Support for Indie Authors discussion
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Amazon paying for pages read only
Christina wrote: "As of right now, you get nothing if your book isn't read to the 10% mark. With the new system, you get paid, even nominally, if someone cracks the book, looks at the first page and calls it rubbish..."Yes, well said. Christina.
April
I think the new system rewards good writing... the better you write, the more pages a reader will read, the more the author is paid.That sounds good to me.
April
Owen wrote: "BTW: I downloaded all three books. They all start where they should on my paperwhite except Bluebeard's Children, which goes to the page before. Bluebeard's Children also display with a much smaller font. The other display with the default font (and the same as ours). Since that is the one with the KENP = 273, the formatting is messing up their page count, or so I would guess. I hope they give you some answers. (I think I'm going to ask as well.) "Thank you for checking. Looks like I can't keep putting off the reformatting of that series. Ah well, I'd been looking for a summer brain project... *grumbles*
Owen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Thanks Owen, and if you like crime thrillers, John Sanford is one of the best!"Thank you. But if I venture in that direction, I'd read yours. SIA members get priority with me."
Great! JACKPOT is free until Saturday midnight. Book 4, but it's a prequel to the other books in the series.
Good luck w/sales of your books, too!
Just when sales were starting to take off... -_- maybe I should get back into computer programming...
Mod
I'm still getting sales and seeing royalties accumulate. Don't give up. Don't panic. I don't think this thing is as bad as some are making it out to be.
Dwayne wrote: "I'm still getting sales and seeing royalties accumulate. Don't give up. Don't panic. I don't think this thing is as bad as some are making it out to be..."The thing is im lucky to make 50$ a month in sales depending on which holiday it is... I keep writing though. Only because I haven't much else to do with my chronic insomnia... I hope this won't dwindle my already meager piddling sales...
Christina wrote: "I'm going send an inquiry to kdp with these numbers. Like I said, even the print length seems weird for the word count. The series is also the only books I don't have a print edition on as well. I'..."Okay, the response did not answer my question and seemed to indicate that font *is* a factor, which is very odd. Normally I have informative answers sent the first time, but it looks like I'm going to have to dig a little deeper as well as start that reformatting project thia weekend.
K.P. wrote: "Just when sales were starting to take off... -_- maybe I should get back into computer programming..."What's wrong with computer programming? I'm an IT guy and like that - but I also like writing books.
Don't give up before even seen what the result is. The key to success is 1% luck and 99% perseverance.
I'm new to this (I published my first novel on Tuesday of this week). I'm in KDP Select, so my book is in KU. I think getting paid by the number of pages read is a great formula, as it creates a level playing field for all books, regardless of length. Am I missing something? April
I'm really not sure what to make of this..it's typical Amazon to me, take that how you want lol.
I too am waiting to see how much $$ I receive from the page-reads. Mine are substantial for my novels, far less with my three non-fiction books. (2 of them are about 100 pages, the other slightly longer) I decided to remove them from KDP select. Be aware, folks, that you cannot just instantly remove them. You have signed up for a 90 day period and the book will remain in KDP until that period is up. Fortunately for me, the KDP period for all three of my non-fiction books ends this month.
Susan wrote: "I too am waiting to see how much $$ I receive from the page-reads. Mine are substantial for my novels, far less with my three non-fiction books. (2 of them are about 100 pages, the other slightly l..."Actually, you can have your book removed from KDP Select immediately by contacting them. I just read that on their website today.
For me, as a newbie, KDP Select is a great deal right now.
April
I know everyone will see different response, but I hope it's a good one. For us, if that payout estimate is in the ballpark, we made more off KU in seven days than we did in all of June. Yes, we've been so lucky (and it could fall off at any time). May the rest of you be "lucky" too.
Susan wrote: "Be aware, folks, that you cannot just instantly remove them."This is generally the case. But I did see a link on Amazon (I believe I found it thru my KDP bookshelf -- apologies for not having it) that said to contact KDP support if you wanted to opt out of the program.
I have no firm idea what that means, but it has a flavor that Amazon knows it just changed the game, so it may be letting authors out early if they request it. So it might be worth checking with them if you want to opt out early.
Susan wrote: "Great! JACKPOT is free until Saturday midnight. Book 4, but it's a prequel to the other books in the series.Good luck w/sales of your books, too!"
Got it thru KU. It's a new genre for me -- time to broaden my horizons.
And thanks for the good wishes!
Susan wrote: "JACKPOT is free until Saturday midnight. Book 4, but it's a prequel to the other books in the series..."Got it, Susan. It's on my reading list now.
