Are you a paying subscriber to Kindle Unlimited/Scribd/Oyster?

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I checked (in retrospect) how many of the 140 ebooks I read last year are available at:

Ebook sellers: 140
Public library: 56 (OverDrive: 38 + BorrowBox: 18)
Kindle Unlimited: 0

Several of the ones I read were on KU--but all of them turned out to be books I got for free (excepting one that I started THIS year and paid 99 cents for. It was a DNF at any rate because it was too dark for my tastes and it annoyed me for a different reason too.)

[taosaur]

The audiobook credit system was the final straw for me with Scribd, but what really drove me away was inconsistent performance from the app. It had different issues on three different Android devices, and it's clear the app is doing a lot of unnecessary heavy lifting to accomplish simple tasks (displaying text, playing audio, displaying images). When I'm trying to relax with some media, troubleshooting is the last thing I want to be doing.

[Fbone]

If I was interested in a subscription service, I'd probably pay for an out-of-area library card like Orange County, Florida for $125.

[Xianxia]

2014 payout to self-publishers who enrolled in KU

KOLL/KU Global Fund for July was $2.785 million (average payout $1.80), 31 days of KOLL, 14 days of KU --------1.547 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for August was $4.7 million (average payout $1.54) full month of KOLL and KU--------3.052 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for September was $5 million (average payout $1.52) full month of KOLL and KU-------3.29 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for October was $5.5 million (average payout $1.33) full month of KOLL and KU ---------4.14 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for November was $6.5 million (average payout $1.40) full month of KOLL and KU--------4.64 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for December was $7.25 million (average payout $1.43) full month of KOLL and KU --------5.07 million borrows

2015 payout to self-publishers who enrolled in KU

KOLL/KU Global Fund for January was $8.50 million (average payout $1.38) full month of KOLL and KU -----------6.15 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for February was $8.00 million (average payout $1.41) full month of KOLL and KU ------------5.67 million borrows (28 days February)
KOLL/KU Global Fund for March was $9.30 million (average payout $1.34) full month of KOLL and KU ---------------6.94 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for April was $9.80 million (average payout $1.36) full month of KOLL and KU -----------------7.21 million borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for May was $10.8 million (average payout $1.37) full month of KOLL and KU -----------------7.88 millon borrows
KOLL/KU Global Fund for June was $11.3 million (average payout $1.35) full month of KOLL and KU-----------------8.37 million borrows

KOLL/KU Global Fund for July was $11.5 million (average payout per KENP is $0.005779)---------------------------1,989,963,661 pages (KENP) read
KOLL/KU Global Fund for August was $11.8 million(average payout per KENP is $0.00514)--------------------------2,295,719,844 pages (KENP) read
KOLL/KU Global Fund for September was $12.0 million (average payout per KENPC is $0.00507)--------------------2,366,863,909 pages (KENP) read
KOLL/KU Global Fund for October was $12.4 million (average payout per KENPC is $0.004809) ---------------------2,578,498,648 pages (KENP) read
KOLL/KU Global Fund for November was $12.7 million (average payout per KENPC is $0.00492) --------------------2,581,300,813 pages (KENP) read
KOLL/KU Global Fund for December was $13.5 million (average payout per KENPC is $0.00461) --------------------2,928,416485 pages (KENP) read


2015 payout: $131.6 million
2015 All-Stars bonuses: $14 million

Total 2015 payout: $145.6 million

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Fbone

If I was interested in a subscription service, I'd probably pay for an out-of-area library card like Orange County, Florida for $125.

Or, you could pay much less at any of several other public libraries (see "USA Libraries that offer cards online or by mail, to non-residents").

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Froide

Or, you could pay much less at any of several other public libraries (see "USA Libraries that offer cards online or by mail, to non-residents").

Yes, there are other places that offer cards to non-residents. I do like that Orange County offers Overdrive, Axis360 and Freading. Freading has many of the classic sci-fi I enjoy and overall has a catalog of 110,000 titles.

[QuantumIguana]

Not currently. I might sign up for a single month and cancel if there was something I wanted to read, and the cost of the books was greater than the cost of the membership. But I'd cancel as soon as there wasn't enough I wanted to justify the price.

[Xianxia]

KU payout in 2016 could be as much as $400 million.

$200 million to self-publishers (it was at $145.6 million for 2015)
$200 million to small/medium publishers and Amazon Publishing imprints

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Xianxia

KU payout in 2016 could be as much as $400 million.

$200 million to self-publishers (it was at $145.6 million for 2015)
$200 million to small/medium publishers and Amazon Publishing imprints

And how much of that did they make off their subscription service?
I wonder how close those two numbers correlate.

[Xianxia]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

And how much of that did they make off their subscription service?
I wonder how close those two numbers correlate.

KU is a loss leader for Amazon. Once you are on Amazon to find a new book to read, you might click to another items on Amazon. The very definition of a loss leader.

I doubt Amazon makes a profit on KU.

People who subscribe to KU are mostly avid readers. If you read 2-3 books a month, you are not likely to subscribe since you won't get your money worth.

After Scribd burns through the venture capital money, it will be in trouble.

Oyster already fold.

To pay $400 million a year in royalties to books that enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program shows that KU is a huge hit.

If it could get to $1 billion a year in payout, it would be a huge force to be reckon with.

[Cinisajoy]

My question was how many paid subscribers does KU have?

Though I loved your roundabout answer.

[Xianxia]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

My question was how many paid subscribers does KU have?

Though I loved your roundabout answer.

Only Amazon knows.

And it likely will never tell.

[QuantumIguana]

I just signed up for Kindle Unlimited again. I found some books that interested be, and it seemed worth the price - for now at least.

[CWatkinsNash]

I've got KU again, for the next year, because I bought the Fire HD8 Reader Edition. It was an early Valentine's Day preset to myself.

I'm finding more of a variety of books that interest me this time around, especially with some of the publishers that have been added. I keep a KU wishlist and try to alternate with books I already own and those I get from the library.

[BearMountainBooks]

New SCRIBD lending rules:

Dear Maria,
Thank you for being a part of the Scribd community. We are making some changes to the way our service works, and we wanted to let you know ahead of time.
Starting mid-March, your membership will include:
• Monthly Reads: three books and one audiobook of your choice from Scribd’s library of bestsellers and award winners
• Scribd Selects: a rotating collection of books and audiobooks handpicked by our editors, to which you will have unlimited access
• Substantial previews of any book or audiobook
• Unlimited access to sheet music and documents
We will continue to offer the most diverse selection of books, audiobooks, and more - without raising our prices. Your monthly membership fee is still $8.99 per month. To get you started, we’re giving you three additional Monthly Reads to use for any books.