Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie discussion
HELP!
>
Question re the Amazon LENDING Option
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Alexis
(new)
Apr 17, 2017 09:34AM
My first book, a novella, is basically my way of starting to get my name out there. It will be 0.99 on a permanent basis so the chances of me becoming rich off it are pretty low lol. Anyways, since my main goal is too get readers acquainted with my writing, I'm considering enabling lending. Has anyone done this before? If so, can you offer some insight into the benefits, if there are any?
reply
|
flag
I have my books on lending, matchbook (free), and Kindle Unlimited so I can get them out there as much as possible. I honestly don't know how many readers take advantage of this function though because it all goes on the Kindle Unlimited pages read graph. Still I don't figure it could hurt :).
I haven't looked into this. I'm not using KDP select. Can you lend if you don't have Select?
Lending is basically allowing someone who has bought your book to lend it to someone who will get to read the book for free. They have 2 weeks to read it on loan. If the idea of someone reading your book without paying for it bothers you. I'd say that option is not for you, buy if it's just to get more eyes on it, I think it's worth it!
That sounds like a good idea. I'm not in favour of no-one ever paying for a copy but having someone lend one with a two week time limit sounds good. I'll look into that.
I did it with my novel. I had it both in Unlimited and in the Prime lending library. Some people won't buy an unknown author's book so this is a way to reach those readers you might not otherwise. Remember you are getting paid for pages read just like Unlimited, so you aren't really giving it away for free.
I've just re-published an updated version of my eBook and found that there is no choice for anyone published on the 70% royalty-you're automatically opted in for lending. So that's OK. I'm also going to do the thing where someone buy's the paperback and can download the eBook for free. I could do 99c, but if I bought a paperback I'd also like the option to get it for free on my phone.
The difference between borrowing through Prime Lending/Kindle Unlimited and the "Lending" option you can select when setting up your book with KDP...Prime/KU: Borrows are possible through opting in for the Kindle Select option, making your book exclusive to Amazon. YOU WILL GET PAID FOR PAGES READ when anyone borrows your book through these options.
Book Lending: you do not get paid for any pages read. This option is enabled through the KDP set-up process, and does NOT require enrollment in the Kindle Select program.
Hope this helps! I always enable lending on my books. I have loaned books to others and have been frustrated when this option wasn't available, so it's my personal preference to go ahead and let people loan it if they want. It would be like someone buying a paperback and loaning it to their friend, or what-have-you. At least, that's how I justify it. Some people do not like the idea of people reading their book without paying for it, which is ok, too. It's all just personal preference.
Thank you for clearing that up, Nicole. I was wrong about lending royalties, then. It's a little confusing with "lending" in the title of KOLL so I thought they were the same. Oops!
Nicole wrote: "The difference between borrowing through Prime Lending/Kindle Unlimited and the "Lending" option you can select when setting up your book with KDP...Prime/KU: Borrows are possible through opting ..."
Thank you Nicole. This cleared it all up tremendously.
Ok, I guess I'm wrong. I thought we got paid for pages read with the lending. Guess I misunderstood. But I still will loan. I'm on KDP.
Mary Ellen wrote: "Ok, I guess I'm wrong. I thought we got paid for pages read with the lending. Guess I misunderstood. But I still will loan. I'm on KDP."Amazon really should make their policies more clear.
Same here, Mary Ellen. I agree, Alexis! How the heck is "Kindle Owners Lending Library" supposed to mean associated with Prime as opposed to actual Kindle owners lending from their library? Just...how?
Mod
