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Should I stick with KDP?
Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever madeAlp Mortal
First of all, KDP and KDP Select are two different things. Select is the program in which you are cobtractually bound to e-book distribution exclusively through Amazon. KDP is simply the tool with which all indies and most small presses publish to Amazon's kindle store.Second of all, as a member of Select, you may give away as many review copies of your book in amy format you like, provided you are not *selling* them through any channels including your own website.
As far as advice, do remember that everyone is going to have a different experience. Your best bet, if Select is not working out for you, is to unenroll and try your hand at expanded e-book distribution. If it works out, fantastic. If not, you can always pull back and re-enroll in Select. Just remember that sales may not be instantaneous regardless, so give all of your options time before yanking the plug and trying something else.
Ah yes, I meant KDP Select, sorry about that. As for Smashwords, I sold a total of five copies there and I felt it was safe to just go Amazon all the way.And it seems I've misunderstood the giveaway thing.
I appreciate the replies.
I'm in KDP select. I think as a new and unknown author, particularly one struggling for reviews, it means people are more likely to take that chance. When I don't have a promotion on, I see far more page reads than I do sales, and if someone reads my whole book, the money I get works out to be about the same.
I have one novel published so far, and it's in KDP Select. I love Select! Most (usually 70%) of my business comes from Kindle Unlimited, so Select works really well for me. I wouldn't leave it for anything. I publish in the romance genre, and romance readers tend to read a lot of books via Kindle Unlimited.Someday, when I have a lot of titles under my belt, I may look at expanding to other markets, but right now Amazon is where it's at. They have the lion's share of the e-book market. For authors just getting started, Amazon is your best bet.
In general, if an author's book isn't selling well there, then they need to look at the book itself, as well as the marketing. Assuming an author puts out a good book, then sales depend on good marketing. Marketing is everything.
Mod
There's no one-size fits all answer to the OP. I suspect that some genres like Romance will be hugely more successful on KDP Select than others.Personally, I had no luck with it at all for my SF books. All the sales I got were through normal KDP channels. Then again, I've had no luck w/Smashwords or anywhere else. Probably because I really don't know or like the marketing side of publishing.
Alp wrote: "Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever madeAlp Mortal"
Hi, Alp. Why was this a good decision for you? Did your sales overall increase?
April wrote: "I have one novel published so far, and it's in KDP Select. I love Select! Most (usually 70%) of my business comes from Kindle Unlimited, so Select works really well for me. I wouldn't leave it for ..."This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other channels they offer. My novel is also a romance (e-book only) and I wonder if I might have better sales with KDP Select. I'm not selling many books with Smashwords (and their related channels) so it's perhaps worth a try. Agree? I'd love to hear your advice/thoughts on this. Thanks!
C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other channels they offer. My novel is also a romance (e-book only) and I wonder if I might have better sales with KDP Select. I'm not selling many books with Smashwords (and their related channels) so it's perhaps worth a try. Agree? I'd love to hear your advice/thoughts on this. "Hi, C.S.! Funny you should ask me. Your book is next on my TBR. :)
I would definitely sign up with KDP Select if I were you - especially since your novel is a romance. A lot of romance readers use Kindle Unlimited, which is available only to books in KDP Select. Easily 70-80% of my book revenue comes through Kindle Unlimited - i.e., KDP Select.
From everything I've read from indie authors... they don't get many (if any at all) sales outside of Amazon. Amazon owns the lion's share of the e-book market. Some indie authors want to distribute their books widely, but the truth is, many of them don't have many sales in those other markets - certainly not enough to justify missing out on the benefits of KDP Select.
Distributing widely is something for well-established authors who sells lots of books. I'm sure there are some indie authors who have had a different experience, but for romance authors especially, I think KDP Select is the best way to go. It's authors who sell hundreds or thousands of books a day who need to distribute widely. In the beginning, use Amazon to build your following and grow your business, then distribute more widely when you've got a strong following.
I hope that helps. Feel free to message me any time if you have questions about KDP Select, etc... :)
April
Comment deleted due to spamming. Self-promotion is restricted to the services folder only.
April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other channels they offer. My novel is also a romance (..."Wow. Thanks April. All excellent advice. I think I'll switch to KDP Select in the new year.
btw - I have your book on my TBR list too, but I'm in the middle of Outlander and can't seem to pull myself away from it just yet... :-)
I hope you enjoy my novel. Can't wait to hear what you think of it.
Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other channels they offer. M..."Um... should I be blushing? LOL.
E.J. wrote: "Alp wrote: "Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever madeAlp Mortal"
I'm making that decision soon (KDP Select subscription ends on the 24th), with hopes of expandin..."
Hi E.J
Firstly, all authors will have a different experience of KDP Select, and that experience will depend on so many factors. I neither encourage or discourage participation - your choice but one which I would say should be based on some research.
I exited from KDP Select because the price of Amazon exclusivity just became too high. I was with Amazon exclusively from December 2012 to August 2014. Between August 2014 and February 2015, I sold via my own eStore and Smashwords only.
From February 2015, my titles are available through Amazon, also through Smashwords and their premium catalogue partners (Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes and others), and through All Romance eBooks.
Sales now breakdown like this - Amazon 1/3, All Romance eBooks 1/3, the rest 1/3 - this is after about 10 months.
Benefits of this strategy?
1) I have reached new markets and readers, and generate more traffic to my website
2) I have much more flexibility in terms of pricing, discounting, and in offering freebies
3) I earn more
4) On All Romance eBooks, I get access to regular promotions that cost me nothing to put up (they fund the discount)
5) My titles are available in more formats
6) I can get a new title out on Smashwords and All Romance eBooks within minutes of uploading the files
7) I can still sell from my own website if I want
8) I work harder at marketing, and it's paying off
9) I am an indie author/publisher - and feel like one
Alp Mortal
Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other channels they offer. M..."NO ONE can pull away from Outlander. Those book have a gravity field all their own that is unbreakable! :)
Alp wrote: "E.J. wrote: "Alp wrote: "Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever made..."Hi, Alp
You've got a lot of great info here that I need to learn more about. I'll take a look at your website and the things you're doing.
You're so right about working hard at marketing. Once I started putting in a lot of effort on marketing, books really started selling. I reversed a strong downwards sales trend into a strong upwards sales trend just by starting to get a handle on marketing. I want to learn more about your strategy and what you're doing. Thanks for the info!
April wrote: "Alp wrote: "E.J. wrote: "Alp wrote: "Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever made..."Hi, Alp
You've got a lot of great info here that I need to learn more about. I'..."
Always happy to share our experiences - just ask away. Alp
Micah wrote: "There's no one-size fits all answer to the OP. I suspect that some genres like Romance will be hugely more successful on KDP Select than others.Personally, I had no luck with it at all for my SF ..."
I seem to see this line of reasoning elsewhere that romance does extremely well through Select.
I put out a few horror books and am focusing on SF right now. While my first SF book was a surprise hit for me thanks in part to Select, it peaked and all but died. so I pulled it and took it wide and it's actually doing better on Apple than it did the past few months in Select. Even my other SF books have been performing better through SW.
My horror will occasionally get a sale on Amazon, but only one of them got the occasional read through select.
People praise the promotional "free days" available through Select, but in my experience, I give away more perma free short stories in any given week on SW than during all the free days I've run across my catalog total when in Select.
A lot of people point to Select 2.0 as the potential death of the author's payouts, and everyone points out the payout dropping month after month. but I also give weight to the opinion of those who believe in taking the money while it's available.
My advice has always been to try Select before going wide. It will be far easier to pull your books from Select to go wide than it will be to wait for your books to leave the other channels so you can enroll them in select.
Alp wrote: "April wrote: "Alp wrote: "E.J. wrote: "Alp wrote: "Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever made..."Hi, Alp
You've got a lot of great info here that I need to learn ..."
Alp, I have wide distribution: iTunes, B&N, Copia, Kobo, Gardners and others that I never heard of too. But, I only get sales on Amazon. One or two on iTunes because reading on the iPad is not pleasant and you can still use the Kindle App. I want to use the promotional tools on Amazon and I think erotica (my book) might be the thing for Unlimited, but not sure... Tell me why you are happier having gone wide. I am so afraid to switch, but want to do more promotions. I see that there is an opportunity for the Giveaway here on Goodreads. I think I can still do that even on Select.
