An Experiment with KDP Select

Earlier this year I published a women's fiction book, Hold My Hand, but have done very little to promote it (I sent it to a couple of review sites, but so far no reviews have been posted). Sales, as could be expected, have been dismal.

So yesterday, when I logged into my Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) dashboard, I was very intrigued by the new KDP Select program. Basically, KDP Select lets indie authors add their books to the Kindle Owners Lending Library in exchange for a 90-day exclusive with Amazon (you also get 5 days of free promotion during that 90-day period). Now, the best part is that you earn a royalty every time your book is loaned out. There's a royalty pool each month, and you get paid based on the number of times your book is loaned, based on the percentage of the total number of loans.

The book will still be for sale during this time, but only via Amazon. It's in the process of being un-published from everywhere else (though I'll probably put it back up once the 90-day exclusive is over). I'm hoping that if nothing else, this will get the word out about the book, and hopefully even get some reviews. If, at the end of the three months, there's no change in sales and it hasn't been borrowed much, then I'll have to rethink some things about the book (probably the cover first).

So, I'll post an update at the end of the 90-day period and let everyone know how it went. I'm also interested in how others who are trying the program fair, so if you are, please let me know in the comments how it goes (feel free to post a link to your own blog if you write a post about it).