KDP Select - Page 4

RCraft · 12-31-2011, 01:30 AM

One thing to note about KDP is that if you make your novel free for the 5 days it'll reset your paid rankings, so once the novel comes off free you start from scratch. If people aren't buying your novel at that point then you will be way down the ladder.

sgraffwriter · 12-31-2011, 04:50 AM

I've had 30 sales since coming off of the 5 day promotion. Not an impressive sales record, but better than previous months. I'm hoping for gradual month by month improvement, and I'm learning how to better use the internet to market the book. There's always a learning curve with new pursuits. Though I've been a playwright and freelance writer for 30 years, I've only been an ebook author for 4 months. I can see the value of utilizing other platforms--like Smashwords (not Barnes and Noble; they don't seem too interested in "assisting" their independent authors).

M T McGuire · 01-06-2012, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greencat

And being in the UK, a lot of other ebook stores are not open to me anyhow.

The way I see it - if your livelihood is dependent on one or two megacorps like Amazon, Google or eBay - be very afraid. You have fewer rights than an employee and they can (and quite likely will) change their terms and conditions on a whim overnight to your disadvantage. My view though is to make hay while the sun shines. We are in a golden age at the moment. As every man and his dog realises they can sell "books" - things will get a lot harder.

My guess is that things will change either way once the first lending checks arrive. If the numbers are good, lots of others will join select and drive down the value of a borrow - if they are bad, lots will leave.

Amen to that! I'm hoping lots of them will leave. I will probably swap books if it appears to be doing anything for my sales and keep rotating titles.

Cheers

MTM

G J Lau · 01-10-2012, 09:08 PM

I have a novella I hope to publish this week. My plan is to put it only on Amazon and see if it sells, which it might since I have a couple of other books that are drawing readers. If I get some decent sales (and believe me, the bar is low), I'll put it out through Smashwords. If I don't get much action, then I would strongly consider the KDP Select program as a way of boosting interest and exposure. I can't see that it would hurt all that much, especially since I get most of my sales through Amazon anyway, but I would rather avoid it if I can.

Adele Ward · 01-11-2012, 07:22 PM

I'm glad to see so many people put off by the exclusivity they demand. I decided to experiment with it so that people could borrow our books (I'm a publisher) in the US from the lending library. But I'm not really happy with it. They really shouldn't demand exclusivity and it's not something we'll be able to do for long because we need to sell our books from a variety of websites and for other types of ereader. It's really quite outrageous that they demand this. There are other clauses too. The clauses saying the commission can be only 35% for us if the ebook is sold in certain countries - we've already fallen foul of that because we do have a following in those countries. And it goes on to say they can reduce the commission even more if they see our book priced lower anywhere else. No bookshop asks for this. Too much control - we do need to fight against it even though we still need Amazon to some extent.

JSWolf · 01-11-2012, 07:35 PM

Before eBook readers, we had a major tower of eBable with a number of different eBook formats. Now we almost have it correct with one format. But what I want to know is why did we let Amazon cause so much disruption? If Amazon had gone ePub, we'd not really have so much of an issue (as long as the DRM was compatible). But people bought into Amazon's way of doing things and now we have major splintering.

Can anything be done to stop this splintering and bring things together?

Adele Ward · 01-13-2012, 10:17 AM

Yes, JSWolf, there is something we can do. We insist on seeing ePub as the standard, keep selling/giving our books on a number of platforms using ePub, and also put them on Kindle. Amazon has already had to make concessions to the importance of ePub.

We can 'make hay while the sun shines' as somebody has put it, and make the most of Amazon's offers, without letting them control us.

As this year progresses there will be competitors stepping up their game and making it more viable to sell in their online bookshops. We will also want to sell on our own publisher and individual author websites. So I don't really see that Amazon can force us to go their limiting way exclusively.

2012 is going to be a very interesting year. In the UK I see Waterstones planning to move more into this market, also W H Smith, and as publishers we do get a good percentage of our online sales through them for print books, so that should also happen when they expand into ebooks.

I also think we could see some surprises, like the major supermarkets, moving into this arena. Tesco in the UK already had massive sales for ereaders over Christmas, and although these were Kindles I hope they would go for ePub books and readers too.