C.S. wrote: "Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other chann..."Thank you so much for this information. I have wide distribution as well, but have only sold via Amazon except one friend who bought on iTunes. I have been published since October 19th so not long. I do a lot of marketing on FB, I'm on Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter too. And I engage in blogs that pertain to my book: erotic psychological fiction. I want to do promotions but I don't know how to lower the price of the book on Amazon without the Select program. How can you do that. I know I can offer a Giveaway here on Goodreads. Maybe I can do that on Facebook. But in these cases I will have to pay full price for my own book instead of having it be free. How can I learn about promotions?
Hello Luna: If you are looking at your Amazon/Kindle dashboard, just click on the price of the book and you're taken to a page where you scroll to change the price. I change my price once per week to $.99, then back the following day. I trick I often use when I want to send someone one of my books to review, I lower the price, then 'gift' send them a copy though Amazon to their email. You can find that to the right of the screen when you look at your book on Amazon. It will say, 'you purchased this on .... If you scroll down you'll see the 'gift' option.If you look around on Digital Book Today dot com, there's some very good info about promos, how-tos, etc. There's much info out there online. To do a GR giveway, you need to have physical copies to mail to winners. That is easy to get on CreateSpace.
I also have a lot of info about promos on my blog. Good luck. K
Kevin wrote: "Hello Luna: If you are looking at your Amazon/Kindle dashboard, just click on the price of the book and you're taken to a page where you scroll to change the price. I change my price once per week ..."thank you so very much!!
Luna wrote: "Kevin wrote: "Hello Luna: If you are looking at your Amazon/Kindle dashboard, just click on the price of the book and you're taken to a page where you scroll to change the price. I change my price ..."Kevin, I will LIKE your author page. What is it on Facebook? And you can like mine back, if you will. I went to your blog, how do I sign up for it?
Kevin wrote: "Hello Luna: If you are looking at your Amazon/Kindle dashboard, just click on the price of the book and you're taken to a page where you scroll to change the price. I change my price once per week ..."hmmm...thanks Kevin never knew that!
Stupid question...what is the point of a .99 promo weekly. apart from just getting your book out there won't that stop people from ever purchasing it at full price? Or I assume the point is that it is still .99 cents you wouldn't have had to begin with?
Are you going for reviews? Rise in Amazon stat #s? Just curious.
John
John wrote: "Kevin wrote: "Hello Luna: If you are looking at your Amazon/Kindle dashboard, just click on the price of the book and you're taken to a page where you scroll to change the price. I change my price ..."I was curious myself why so many people run the .99 specials promotions too. If anyone has more tips on this, please let me know. I've been a bit hesitant to jump into the waters until I learn more.
C.S. wrote: "Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for the other chann..."The Sleeping Serpent: A Woman's Struggle to Break an Obsessive Bond With Her Yoga Master
Alp, you've been very informative. I have two questions: Can you sell on Smashwords if you didn't publish with Smashwords? And When you sell directly from your own web site, are you printing books and shipping? Or only sending the Mobi or ePub file from your own computer? I will follow you and hopefully you can follow back. I would love to learn more from you.
Luna wrote: "C.S. wrote: "Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for th..."Hello Luna!
Firstly, sorry for the delay in replying. Secondly, you cannot sell on Smashwords unless you published through Smashwords - you need to have an account/tax id shit, and create and upload files just as you do with Amazon, etc. The key benefit is the premium catalog where, if you elect to go premium, your book is sent to B&N, iTunes and Kobo, and a host of other retailers, saving you from having to have separate accounts with each one. Royalties are consolidated.
I came out of Amazon Select/KU in August 2014, to widen my reach, and unshackle myself from the Amazon model - I am an indie author and an indie publisher - it was the best decision I have ever made since starting to publish in December 2012.
I lost the promotional strength of Amazon - which amounts to some free days and countdown deals - I run offers on Smashwords and All Romance eBooks - and have more success - my revenue from Amazon is 1/3 of my total - that's healthier than relying on them for 100%. Took a year to get to that state of play. And a lot of marketing, mainly through Twitter - it paid off.
I do not sell directly from my website anymore - it was a waste of time. I used to sell the ebooks, and email the epub and mobi files to the purchaser - it just never took off enough to justify the cost of the eStore and payment handling charges.
I used to have all my titles in print through Create Space - now only two titles - waste of time due to pricing model. I'd much rather concentrate my energies on building my fan base through social media - which is happening now after a year of dedicated effort. I sell a reasonable number of books and my permanently free books are downloaded in reasonable numbers - I wasn't looking for anything else - just a sustainable indie business model that may, eventually, pay a living wage (but I doubt it - I don't care, I'm already winning).
