The Value of Experimentation

As of this week, both my books, WREATHED and RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY, are available exclusively on the Kindle store in e-book format. Both books were previously available as EPUB books available through Smashwords, the Nook Store, Apple, and other locations, but I’ve taken them all offline and am only offering e-books through Amazon.

This may not be a smart idea.

There are plenty of writer-humans out there who have made a lot more money than I have selling books who will tell you not to do this. My best guess is that they are right. There is considerable value in diversification in all sorts of fields, including publishing. I have made some money (not a lot, mind you) on the non-Amazon sites, and who am I to turn down money? Nobody, really.

In fact, this may be the worst time to go Amazon-exclusive, what with the rise of Kindle Unlimited and the lesser pay-outs for authors through that system.

So why bother?

Well, really, honestly, there’s no reason not to try something different. It is not as though I am selling a lot of books on the other sites; I’m only marginally selling more on Amazon. Historically, I’ve made a lot more money on Amazon than anywhere else, so why not take advantage of the tools that are available for KDP Select books?

The answer is, “I don’t know.”

The only way to tell is to experiment, to try as many different things as I can, to see what works and what doesn’t. I am fortunate in that this is not my day job and that I’m not dependent on writing for my income. So I’m going to try this, see how it works, see how much money I make this way, and go from there. It may not be a smart idea, probably isn’t. But it’s worth trying–and I can hardly make less money than I’m making already.