April wrote: "I'm new to this (I published my first novel on Tuesday of this week). I'm in KDP Select, so my book is in KU. I think getting paid by the number of pages read is a great formula, as it creates a le..."Hello, April and Everybody, I'm newer than new to this. My first book, non-fiction/memoir will be released on July 24th. First of all, can you tell me what KU and KDP Select are? And does anyone have any tips on how to best use Goodreads to promote sales? Although I have a publisher for this, so haven't incurred the costs of self-publishing, by the time the dust settles, books for events are purchased (which hopefully will be sold!!), a couple of plane tickets for scheduled events in other places, I'm going to be in debt before I leave the gate. I'm nearly 70 and living on Social Security, if that plucks your heartstrings :-) I will appreciate any and all advice. And thanks.
Mod
Kdp select-kindle direct publishing exclusive authors belong to this program.
Riley, thanks so much. I'll figure all this out eventually. My first impression of the Goodreads Authors Program is that it has some real potential for getting the book out there to readers. Am I just getting my hopes up?? Well, I'll keep plugging away and after working with the Koehler Books editors (fabulous but hard-driving) and dealing with some unexpected external obstacles I'm kind of having fun filling out forms, finding quotes, answering the canned questions. I guess I'm really enjoying the whole darned process :-)
Hi Dean, In this folder you will find many threads on the subject. Please take a look through those as they have covered just about every aspect of marketing by now. If you still have questions, please feel free to begin your own thread, but we prefer to keep each thread on topic as much as possible to make it easy for our members to find the information they are looking for.
Dean wrote: "April wrote: "I'm new to this (I published my first novel on Tuesday of this week). I'm in KDP Select, so my book is in KU. I think getting paid by the number of pages read is a great formula, as i..."Hi, Dean
I'm new at this, too. I just released my first novel a week ago... Since this thread is about Amazon paying for pages read, I'll address "What is KU?" KU = Kindle Unlimited. KU is a monthly subscription service that readers can sign up for (and pay about $10 per month to join). It allows readers to download up to 10 books that are KU-eligible at any one time. You can keep those books on your Kindle indefinitely. But, if you want a new KU-eligible book, you have to return one of the ones you already have to get the new one. So, in other words, you can "check out" KU books and keep them, but you can't have more than 10 at any one time. You can return KU books whenever you want to exchange them for new ones. I have KU and love it!
For the authors, my understanding (I'm new, too, remember) is that we get paid for the books readers "borrow" through the KU program... we are paid by the number of pages read.... according to a formula. Amazon determines the number of pages in your ebook by using what they call the "Kindle Edition Normalized Pages" (KENP) formula. To give you an idea of how that works out, my novel (which is 390 pages in PRINT) is considered by Amazon to be 886 pages long in KENP.
Authors of KU books are paid for every page read -- Amazon tracks that.
Personally, I am making MORE money this first week of my book release on the KU books than I am making on the direct sales. More people are downloading and reading my book through KU than buying it directly, so I think the program is great (it's a win-win for us both - assuming I understand this program correctly). Now, what we get paid per page read... I'm not too sure on that. I have read several estimations, from $0.0044 per page to $0.0056 to $0.0068. I think it has to do with how many pages were read IN TOTAL for ALL books in the KU program PER MONTH per the amount of money in some financial fund. This is where it gets cloudy for me. I am using the smallest value ($.0044 to estimate mine), and for me that ends up being a little bit above my usual 70% royalty if a reader reads the entire book (I get 70% royalty because I'm in KDP Select). (By the way, this new formula of paying KU authors for "pages read" is a new plan from Amazon as of July 1st; they used to pay per book downloaded, but that was really ripe for scamming, so they changed it to "pages read" - which I think is a great idea. This plan rewards good books and good writers, and dis-rewards people who were trying to SCAM the system by publishing lots of "tiny" little books -- and I do NOT refer to short stories or novellas, which I LOVE - I mean intentionally scamming the system with little scam "pamphlets.")
My book was self-published through KDP Select, and that's a separate Amazon program that has numerous pros and cons, which I won't address here as it is outside the scope of this thread.
Keep in mind, I'm new at this, so please verify what I've said with more experienced authors. I don't want to give you the wrong info. Maybe someone else here on this thread can chime in to verify (or correct) what I've said. My advice is to read, read, read... everything you can find on publishing through Amazon. I'm a self-published author (which I think is an awesome way to go), so read up a lot of self-publishing info, because even if you aren't self-pubbed, you'll still learn a lot about the industry and e-books, print books, etc...
Feel free to message me directly if you have more questions or want more info. I'll help the best I can. I'm learning, too. I think we all are. :)
Best of luck to you!!
April
April wrote: "Dean wrote: "April wrote: "I'm new to this (I published my first novel on Tuesday of this week). I'm in KDP Select, so my book is in KU. I think getting paid by the number of pages read is a great ..."