I write, I publish and I market ... the rest is up to the Gods.
Alp Mortal
@carterseagrove (twitter)
Luna wrote: "C.S. wrote: "Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smashwords for th..."Thank you so much Alp! I still do, and may keep for all your same reasons, the extended distribution. I did the same as you and went to Book Baby for aggregated conversion and distribution but control my own Amazon dashboard. Not the others. They didn't permit it. But I have only sold 2 books on iTunes, and none on B&N, yet. If you can share with me how to use Twitter for sales, I have read such confusing mixed information! I Liked you page on FB and saw your blog. If you do any interviews on dark erotic psychological fiction, please let me know. Oh, and I followed you here too! If you follow back we can stay in touch!
April wrote: "Alp wrote: "Exit KDP Select and use all available channels - best decision I ever madeAlp Mortal"
Hi, Alp. Why was this a good decision for you? Did your sales overall increase?"
Overall sales did increase, particularly through using All Romance eBooks. Everyone screamed at me to stay in Select /KU but it was absolutely right for me to widen my reach - Amazon is big in eBook sales - but not everywhere on the planet.
Even in North America, a significant number of my sales come through Smashwords/premium partners and All Romance eBooks.
It's never going to be a one size fits all solution for every author - I'd say, experiment with the mix. And it's a long term strategy - exit Amazon Select/KU and expect to work hard for a year to develop other platforms - but the pay off is worth it.
Alp
E.J. wrote: "Alp wrote: "I came out of Amazon Select/KU in August 2014, to widen my reach, and unshackle myself from the Amazon model - I am an indie author and an indie publisher - it was the best decision I h..."Congratulations! Wishing you many, many more sales in the future.
Alp
Luna wrote: "Luna wrote: "C.S. wrote: "Victoria wrote: "C.S. wrote: "April wrote: "C.S. wrote: "This is very interesting, April. So far, the majority of my sales have been with Amazon, but I have also used Smas..."Thank you for the follows, I followed back, and will stay in touch. I contributed a long list of things I do on twitter, on another thread, I'll find it and send it to you.
Alp
Success with KDP Select really varies by author and genre -- and marketing plays a huge part in the sales/success of any book.KDP Select does incredibly well for me - bringing in 75-80% of my book revenue, so I'm sticking with it. I'm a huge fan of KDP Select, and I, personally, as a reader, read most of my books through Kindle Unlimited, too.
Elí wrote: "Ah yes, I meant KDP Select, sorry about that. As for Smashwords, I sold a total of five copies there and I felt it was safe to just go Amazon all the way.And it seems I've misunderstood the givea..."
Read Mark Coker's predictions. Not saying he's right, but he's very well-informed about what happens with book publishing. He specifically addresses KDP and Kindle Unlimited.. http://blog.smashwords.com/2015/12/20...
Mod
And it seems I've misundersto..."
I always love these Amazon will be the death of publishing predictions. I would expect nothing less from the under dog in the fight. I love Smashwords, but Amazon started this all off with the indie community.
We have had very good luck with KDP Select, especially with KU. We use their countdown sales but basically do no marketing. But as has been pointed out, every book is different and may fare differently. My only advice would be to not make a hasty decision. Three,or even six, months is a short period in this business. Sales depend on a huge number of facters, most of which we do not control. Taking a 3-month snapshot really doesn't provide much data on which outlets will work best, or if a "go wide" strategy works will work better than a focused strategy.
Gaining traction takes time and most often requires a decent backlog of books before it happens. Keep in mind that enrolling in KDP Select is a per book choice, so as your backlog grows you can go wide with some titles and keep others in KDP Select, if you choose. Being prepared to experiment and expect things to take time to develop.
I completely agree with Owen above.My advice is to stick with it.
I had such poor sales via other avenues, and Amazon still hold majority market share.
I have seen an increase in KU/KNP (whatever they call it!) page reads over time. These things do take time.
2.5yrs and counting!
Get your name 'out there'. Drive people to your Amazon page. And good luck.
xx
Owen wrote: "We have had very good luck with KDP Select, especially with KU. We use their countdown sales but basically do no marketing. But as has been pointed out, every book is different and may fare differe..."As always, Owen offers excellent advice!
