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message 51: by J.N. (new)

J.N. Bedout (jndebedout) | 115 comments I found Owen's insights to be extremely accurate. Having published my first book just a few weeks ago, I can admit that my pragmatic side expects that the only family and friends will buy my book. Because that is what I expect, I can avoid any unhealthy attitudes. My optimistic side certainly expects millions of sales, a movie deal, and a cool billion by the time I retire. It's good to be optimistic. But its healthy to be pragmatic.

On the royalties question... If you enroll your ebook in KindleSelect, I think you do collect payments based on a pooled allotment that Amazon disburses as a "bonus" based on a percentage of members who downloaded your ebook for free. Somebody can correct me if I'm mistaken...


message 52: by Jenycka (new)

Jenycka Wolfe (jenyckawolfe) | 301 comments Re only ebooks: it's quite standard in erotica to not do print runs. Even some erotica publishing companies do not print books. Siren, Elliras Cave. It's pretty much a digital industry. Quite possibly because nobody wants to be seen reading "Spanked and Sucked by the Siberian Sheiks" while sitting on a bus. There are exceptions of course but most of it is digital.

But Igzy I get your point about some troupes of books. Id have a tough time trying to smoke meat while trying to read the instructions off a kindle.


message 53: by Amanda (new)

Amanda Siegrist (amandasiegrist) | 190 comments Haha it might be an interesting conversation starter if someone saw you reading it in public. "Spanked and Sucked..." what's that about? Hehe


message 54: by [deleted user] (new)

J. wrote: "I found Owen's insights to be extremely accurate. Having published my first book just a few weeks ago, I can admit that my pragmatic side expects that the only family and friends will buy my book. ..."

I think the KindleSelect pool is based of how MUCH of the book they read. Like what % of the book they got through. So just downloading does not confer a full royalty, you have to have written something that kept the reader engaged.

I think that is how it is, anyway.


message 55: by Owen (last edited Apr 26, 2015 01:44PM) (new)

Owen O'Neill (owen_r_oneill) | 1509 comments A couple of clarifications since I detect a bit of confusion above here: If you enroll in KDP Select, your book is eligible to be borrowed thru the Kindle Unlimited (a subscription program), and be to borrowed for Prime members (KOLL -- this used quite to limited as to the number of books that could be downloaded per month). Both KU and KOLL pay you from the fund Amazon establishes each month. Since KU was established, the payout has been ~$1.40 per copy borrowed, once the borrower reads 10% of the book (for KU. Don't offhand recall if that's the case of KOLL.) KU is not available in all markets.

KDP Select members all has the option of promoting their book for 5 days free per quarter (the length of each KDP Select cycle). This makes your book free to everyone in all markets. You do not get paid and your book moves from the paid bestseller lists the free lists (which can be bad). Your book can be borrowed thru KU/KOLL when it is having a free promo, and you get paid for those loans -- but not the free downloads.

Side note: under KDP Select, you can elect the free promos or a countdown deal each quarter, but not both. (Check Amazon to see if I goofed here -- I wrote this from memory.)

If you are new, I strongly suggest give KDP Select a try for 3 months to see how thru KU programs does for you. Readers may be more likely to try a new author thru KU rather than purchase.

Our experience: KU has been awesome for us. If one assumes that our books would sell in other outlets in proportion to their market share, KU makes us more income than all markets outside of Amazon combined. (Amazon has ~65% of the eBook market.) Based on what we see (given we cannot prove a negative), it does not appear that KU and purchases compete strongly. We don't seem to losing sales to loans, based on historicals from before KU was introduced. They seem to be different sets of people which small(ish) overlap. (That is, the KU people weren't buying a ton of books before.)

I emphasize this is just us -- other authors report less positive results from KU, and you don't have to make your books available to it. But I do suggest giving it a shot. It's a pretty painless way for people to give you a try. Three months -- even six -- is a short time and you can expand into other markets if you don't see results.


message 56: by Owen (last edited Apr 26, 2015 01:07PM) (new)

Owen O'Neill (owen_r_oneill) | 1509 comments Jenycka wrote: "Re only ebooks: it's quite standard in erotica to not do print runs. Even some erotica publishing companies do not print books. Siren, Elliras Cave. It's pretty much a digital industry. Quite possi..."

I suspected as much. (One less thing to worry about!) Other genres may be the same.


message 57: by Owen (new)

Owen O'Neill (owen_r_oneill) | 1509 comments A note on paid promo via BookBub and the like: seek out the threads on this, here and elsewhere. BookBub is very hard to get an ad with; they have stringent requirements. An member here [Ken?] made the astute observation that if he could get on Bookbub he probably would not need Bookbub.

The thing to understand is that these companies make money selling your book, thus they want books that sell -- that have an established track record. One such service I saw required for a new release, that the author have another book with at least 100 reviews on Amazon with a rating of 4 or higher (I think).

So these services are for authors who are already quite successful, and they may indeed help such authors. (Bookbub has also jacked up their prices a lot in the past 6 months, it seems.) This is true if all effective paid advertising that I know of. That is something to be aware of. Browse older threads on this group for additional insight.


message 58: by J.N. (new)

J.N. Bedout (jndebedout) | 115 comments Thanks for the clarifications on KU.


message 59: by Lori (new)

Lori Schafer (lorilschafer) | 30 comments Denise wrote: "It is available in the kindle store as well. Thanks guys!"

I can't find your book on Kindle, and it isn't listed under your author profile on Amazon either. Are you sure it was published?


message 60: by Lori (new)

Lori Schafer (lorilschafer) | 30 comments Lori wrote: "Denise wrote: "It is available in the kindle store as well. Thanks guys!"

I can't find your book on Kindle, and it isn't listed under your author profile on Amazon either. Are you sure it was publ..."


Never mind - I found it. Still strange that it was so difficult - it did't show up even when I did a search for your name!


message 61: by Lori (new)

Lori Schafer (lorilschafer) | 30 comments Denise wrote: "I expected Amazon to merge the two — Kindle and paperback — but it never happened. So the Goodreads link brings to the paperback right now. So confused that I may have fudged this whole thing up! lol"

This has nothing to do with the Amazon issue, but the eBook isn't listed on Goodreads, either. Visit your book on Goodreads, click "Add an edition" and add the eBook. Then at least both will show up on Goodreads!


message 62: by Susan (new)

Susan Stafford | 230 comments Jenycka wrote: "Re only ebooks: it's quite standard in erotica to not do print runs. Even some erotica publishing companies do not print books. Siren, Elliras Cave. It's pretty much a digital industry. Quite possi..."

love that title! Made me laugh and cough on my morning tea!! That has got to be an interesting read :)


message 63: by Igzy (last edited Apr 28, 2015 07:56AM) (new)

Igzy Dewitt (IgzyDewitt) | 148 comments Jenycka wrote: "Spanked and Sucked by the Siberian Sheiks"

I just laughed up a noseful of lemony tea. Ouch!


message 64: by Courtney (new)

Courtney Wells | 138 comments I'll be honest - some titles drop my jaw and the pinching blush I develop makes me realize the hardcore erotica life has not chosen me.


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