AT first I was a little apprehensive about the new system but now I understand why they implemented this system. Now I know who's actually enjoying my book and if it's being enjoyed!
AT first I was a little apprehensive about the new system but now I understand why they implemented this system. Now I know who's actually enjoying my book and if it's being enjoyed!
April wrote: "Hi, DeanI'm new at this, too. I just released my first novel a week ago... Since this thread is about Amazon paying for pages read, I'll address ..."
April, what you wrote tracks with my understanding. There is more number crunching earlier in this thread. The estimates are based on numbers Amazon quoted for June. It is correct that the payout depends on the total number pages read (per the KENP count) in the KU program for July, and the amount of money Amazon dedicates to the program. Amazon has indicated that will be at least $11 million for July. We'll have to see how many pages are actually read and when the final amount Amazon decides on is. (They usually announce that around the 15th of the following month, so we should know by Aug 15th.)
One small correction: with a couple of exceptions, all KDP authors get 70% royalty if their book is priced between $2.99 and $10, not just authors in KDP Select. There are a couple of markets where you have to be in KDP Select to get the 70% royalty. (I forget the details there.) There are also a few markets where no one gets 70% royalty (that's rare).
Glad to hear you are doing well!
Mod
Kindles tracked pages to remember your place anyway, so I am not really buying into they are spying on people thing. They already were spying in a manner of speaking, now they just use the info for something to possibly help the service as a whole.
From what I can figure, going over everything extensively the past week or so... (Please correct me if I am wrong.)
Amazon has a total budget for this program. This month there is 11 Million dollars to spread around. Every page read everywhere is 1 unit. (So, badly mathed example): If 1,000 pages of your book are read in a month, and 1,000,000,000 pages are read in total then you have 1,000 units / 1,000,000,000 units total then you have a 1/1,000,000 market share in the 11 million dollars (or in this case $11)
Okay, so my math is out there. More pages are read every month than that, but I think it probably works like that. I suspect that monthly earnings / page will be variable based on the amount to spread around each month and the total pages read. I don't think Amazon will make it a base rate to cover themselves on very heavy months of reading (or a maximum rate for low reading months to help their profits), so even if you have the same pages read / month it likely will be variable slightly. :)
At least, I think it works like that. We will need to wait and see.
I decided to try it out and see what happens. When my books show up in the store that is, still waiting for them ^-^.
If nothing happens then I can elect to leave after 3 months.
C.B. wrote: "I think I am for this change.Kindles tracked pages to remember your place anyway, so I am not really buying into they are spying on people thing. They already were spying in a manner of speaking,..."
Hi, C.B. That's my understanding, too. It's just too bad they have to use such a convoluted equation. Too bad it's not just a set price paid per page read.
April
A.E. wrote: "Anyone read this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology......"I don't understand how the change in compensation policy for KU is "going after the indie publishers" - can you explain?
Thanks!
April
Iffix wrote: "Thankfully, this won't effect me at all, since my books are AWESOME! :DSeriously, though, it is interesting to see how Amazon encourages authors to sign up with them as a publisher then stabs all ..."
I don't see this as a "stab in the back." Why do you feel that way? ... I'm just trying to understand this better.
April
Mod
It seems to be a common reaction that some are having. I'm not sure I understand it, either. I'm making as much this month as I was at this point last month. Personally, I'm giving it a few months before deciding if this change hurts authors or not. So far it doesn't seem to effect me at all.
Ramon wrote: "Susan wrote: "JACKPOT is free until Saturday midnight. Book 4, but it's a prequel to the other books in the series..."Got it, Susan. It's on my reading list now."
Thanks to Ramon and Owen ... hope you enjoy it!
Thanks to all who responded to my comment about not being able to get out of KDP select quickly. I wasn't aware there was a way to get out immediately. However, as it happens, the 3 non-fiction ebooks with 100 or so pages I wanted to remove from it were set to end their run in KDP select next week, so I just un-checked the automatic renewal option. My novels are many pages longer and I'll keep them in the program at least until I find out what my payment will be for this month.
I'm making more in royalties this month than I have in previous months since the KENP started. I don't feel betrayed or stabbed by Amazon KDP by their change. Something is better than nothing.
I know there's been a lot of talk here about KENP, but I have to say (as a newbie), I love it because it tells me exactly how many pages of my novel have actually been read. A lot of folks download KU books and never get around to reading them. I'm guilty of this, too. But KENP shows how many pages have actually been read/viewed, and that's really cool. It's real-time feedback. If a lot of pages are being read, one might assume that at least some readers are enjoying the book.April
April wrote: "I know there's been a lot of talk here about KENP, but I have to say (as a newbie), I love it because it tells me exactly how many pages of my novel have actually been read. A lot of folks download..."I agree. It is also putting more money in my pocket. I'm getting 4.50 per book which exceeds royalties from sales.
