The New Amazon KDP Select Program And What It Means For You
I should've posted about this earlier, but now will have to do. The long and short of it is that earlier this month, Amazon rolled out a new program for Kindle called KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) Select.
For readers, the bottom line is that you can now get access to a wide variety of Kindle books for free…if you're a member of Amazon Prime. Prime members now have access to what's essentially a large virtual lending library of KDP Select titles. So if you're a Prime member and have a Kindle, it's a great deal!
I'll also say something about Amazon Prime right up front: it's an awesome program if you do much shopping with Amazon. The annual fee is $79, which gives you free regular shipping on tons of items, and ridiculously inexpensive ($3.99 per item) 1-day shipping; access to a bunch of Amazon streaming videos; and now free books. I've been a member for the last few years, and I've saved a boatload of money just in shipping costs.
For authors, KDP Select offers some cool options, but there are some caveats that you have to take into account. If you put a book into the KDP Select program (which is done easily with a few clicks in the KDP interface), you agree to remove your book from other distribution channels for 90 days, or as long as you keep the book in KDP Select. So, if your book is available for the Nook, Kobo, etc., you have to go and shut those channels down while your book is in KDP Select. And you can specify that your book automatically be rolled over in KDP Select after the 90 days are over, or not. And you can enter a book in the program any time later.
Keep in mind, however, that this only applies to ebook versions of the book. If you have the book in print, audiobooks, etc., the KDP Select agreement doesn't apply to other media formats.
On the upside, you get to offer your book free for 5 days in any given 90 day KDP Select period – and that means free for everybody, not just Prime members, for those 5 days. The other nice thing is that Amazon is allocating a chunk of money – $500,000 for December – that's a pool from which authors will be paid a share for every book borrow by Prime members. So every time a Prime member borrows a book you have in KDP Select, you're going to get a chunk of money from that pool. How much will depend on the total number of borrows and what your percentage is, so obviously the more borrows, the better.
For me, I decided to put IN HER NAME: FIRST CONTACT and SEASON OF THE HARVEST in the program to test the waters. So if you own a Kindle and are an Amazon Prime member, check 'em out – for you, they're free for the next 90 days!
Oh, and one last thing: when an author puts a KDP Select title up for free promotion (remember, those 5 of 90 days the author can make the book free for everybody, not just Prime members), it appears that non-US folks can actually get the book for free from Amazon US. Normally you'd have to pay an "I don't live in the U.S." surcharge, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the KDP Select free promotions, at least based on some feedback I've gotten from a couple readers overseas. It also looks like KDP Select free promotion titles are free in *all* the Amazon stores (US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES), which is nice!
Related Posts:Amazon Kindle's New @Author Feature – A New Way For Readers and Authors To Connect$100 Giveaway by Michael R. Hicks – For Clicking a Couple ButtonsGet Your Kids Started Early On The Road To SuccessMy Crystal Ball Look At The Publishing Industry
