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Amazon's KDP Select
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Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "Steven wrote: "Sarah...I feel like somehow, you dragged me over here too :)For me, joining Select was akin to buying stock in Apple. I like the company, and they are one of the most adaptive, agi..."
That's why Amazon are selling their Kindle stuff at a loss, so that they could lure in more customers to buy stuff on Amazon as opposed to anywhere else. Who knows, maybe mobi will be the number one format. Or maybe not. Here in America, epub and mobi exists side by side like Mastercard and Visa credit cards. So that another possibility.
I don't know about Apple not being popular outside of America... the plural of anecdotes is not data, but in my own life, I'm not seeing anyone raving on BB. My parent's friends from our native country bought the iPhone just because it was the cool thing to own even though there isn't a dedicated Apple service in our native country. And my German friend recently send me a link to a 360 degree picture that showed an Apple store opening up in her city.
I agree that BB has a rooted customer base, but it's mainly rooted in the business section. The iPhone is where all the fun and cool things are happening. Heck, I didn't even know BB has an App Store... does it? o.o
I only bought one ebook from GoogleBooks and it was okay experience. The site was just unattractive, unappealing. Amazon may look busy but it seems more user-friendly imo.
Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn name) so that Amazon doesn't withhold any tax. I'm in the process of doing that, even though it's been a ..."I've had my W8BEN rejected twice by the IRS... Took them 3 months the first time, 4 the second (because there was August in between) - and I didn't send my passport, only a notarized copy, or I wouldn't have been able to go to the US in October.
Next time I go to London, I'll try to ask for help at one of their offices there... sigh... next year I'll work on it. Yeah, bad thing not being American.
(luckily I don't have that many earnings yet, LOL)
Barbara wrote: "Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn name) so that Amazon doesn't withhold any tax. I'm in the process of doing that, even thoug..."Wow, is the American market really that big to go through all those trouble? O.o
Experiment, not yet.Barbara, a notarised copy of my passport is a good idea, I forgot that, but it costs £70 to get it notarised and as I've only earned £69 this year from e-book sales I think I'll wait. Mwah ha ha haargh!
Cheers
MTM
Experiment wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn name) so that Amazon doesn't withhold any tax. I'm in the process of doing ..."
Oh yes, if you compare it to somewhere like Australia (big country, small population). And Apple is big over here, it's often preferred by digital artists and people like the virus free aspects too. Also Australians (on the whole) have a thing for the underdog, and compared to IBM and Microsoft, Apple are the good guys (I liked your earlier comments on brand loyalty, etc Experiment). We're getting our daughter an iphone for Christmas but although I wanted a Nook or Kindle, I've clearly been dodgy (or Santa's a cheapskate) as I'm getting nothing at all. Now I'm also thinking I'll wait and get an iphone when I can afford it too.
Oh yes, if you compare it to somewhere like Australia (big country, small population). And Apple is big over here, it's often preferred by digital artists and people like the virus free aspects too. Also Australians (on the whole) have a thing for the underdog, and compared to IBM and Microsoft, Apple are the good guys (I liked your earlier comments on brand loyalty, etc Experiment). We're getting our daughter an iphone for Christmas but although I wanted a Nook or Kindle, I've clearly been dodgy (or Santa's a cheapskate) as I'm getting nothing at all. Now I'm also thinking I'll wait and get an iphone when I can afford it too.
Georgina wrote: "Experiment wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn name) so that Amazon doesn't withhold any tax. I'm in th..."Thanks, psychology classes were really practical. =P Oh LOL, here in America it's totally different. Apple is top dog, Microsoft's the underdog, and IBM is just out of sight out of mind. The hierarchy of technological giants has turned upside down. Oh then there is Google too.
Kindle is cheaper than the Nook. And now that there are new Kindles, you can bet that the B&N people are working fast to develop a newer Nook — so I wouldn't suggest you buy Nook right now if you choose it because I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of months later there is a newer version of Nook to compare with the new Kindle devices.