Just checking my latest stats: With the page reads of my latest novel ("Lorraine y el lord impotente") I have already quadrupled my KU/KOLL income for that novel in June so far, assuming the low end payment that we have been discussing (around 0.005$/page).My shorter novels are not doing that well, and are going to earn slightly less (but then, previously I was actually earning 3x the royalties per sale for a loan, which was absolutely ridiculous).
Overall, I think I'm close to the same amount of royalties as I received in June, and we're only halfway through the month!
If that's penalizing the indies, I want more of it... (unless, of course, Amazon pays far less than the amounts that we've been discussing).
I check my stats once a week and someone is obviously enjoying my book "Scarborough."
Here is Amazon's explanation of the new payment policy for KU books read: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A...According to Amazon's sample calculations for royalties earned on books read through the Kindle Unlimited program, if readers read 20,000 pages of a book, the author would be paid $2,000. Am I reading that right?
April
Mod
According to Amazon's sample calculations for royalties earned on books..."
Oh! I was right, I was sort of just speculating, but there is the real evidence. Thanks April. This was helpful!
20,000 pages might become 2,000 dollars. Depending on the total number of pages read worldwide in that month. It likely would be much less, as more pages than their example would likely be read. That is 10 cents a page, probably a bit high.
But here is hoping!
You're reading from the examples, which also include total pages read for all authors and the amount of the fund during that month. Payment can vary, and I could be wrong, but it seems unlikely that they would actually pay 10 cents for each page read.
April, take it with a ton of salt. It's just an example, and wildly inaccurate. If you read above in this thread, we have made several calculations, based on the available funds and some information that Amazon has released about number of actually read pages. The estimations we came up were between $0.0048 and $0.0058 per page. I suggested $0.0052, if I recall well.
If a reader reads 20000 pages of a book, he'd get approximately $100.
Jack wrote: "April wrote: "I know there's been a lot of talk here about KENP, but I have to say (as a newbie), I love it because it tells me exactly how many pages of my novel have actually been read. A lot of ..." I agree. It is also putting more money in my pocket. I'm getting 4.50 per book which exceeds royalties from sales. Jack, how do you know how much you're getting per book? Amazon hasn't done any payouts under the new program.
I don't feel this hurts authors. I mean I would like to think there's only a few people out there who may not finish a book and then you'd get a small fee for it. I don't exactly know how it all works but I'm giving Amazon the benefit of the doubt here. Also two of my poetry books are only 60 and 50 pages so I would like to think someone can get through the entire thing lol.
I wrote KDP asking about the issue of providing both KENP reads and KU loans. The answer I got was that it was under consideration. (Which could mean most anything.) I do expect some new developments in the coming months.
Owen, it certainly would be a good thing if we got both. Thanks for asking.
C.B. wrote: "April wrote: "Here is Amazon's explanation of the new payment policy for KU books read: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A...According to Amazon's sample calculations for royalties e..."
April wrote: "Here is Amazon's explanation of the new payment policy for KU books read: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A...
According to Amazon's sample calculations for royalties earned on books..."
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. Ten cents a page isn't even close. More like LESS THAN a half a cent a page. 20,000 times .006 cents translates to $120.00
Owen wrote: "I wrote KDP asking about the issue of providing both KENP reads and KU loans. The answer I got was that it was under consideration. (Which could mean most anything.) I do expect some new developmen..."That's an interesting issue. Owen. Loans vs. K-Unlimited page reads. Both of my short non-fiction books were in the "borrow" column this month. No page reads. Tough to understand what this means without a breakdown of the numbers.
Mod
Oh, I didn't think it was anywhere close to that amount. It is odd they have that as their example, you would think the math would be better on an example... from Amazon.
I was just in the 'Wouldn't that be neat if it were true' frame of mind. :)
We will need to wait until the end of the month to know for certain.
Susan wrote: "C.B. wrote: "April wrote: "Here is Amazon's explanation of the new payment policy for KU books read: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A...According to Amazon's sample calculations fo..."
Well, that makes much more sense. Why would they use such an inaccurate value on their website sample calculations?
Does anyone have an idea what the total count of pages read might be for a month? Any ballpark figures? They use 100,000,000 in their example calculations, but I assume that is WAY too low.
Oh, well. It's fun guessing. I'm a newbie, so this is all exciting to me -- even the unknown. :)
April
Mod
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Thank you. But if I venture in that direction, I'd read yours. SIA members get priority with me.