KDP Select vs...not KDP Select

[Ines]

Interested in learning about your experiences inside and outside of various publishing platforms.

I'm an admitted KDP dashboard-aholic. When my book came out, I checked the sales dashboard every hour on the hour. I've gotten some help since my debut, and with the love and support of friends, have lowered my refresh rate;-)

During my binge, I saw a few authors from this group alongside my book. In addition to being an addict, I'm also nosy. I looked at your rankings and saw that some folks had better rankings than my book but they weren't listed in the Top 100. Then I looked further and saw that some of these folks weren't in Select. I wondered, is this the reason for the non-ranking with high sales? Are authors shunned if they're outside of Select?

I'd love to discuss this and other publishing shenanigans with published authors.

[Shirl]

Can anyone view the kdp dashboard? what is the url for the dashboard site? Thank you.

[Ines]

The dashboard is attached to each book you publish. So you can only view the dashboard if you've published a book.

[Shirl]

Thank you.

[Shirl]

Im looking up your books now.

[Kim]

I admit it: I *was* an obsessive checker before. Now I just rely on the email I get from people who've read my books. I was driving myself crazy trying to figure out if I was a bestseller or not. I was in the Top30 for AA women's fiction for nearly three months and never got that "bestseller" icon that everyone else received--despite the number of copies I sold. So now I don't care. I just write and hope people like what I write.

[Ines]

I'm trying so hard to be like you Kim! I've only checked twice today...okay three times.

Top 30 is such an accomplishment! Congratulations. I wonder, were you in Select? I'm trying to figure out if they are playing favorites? I don't want to put every one of my books in Select. Monopolies are bad business models.

[Xio]

My first book comes out on Tuesday. I can say that U won't be checking the dashboard every 5 minutes, and that would be true. I'll do it every 15 or so. =)

I opted not to go with KDP select. Since it's my first outing, I wanted my novella to be on as many platforms as possible.

Kim, I didn't know you never received the best-seller icon. That's ridiculous!

[Ines]

Good luck, Xio!

[Xio]

Thank you, Ines! =)

[Kim]

Xio, it was weird! They kept sending me mail saying I was a bestseller but I never received the icon. Well, I'll just keep trying to sell more books and we'll see. And in the meantime, we work on getting you that icon! :)

[Xio]

Odd, indeed. Sounds like a plan to me, Kim. =)

[Toni]

Ines,
I know that one of my books made it to the Top 50 in one category and Top 100 in a couple others. I don't believe the book was in KDP Select at the time, and I never received a 'Bestseller' badge. I guess I've never connected the two things before. (Sigh) Is this something else I have to be concerned about now? Dang Amazon!

Oh, and about the obsessive dashboard checking, that is COMPLETELY normal behavior. I still have moments where I have to make myself close the page and try to think of something else. And it works, most of the time

Toni

[Ines]

Thank goodness we're all normal with our dash-checking!

Toni, I'm glad to know that books outside of Select get love. Now I'm curious about this badge, but I can't find any up to date information on it. My writer friends are telling me to add a banner to my website. But I feel shy about that. I'm only a few days published and a few days bestselling. Did you all grab this title as soon as you landed on the lists?

[Toni]

Ines,

Oh, I got the ranked listing, but I never got the badge. I actually thought the badge was just for the #1's. Maybe there are other badges for Top 50 and Top 100 that I didn't know about. But then I didn't get one of those either.

Toni