Getting Paid by the Page (Or, I Told You So)

If you've been on my blog for any length of time, you've seen the many, many posts I've made where I criticize Amazon's Kindle Unlimited plan.

First it was because borrows, which work the same as sales, were going to pay out far less than "actual sales" as far as royalties go ($1.80/borrow vs. $2+/sale).

Then it was because Amazon absolutely refused to tell us how much we were getting paid per borrow. The number would fluctuate month-by-month, and not only that, but Amazon wouldn't let us know what that number was until the 15th of the following month.

Then it was because borrows tanked month after month, going from $1.80 to $1.35.

I said a lot of things over the past year. Things like, "this is how frogs boil." Things like, "if self-published authors don't stand up and demand better, they are going to feed into a system that sees their complacency and tries to screw them over even more."

A lot of people said I was wrong. That I was paranoid. That I didn't know what I was talking about. Surely, Mother Amazon wouldn't do this. They're fine operating at a loss, these people said. They're looking out for the little guy, and that's us!

So, what has Amazon done for the little guy now, you ask? Well, they've decided that they're going to pay us per page read, not per book borrowed!

Yes, you are reading that absolutely insane idea right. From July 1st on, Amazon will only pay authors a certain number per page read. So no longer will we earn our $1.35/borrow. We'll earn $0.01 or so per page the reader actually looks at. So if someone borrows your book, but doesn't read it all the way through, congratulations! You're going to get paid pennies!

Oh, and did I mention that Amazon hasn't actually settled on a number per page yet? And they won't. They'll let us know the 15th of August what number they've come up with. And just like the KU that exists now, that number may vary at Amazon's discretion.

This means a few things, besides the obvious.

Short stories will no longer have a market. If your short story clocks in at 20 pages, you'll get paid $0.20 per borrow or less, assuming the reader actually finishes it. And nobody wants to write that. Remember all those erotic shorts you used to get for free because they were enrolled in Kindle Unlimited? Kiss those goodbye!Novels will be the only lucrative medium to write in. So if you enjoyed novellas, serials, or anything other than long-form novels, I'm sorry to say your options will be limited from now on.As such, you can expect some really terrible novels, and some really long wait times between stories from your favorite authors. Expect to see a bunch of really awful novels by authors who were really better suited for short stories and the like. And then, once those authors realize nobody is finishing those, prepare for steep wait times between novels. Because if at any point you become disinterested, your favorite author isn't going to get paid. Or at least, not as much as they should.

Most of all, you can expect Kindle Unlimited to stop being any good for you as a reader. Because your favorite authors will suffer as a result of this new policy, and those who don't agonize even more about what to write and how to keep you interested will jump ship, meaning you don't get an all-you-can-read buffet for $10/month anymore.

But what about self-publishers? Will they finally listen up and jump ship?

The jury is still out on that, but my guess is "no." Frankly, I don't think the majority of them will take Amazon's dick out of their mouths to look up and realize they're not even going to get a pat on the head and some cab fare anymore.

My hope, however, is that enough of us band together and actually put a stop to this. We're about to make less than $1 per borrow. This time last year, those authors were saying, "As long as I make $1 per borrow, I don't care." Let's hope those authors don't lower that "ideal" number to $0.50 and fuck the rest of us over in the process.

And if you care about authors at all, do us a favor: e-mail Amazon and tell them this is unacceptable. Tell them you will cancel your KU membership if you can't get the stories you enjoy anymore because of their exploitative policies. Amazon is not a benevolent entity, and money matters. Hit them where it hurts.