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KDP Select Series Question
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No experience yet, but I’m working on the sequel to my novel and I do plan to have them both be in KDP as of now. Either that or none of them will be so I can spread them elsewhere
Intrigued by the question and looking forward to seeing responses ....
Peter wrote: "No experience yet, but I’m working on the sequel to my novel and I do plan to have them both be in KDP as of now. Either that or none of them will be so I can spread them elsewhere"The "all or none" approach is what got me thinking about this in the first place! I've considered going wide for a while, but I'm not convinced it's the right move for paranormal romance. I could be wrong, though! That's what I'm hoping others will weigh in on...
M.J. wrote: "Intrigued by the question and looking forward to seeing responses ...."Me, too! I haven't been able to find much about that path online, so I wonder what that means? :-P
Mod
You say 75% of your income comes from KDP select - readers you would probably lose because the way they read books is to pay for the monthly subscription and read books listed in those exclusively. If PNR is a genre with a major audience there, I think it'd be extremely hard to make up for that loss of money/audience (whichever you care for more) with switching to wide on a sequel.
Not to mention that if someone then found the #2 on another retailer and was like "where's #1?" Then, if that meant going to Amazon to buy it, they'd either quit, or buy the whole series there. I don't know how many people read books from several platforms at once but I don't think they'll be many.
Tomas wrote: "Not to mention that if someone then found the #2 on another retailer and was like "where's #1?" Then, if that meant going to Amazon to buy it, they'd either quit, or buy the whole series there. I don't know how many people read books from several platforms at once but I don't think they'll be many."Great points.
I completely agree with all of Tomas's points. I feel there could even be a danger that you would annoy some readers with a mixed approach, and I think you will almost certainly miss out on sales. I make about 50% of my writing income from KU reads, so I would personally say having them all in Select would be the way to go :)
Tomas wrote: "Personally, I'm not sure if such a mixed approach is good.You say 75% of your income comes from KDP select - readers you would probably lose because the way they read books is to pay for the month..."
Maybe that's why everyone seems to be in the either/or boat. I was just interested in if anyone has actually tried it!
L.K. wrote: "I completely agree with all of Tomas's points. I feel there could even be a danger that you would annoy some readers with a mixed approach, and I think you will almost certainly miss out on sales. ..."It's funny that I never considered having the last two books in KU until you said that! I added them just for fun because really, why not? Do you think genre plays into which books do better in KU vs wide? I've been checking the Top 100 paid in PNR on Amazon and most tend to be series that are all in KU, so you might be onto something there.
Mod
Genre plays a lot in format choice. I've once seen someone say that some genres (especially erotica) are pretty much e-book exclusive for a practical reason: the cover of such a genre might get some unwanted attention if reading on a train. Romance, especially the sub-genres with suggestive covers, might be in a similar spot.
When it comes to preference to KU borrows or 'normal' purchases... there might be some ties. I think KU will favor genres where the books tend to be shorter and thus an active reader would otherwise need to purchase several books a month - thus the money spent would ramp up quickly and KU is a great way for them to read a lot of books for a fixed price - which factors into genre habits.
Of course, the major factor will always be the reader: if someone's able to read enough books they'd cost more than then monthly subscription, then KU is a no-brainer for them.
Safari wrote: "Ok, I looked through the forums and didn't see anyone else ask this, so maybe that's a sign that I'm a little crazy. Anyway, here we go! I have a paranormal romance series that is finally complet..."
Page reads make up 75% of your income. Do you get paid for page reads? That's new to me. How does it work?
John wrote: "Safari wrote: "Ok, I looked through the forums and didn't see anyone else ask this, so maybe that's a sign that I'm a little crazy. Anyway, here we go! I have a paranormal romance series that is ..."
You have to be enrolled in KDP Select (be exclusive to Amazon.) You get paid like half a cent per page or something - it changes every month, but it's never a dramatic change. It's awesome because it boosts your rankings even without sales.
Thanks. I have to look into that. I thought I was in KDP select.
I am trying to figure out how to send my work by epub files. Any idea which online app is best for this, like Smashwords or Cailbre?
Go tp Draft2 Digital and run it through their program. you don't have to use them but they do have a decent conversion tool. Calibre will work, but I found it clumsy and hard to do. Smashword's meatgrinder is the worst. I gave up at fighting with it for over a week. If you are using Scrivener, the newer version will covert to e-pub but you will have to play with the formatting. Or, you could hire someone on fivver to do it for you along with formatting, etc.
Thanks, I'm trying Calibre but I agree it's not terribly intuitive...
Tomas wrote: "Safari wrote: "Do you think genre plays into which books do better in KU vs wide?"Genre plays a lot in format choice. I've once seen someone say that some genres (especially erotica) are pretty m..."
I love your point about genre and the cover of the book. I do the same thing and never thought about it as an author (only as a reader who teaches and really doesn't want my parents/students to see the cover of some of my reading books :)
I used a boutique publisher (bad idea) for two books. KDP for the next two. KDP has worked great for me, once I learned how to use it properly. My only mistake is making sure I line up my Booksprout review requests early enough that it doesn't conflict with the KDP release.
Where can I find out more about booksprout reviews?
Go to booksprout.coI currently use the free version of the service.
Looking forward to the Final Issue of The Realm Beyond Nov 8th. #fortresspublishinginc #therealmbeyond.
I have a paranormal romance series that is finally complete and all the books are on Amazon. The only one that is in KDP Select is the first book, and it's always been in there. I've only just started seeing an improvement in page reads and sales this summer since I launched the last two books in the series.
My question might be mad, but here it is: has anyone ever gone wide with just part of their series? I plan on keeping the first book in Select because page reads make up 75% of my income, but I have no problem going wide with the others just for the heck of it.
To answer your inevitable question, YES, you need to read them in order to understand the storyline for the most part.
Thoughts? Wagging fingers?