joe Nobody and Boyd Craven.

[kyrilson]

Thanks for the tips and suggestions, Cinisajoy (nice handle!)

I like Hugh Howey's books quite a bit. Might be worth checking out that book you mentioned.

The ratio of good to bad seems to be lower with the kindle unlimited books, but there are some good ones out there, I just don't have the time to wade through the bad to find the gems. I read a lot of sci-fi, mystery/thriller and some fantasy, for the most part.

If you like science fiction, try Marko Kloos. Good books. I think he's on Kindle Unlimited, actually.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

Thanks for the tips and suggestions, Cinisajoy (nice handle!)

I like Hugh Howey's books quite a bit. Might be worth checking out that book you mentioned.

The ratio of good to bad seems to be lower with the kindle unlimited books, but there are some good ones out there, I just don't have the time to wade through the bad to find the gems. I read a lot of sci-fi, mystery/thriller and some fantasy, for the most part.

If you like science fiction, try Marko Kloos. Good books. I think he's on Kindle Unlimited, actually.

Did you know Hugh Howey has a kindle world?
For Mystery and thrillers I highly recommend Russell Blake and his world of friends.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by disconnected

Not only do the big 5 have lots of imprints but now they seem to have separate imprints that are more like self-pubs. I think for those they don't pay advances or supply as much in the way of editing services, publicity, and I don't know what else.

I think for some of those it's their "e-arm." Kensington, for example, publishes a line of cozies under ekensington. All that means is that there is no print book unless the book reaches certain sales numbers. (IF I understand it correctly and I could be wrong because some publishers did try to "sell" their brand to self-publishers and let them use their name for a fee. I think that was shut down for the most part, although one of the majors is still partnered with publish America or whatever their new name is.)

Carina Press is another publisher that has an e-arm only but I don't think they use a special imprint for it.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Carina Press is another publisher that has an e-arm only but I don't think they use a special imprint for it.

Unless it's changed since it was first rolled out, Carina Press *is* the e-imprint...for Harlequin.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Unless it's changed since it was first rolled out, Carina Press *is* the e-imprint...for Harlequin.

Maybe it has only changed in that they do take some to print and I don't think that changes the imprint (Julie Moffett's Lexi Carmichael series is the only one I can think of). She's still under Carina Press.

But yes, I had forgotten about that parent company thing. IT's hard to keep track of all the imprints and whatnot.

[JSWolf]

Filter out NON Kindle Unlimited books

This means just show Kindle Unlimited books. If that's not correct, then the OP made the error in the wording of the request.

But in any case, Amazon's searching is garbage. It's awful. Amazon needs to fix searching so it actually works well.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Filter out NON Kindle Unlimited books

This means just show Kindle Unlimited books. If that's not correct, then the OP made the error in the wording of the request.

But in any case, Amazon's searching is garbage. It's awful. Amazon needs to fix searching so it actually works well.

Something they did in the last six months has totally ruined their searching (and it was gradually getting worse anyway). Over the holidays I wanted to buy a landline phone. I couldn't filter by price UNTIL I filtered by some other magical formula. The selection that is sometimes on the sidebar for (zero to 10, 10 to 20, etc) would not show up in most searches. Was extremely irritating as "sponsored" phones kept showing up as well as the most expensive ones. Re-ordering by price was an exercise in stupidity. Seven pages of things that were not phones before I gave up...

The book searches can be frustrating even when you input an exact title. Maybe searching by publisher will help the OP. But who knows.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

Thanks for the tips and suggestions, Cinisajoy (nice handle!)

I like Hugh Howey's books quite a bit. Might be worth checking out that book you mentioned.

The ratio of good to bad seems to be lower with the kindle unlimited books, but there are some good ones out there, I just don't have the time to wade through the bad to find the gems. I read a lot of sci-fi, mystery/thriller and some fantasy, for the most part.

If you like science fiction, try Marko Kloos. Good books. I think he's on Kindle Unlimited, actually.

You do realize that all of Hugh's books are actually in Kindle Unlimited, right? So if you get rid of all books in KU you won't see them.

Shari

[kyrilson]

Originally Posted by shalym

You do realize that all of Hugh's books are actually in Kindle Unlimited, right? So if you get rid of all books in KU you won't see them.

Shari

Yep, I'm aware. As I mentioned before, the good to bad ratio is very low with KU.

If one is worth reading, I'll hear about it via buzz/word of mouth, which is exactly what happened with Hugh Howey's books. Then I'll look it up and try it if it sounds good.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

Yep, I'm aware. As I mentioned before, the good to bad ratio is very low with KU.

If one is worth reading, I'll hear about it via buzz/word of mouth, which is exactly what happened with Hugh Howey's books. Then I'll look it up and try it if it sounds good.

Another trick is look for boxed sets with an author you like. The other authors will usually be good especially if the carrying author is a big seller. They are careful with their readers. They don't want their reader disappointed.

[JSWolf]

I've seen many self-published box sets. So that won't work.

But, what I suggest is asking Amazon CS how to do the search. The problem is that Amazon's search engine is very poor and needs serious reworking.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've seen many self-published box sets. So that won't work.

But, what I suggest is asking Amazon CS how to do the search. The problem is that Amazon's search engine is very poor and needs serious reworking.

Shall I clarify?
You will note I said with a heavy seller in the book.
I am talking people like Hugh Howey, Russell Blake, Gennita Low. I know for a fact they are all picky about who is associated with their books.
I do mean the actual NYT best sellers.
Though of those 3 only 2 started out as self-published.

So can you please quit putting the good self-published authors in the same box as the couldn't write if their lives depended on it authors?

Though you did make me think. I have looked at hundreds of self-published and vanity press books.
Now yes, I could sit here and recommend some very hard working, care about their books self published authors but if I think about the actual number of them that I would recommend, it is less than 100. And most of them are now very well known and respected in their genres.

So I guess in many ways you are right.