I am having great luck with KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited. My single book's been out six months, and sales are steadily increasing over time. It takes time for a book to gain traction, and subsequent releases add to the momentum.
I suggest that everyone give KDP Select a chance, and let it stay in the program for a minimum of six months before you start to judge if it's working for you or not. You also have to be promoting your book at the same time. If no one knows your book's out there, they're not likely to read it.
There are a number of "Kindle Unlimited" book groups on Facebook where you can post promotions for your KU-enrolled books. That's free, and it just takes a couple minutes a day to post about your books on those groups.
I find that my KU pages read are very sporadic, but I really enjoy watching that blue line move every day. To be honest, I didn't see any movement in my pages read from the time I published in March until I ran a promo in November and then my pages read shot way up.
They're down to about 20 pages a day again, with a couple of weird days of 400-600 pages sprinkled in there. It's very strange, but it's pennies in my pocket that I wouldn't have anyway. I think especially for a new author, it's good to stay in KU.
So it sounds like most of this group thinks its better to be exclusive with Kindle versus being available via Nook, iBooks, Kobo,etc.?I'm just starting out so I don't have the data yet to know whether the revenue would be better through Kindle Select or be available everywhere I can be.
John
Mod
I'm just starting out so I don't have the data yet to know wh..."
Actually, it's a pretty even split. A wider distribution gets your book in front of more eyes, but Amazon DOMINATES the market, by at least 20%.
Riley wrote: "John wrote: "So it sounds like most of this group thinks its better to be exclusive with Kindle versus being available via Nook, iBooks, Kobo,etc.?I'm just starting out so I don't have the data y..."
This is what I am thinking too! And I think it is by much more than 20%. I read that Amazon is 70% of the market. iTunes about 15%
Missy wrote: "I find that my KU pages read are very sporadic, but I really enjoy watching that blue line move every day. To be honest, I didn't see any movement in my pages read from the time I published in Ma..."
thank you for this detailed report. What type of promo did you run? and where?
I offered a free promo of book one the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through that Saturday. Then I offered a free promo of book two Black Friday and that Saturday. I only used a fiverr advertisement through bknights to promote. I had about 2k downloads between both books which worked to boost my rankings for a while. I had very high KENP for a few weeks following, until the week of Christmas when it pretty much flatlined again.
But I write because I love it, not for income, so as fun as it is to watch the numbers, I try not to let them dictate to me how I should live my life! LOL
Owen wrote: "We have had very good luck with KDP Select, especially with KU. We use their countdown sales but basically do no marketing. But as has been pointed out, every book is different and may fare differe..."thank you, you are a calm voice in the storm. I am only out since end of October. And I will keep building my author platform before switching outlets. analogy: Like Taylor Swift, I don't have to put the songs on Spotify just yet!
April wrote: "Owen wrote: "We have had very good luck with KDP Select, especially with KU. We use their countdown sales but basically do no marketing. But as has been pointed out, every book is different and may..."I'm with you April. I am going to stay for now, while I just build the author platform. my first book is only out since end of October. But I am really learning a lot-- and I do think Select and KU are right for my erotic book.
I am getting out of KDP select because they will not help me market my books (Tess Valkyrie series) because the cover shows a woman warrior after a battle with a little blood on her hands. I paid a fortune to an artist to create an absolutely stunning cover, so I am not about to change it. Smashwords and Darft2Digital don't have a problem with it.
Going on KDP select was the best decision I ever made. It gave me a wider distribution than Smashwords, BN and Kobo offered. I sold more on Amazon in a day than I sold on all other platforms combined. I think KDP select is especially helpful for romance authors. Because romance readers are so voracious, I feel like a huge percentage of them are members. For other authors and other books, the other platforms might work out great. This is just my experience. Take it for what its worth!
Can someone explain how it works? Do you get paid 'by the page'? Because on Kindle now people can 'lend' for free so I'm not getting paid for any of that.Also, I assume I would contact Nook, Apple, etc to put a 'hold' on my book so I can go exclusive with Kindle. Will they hold it without it being complicated to reinstate after the time period if I'm not happy? How about people who already purchased the book on Nook, etc. No effect on them right?
JD
Buuut KDP bans that sort of thing.
Advice?