Amazon got a head start but it's up to all of us if we feel a more competitive market is what we want, what helps us most, and to make sure a standard such as ePub keeps enough of a position to force Amazon to play along. They already do to some extent and did have to work with ePub.

01-10-2012, 09:08 PM	#49
G J Lau Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 415116 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Frederick MD Device: Nook	I have a novella I hope to publish this week. My plan is to put it only on Amazon and see if it sells, which it might since I have a couple of other books that are drawing readers. If I get some decent sales (and believe me, the bar is low), I'll put it out through Smashwords. If I don't get much action, then I would strongly consider the KDP Select program as a way of boosting interest and exposure. I can't see that it would hurt all that much, especially since I get most of my sales through Amazon anyway, but I would rather avoid it if I can. Last edited by G J Lau; 01-10-2012 at 09:10 PM.

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12-31-2011, 01:30 AM	#46
RCraft Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Kindle	One thing to note about KDP is that if you make your novel free for the 5 days it'll reset your paid rankings, so once the novel comes off free you start from scratch. If people aren't buying your novel at that point then you will be way down the ladder.

12-31-2011, 04:50 AM	#47
sgraffwriter Stephen Graff Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Woodbury, NJ Device: Kindle for MAC	I've had 30 sales since coming off of the 5 day promotion. Not an impressive sales record, but better than previous months. I'm hoping for gradual month by month improvement, and I'm learning how to better use the internet to market the book. There's always a learning curve with new pursuits. Though I've been a playwright and freelance writer for 30 years, I've only been an ebook author for 4 months. I can see the value of utilizing other platforms--like Smashwords (not Barnes and Noble; they don't seem too interested in "assisting" their independent authors).

01-11-2012, 07:22 PM	#50
Adele Ward Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 490324 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London Device: Kindle	I'm glad to see so many people put off by the exclusivity they demand. I decided to experiment with it so that people could borrow our books (I'm a publisher) in the US from the lending library. But I'm not really happy with it. They really shouldn't demand exclusivity and it's not something we'll be able to do for long because we need to sell our books from a variety of websites and for other types of ereader. It's really quite outrageous that they demand this. There are other clauses too. The clauses saying the commission can be only 35% for us if the ebook is sold in certain countries - we've already fallen foul of that because we do have a following in those countries. And it goes on to say they can reduce the commission even more if they see our book priced lower anywhere else. No bookshop asks for this. Too much control - we do need to fight against it even though we still need Amazon to some extent.

01-11-2012, 07:35 PM	#51
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,015 Karma: 129333114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Before eBook readers, we had a major tower of eBable with a number of different eBook formats. Now we almost have it correct with one format. But what I want to know is why did we let Amazon cause so much disruption? If Amazon had gone ePub, we'd not really have so much of an issue (as long as the DRM was compatible). But people bought into Amazon's way of doing things and now we have major splintering. Can anything be done to stop this splintering and bring things together?

01-13-2012, 10:17 AM	#52
Adele Ward Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 490324 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London Device: Kindle	Yes, JSWolf, there is something we can do. We insist on seeing ePub as the standard, keep selling/giving our books on a number of platforms using ePub, and also put them on Kindle. Amazon has already had to make concessions to the importance of ePub. We can 'make hay while the sun shines' as somebody has put it, and make the most of Amazon's offers, without letting them control us. As this year progresses there will be competitors stepping up their game and making it more viable to sell in their online bookshops. We will also want to sell on our own publisher and individual author websites. So I don't really see that Amazon can force us to go their limiting way exclusively. 2012 is going to be a very interesting year. In the UK I see Waterstones planning to move more into this market, also W H Smith, and as publishers we do get a good percentage of our online sales through them for print books, so that should also happen when they expand into ebooks. I also think we could see some surprises, like the major supermarkets, moving into this arena. Tesco in the UK already had massive sales for ereaders over Christmas, and although these were Kindles I hope they would go for ePub books and readers too. Amazon got a head start but it's up to all of us if we feel a more competitive market is what we want, what helps us most, and to make sure a standard such as ePub keeps enough of a position to force Amazon to play along. They already do to some extent and did have to work with ePub.

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