Experiment wrote: "Georgina wrote: "Experiment wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn name) so that Amazon doesn't withhold a..."
Which do you prefer, Nook or Kindle (it will take me a while to save up!)?
Which do you prefer, Nook or Kindle (it will take me a while to save up!)?
Georgina wrote: "Experiment wrote: "Georgina wrote: "Experiment wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn name) so that Amazon..."I prefer the Kindle Fire over the Nook Tablet since the Fire is $50 cheaper and can do more (imo). Plus, I believe you can download the Nook app on the Fire that will allow you to read epup (this only the Fire, mind you, not the other Kindles, source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,... ). =)
Experiment wrote: "Georgina wrote: "Experiment wrote: "Georgina wrote: "Experiment wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leila wrote: "MTM, I'm sure you know but you can apply to the IRS and get a form (can't remember the darn nam..."
Thanks Experiment, looking up that link now.
Georgina.
Thanks Experiment, looking up that link now.
Georgina.
I finally saw that B&N has commercials for the Nook where Amazon has been advertising the heck out of the Kindle. But I honestly don't think Nook will be able to compete with Christmas sales of Kindles. The basic Kindle is $20 cheaper than the basic Nook.I have a feeling after Christmas, Amazon will represent an even larger percentage of the ebook market.
I haven't used a Nook but I do have a Kindle. I like that the Kindle has a universal charger.
Yep, I think I'll go with the Kindle Fire. Right now in order to read other people's work I have to read off the screen of our laptop (Apple, although I write on a Dell) . It's o.k for short stories but I have to print the longer ones (a lot of paper!)
MTM wrote: "Experiment, not yet.Barbara, a notarised copy of my passport is a good idea, I forgot that, but it costs £70 to get it notarised and as I've only earned £69 this year from e-book sales I think I'l..."
yeah, it costs 50euros at the American Embassy in Roma, so I hoped the cheaper Italian version would be all right... obviously it's not. Sigh.
And as I haven't earned that much either, I can easily wait until I have earned enough to cover more mailing/notarizing expenses! :-D
Barbara I'm so glad I'm not the only one (on all counts). On the upside waiting when Smashwords were told to withhold did make a difference as it all blew over and they stopped withholding before I was required to try and do anything!That's the British way, ignore something long enough and it goes away. Mwah ha ha ha haargh!
Cheers
MTM
MTM wrote: "Barbara I'm so glad I'm not the only one (on all counts). On the upside waiting when Smashwords were told to withhold did make a difference as it all blew over and they stopped withholding before I..."Absolutely! I had problems with Amazon last summer, I just waited, and when I checked again in September the problem was gone! :-D
Cheers to you!
Indifference. That's the British way, I'm not saying it's a good way but...Cheers
MTM
C.D. wrote: "... However, having an option to give the first book in my series to thousands of readers at Amazon is extremely tempting. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I'm taking a "wait and see" approach."C.D. Just to let you know that so far, offering the book for free on Amazon was a great thing for me. In two days, just over 1000 people downloaded my book, I've jumped to around rank number 43 in the Kindle store under memoir and the reviews have started coming in. For an unknown author like myself, this has been brilliant. I've only had a couple of lendings from the library, so not sure if I'll make much share of the money offered by Amazon there, but I'll let you all know. So far, I think it has been the best bit of marketing I've done!
Leila
Wow Leila that sounds great. Thanks for letting us know. I've opted in a short story to see how it goes, not quite like that, I suspect but with feedback from folks like you I'm hoping I will get a good feel for whether or not to opt in the first book of my Trilogy when I publish the second one... or the second one actually as a kind of launch honeymoon with Amazon.Cheers
MTM
I had one book for free a few weeks ago and I thought it did pretty well (about 350 books between US and UK). I put my other two books up for free last weekend and got even better results (600 some odd downloads each). I also received a couple of borrows and since the sale has stopped, I've been making some actual sales. Not a lot, but considering I'd gone over a month without a single sale, I'd say the promotion worked in my favor.No regrets!
