Amazon listens to authors; changes KU pay to per-page model

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I don't think that is completely true, particularly if you download, de-drm, and transfer to your reader.

Well, now...
Doing that with KU titles is the same as doing it to library titles.
In both cases you don't own a permanent license.
Might as well get them from the darknet; same thing, as far as author payment goes.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Well, now...
Doing that with KU titles is the same as doing it to library titles.
In both cases you don't own a permanent license.
Might as well get them from the darknet; same thing, as far as author payment goes.

Precisely - it's just plain dishonest.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Precisely - it's just plain dishonest.

And to be honest I don't know that it's even possible under the KU or Lending programs etc.

But I still don't like the idea of paying by pages instead of titles. Why not by the word or by characters read?

The 'worth' of a word in a poem or short story is much greater than the worth of a word in a novel. We all know that!

The whole payment for KU / Lending library thing is kindof wonky to me anyway, but WTF...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kennyc

But I still don't like the idea of paying by pages instead of titles. Why not by the word or by characters read?

Do you really think it's right that a 1000-page novel should receive the same payment as a 500-word short story? Would you, as a customer, be willing to pay as much for the short story as for the novel? I wouldn't.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you really think it's right that a 1000-page novel should receive the same payment as a 500-word short story? Would you, as a customer, be willing to pay as much for the short story as for the novel? I wouldn't.

It's being borrowed so yes. And the same is true of purchases, the book price is not based on the number of words by any stretch of the imagination. It's more like any other commodity, what the market will bear.

Amazon and other publishers are not selling words (or characters or pixels), they are selling titles, books.

This whole payment by word for lending is completely wonky to me as I said.

If I write a magazine article or story I'm usually paid by the word, but not always, sometimes it's a flat rate or even no payment at all other than the publicity/publication credit.

The Lending library and KU are more like checking out a library book and we all know how much an author gets for that....

Anyway, I've said all I want to say here. I know you guys will carry on for 50 more pages but I've got writing to do. Have fun!

[drofgnal]

Oh, I think I see now, just Kindle unlimited titles? I don't do KU, so no problem there.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

No, that's not how kindles work.
Remember, Kindles track your reading speed page by page, not just the last page seen.

Older Kindles don't have that feature. My non-touch basic certainly doesn't. And Kindle for PC doesn't track your reading speed either. So yes, what if I jump to the last page, decide the book is crap and return it unread? Would the author still get credit for the whole book?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kennyc

The Lending library and KU are more like checking out a library book and we all know how much an author gets for that....

I don't know how much it is in the US, but in the UK it's currently about 6p (US 10c) per loan.

The point is, though, that you would have a short story collection in a library - eg a book of a dozen stories. You wouldn't have each one available individually and expect to be separately paid for a loan of each one.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It is the publisher who sets it. Perhaps the article means that Amazon set a "default start reading" position if the book creator hasn't included one?

At least for KDP titles, Amazon will randomly reset the SRL to whatever they think it should be.
Or so Hitch says, and she does this for a living. Apparently she has devoted a great deal of time to working out how to force the right location -- it's a trade secret.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Older Kindles don't have that feature. My non-touch basic certainly doesn't. And Kindle for PC doesn't track your reading speed either. So yes, what if I jump to the last page, decide the book is crap and return it unread? Would the author still get credit for the whole book?

Don't you have to use an actual Kindle device (not an app) for KU?

At least, I know KOLL works that way...

[Jai Angel]

Pretty interesting actually

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Don't you have to use an actual Kindle device (not an app) for KU?

At least, I know KOLL works that way...

No, you just have to register for the program...and maybe own a kindle. We own a couple kindle einks from way back when but we never use them. You can use kindle app to read them.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Don't you have to use an actual Kindle device (not an app) for KU?

At least, I know KOLL works that way...

App definately works. That is how I read when the Kindle is to big to carry around.

[Terisa de morgan]

No need to have a Kindle at all.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Amazon and other publishers are not selling words (or characters or pixels), they are selling titles, books.

But KU isn't *selling* books.
You don't get a permanent license.
And you don't pay per book.
There's no reason why the rules of selling should apply. And they aren't doing discrete lends like video stores, either. Rather they are using the "Netflix model".

You pay for access to the library--whether you use it or not.

What Amazon is doing is changing how they allocate the revenue generated to a finer-grained metric. Before, a title was considered to be read once the subscriber reached the 10% marker. Now they are moving to a more precise measurement of usage and allocating the pool money based on it.

Remember, the payment to authors isn't fixed but rather it floats.
The pool size for each month is fixed ahead of schedule and the payout will vary depending on subscriber usage. A lot of authors object to that uncertainty and stay out of KU.

But for those that join, the uncertainty is part of the deal.
KU is as much about generating attention as it is about delivering money, so it is as much a marketing mechanism as a revenue source. Author payment is in cash and visibility; before, the system favored short form overwhelmingly over long form in both visibility and cash.

Now it is more balanced but visibility still favors short form.