~Steve
Well, here is my experience:I self-published my debut novel, Accountable to None, first as an ebook only on Amazon & B&N earlier this year. Then, in October, I used CreateSpace to produce the paperback. Sales were steady, but not fantastic, even though I use all the marketing tools I can think of (website, FB, Twitter, blog, etc).
So, two weeks ago, I pulled ATN off of B&N's virtual ebook shelf and offered it on KDP Select. Sales were steady, but then I decided to offer it for free for 24 hours, and now I am #1 in suspense and #4 overall on free downloads! It has been a huge explosion for me!
So, there you have it, my two cents!
Going free is really worth for the following month's sales as all the freebie downloads get you into the algorithms - the "people who liked this like that" thing.That's the real benefit of it. If you can repeat it every 3 months it will keep your sales ticking over, I should think, as it seems to take at least 2 to fall out of them properly.
JAC
J.A. wrote: "Going free is really worth for the following month's sales as all the freebie downloads get you into the algorithms - the "people who liked this like that" thing.That's the real benefit of it. If..."
Huh, I never knew that. You know, you should do a blogpost about how non-mainstream authors can use Amazon to its full potential. Maybe like a list of tips and tricks. =P
hahaha if I ever get to the point where I find out enough for it to be useful I probably shall do! Still a starter really.JAC
Somewhere in this thread, there was a question or doubt about whether a reader need to own a Kindle to be granted the privilege of getting one free book per month from the Lending Library.I found the answer, straight from the horse's mouth.
Eligible Prime members -- paid Amazon Prime, paid Amazon student, one-month free trial, and customers receiving a free month of Prime benefits with a Kindle Fire -- must own a Kindle device that is registered to the same Amazon.com account as the eligible Prime account in order to access this benefit.*bolding is my own.
— http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custome...
... So I think JA was right from the beginning.
Yeh, I'm not 100% sure about it. I had a spare short so it isn't an issue and I hardly make any sales anywhere else. However, I've floated a couple of ideas to see if I can make it work better, but judging by the uptake, I suspect my efforts will fail. I do like being able to make something free when I want but then... there are ways to achieve that.
I've made sure it doesn't automatically renew and we'll see if it does anything to help my US sales. My sales are already, exclusively on Amazon so there's no moral dilemma for me but I haven't put my book up here yet and that might make a difference.
Cheers
MTM
KDP Select...a wonderful murder mystery plot.
I'm also getting a huge number of downloads by offering my book The Ahimsa Club free for two days on the Select program. It will be hard to handle normal (nearly dead!) sales days. The word of the moment is "discoverability" (wish it were a better word :-)). The Free days on Select are sweet for discoverability. Retailers since Adam have observed the excitement caused by the word "free."
As good as this promotion has been for me, I am AMAZED at how well it's worked out for some of the previous posters. Kudos to you! We Indie authors need all the help and support we can get.
Happy New Year to y'all!
Hola! Interesting reading re the KDP-enrolled books. Anyone in there game to tell us how it's going?
I still don't feel I can put the series in but would be interested to hear how it goes....
JAC
Thanks for the information, Leila! I'm planning on pulling my first book from other sites Monday-ish. It sells pretty well on Amazon already, but added exposure certainly can't help. I'll leave books two (and three when it's ready) on other venues for a little while so readers who have bought book one there aren't SOL.I hate to be Amazon exclusive, but where I can sell 1000+ books on Amazon in a month, I might sell 50 through all other avenues. Since Nooks and iPads can get the Kindle app, it isn't so bad I guess.
I haven't opted in. Yet. Amazon accounts for at least 95% of my sales, but I'm going to give the other retailers a chance to redeem themselves after Christmas. Right now though, it's pennies in comparison.
However, having an option to give the first book in my series to thousands of readers at Amazon is extremely tempting. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I'm taking a "wait and see" approach.