Any authors in the KDP Select Program? Showing 1,301-1,350 of 1,505

[FutureCycle]

FutureCycle Press has all of its books in the KDP Select program. We've also just enabled Kindle Matchbook for all of our tities.

[K.A.]

Possibly fodder for another thread, but what do folks think about Kindle Matchbook?

[Elle]

K.A. wrote: "Possibly fodder for another thread, but what do folks think about Kindle Matchbook?"

I'm also very interested in author thoughts on Matchbook. I guess my assumption is that price drives what format a reader will buy. So my question is, how is reducing an ebook from $2.99 to .99 going to entice readers to buy the paperback (together with the reduced price ebook) if they've heretofor mainly gone for the cheap ebook and not purchased the paperback.
Maybe I'm operating from the wrong assumption? I'm just not understanding the program.

[Philip]

I have joined it with the two books I have published in paperback but I can see little benefit. I doubt it will add to sales, but physical BluRays are now being offered with cloud based electronic copies or alternate format copies on the disc. I'll let you know if it makes any difference to my sales....

[K.A.]

Elle, I guess that was kind of my initial thought. The people who buy the paperback do so because they don't have or don't like ereaders. Why would they then buy an ebook version at all? I'd really like to hear if anyone's got a different take, something that I'm not thinking of...

[FutureCycle]

The way I see Kindle Matchbook, it will capture some buyers that otherwise would not have bought a book. I will probably, myself, buy more paperback books now to give as gifts and be able to keep the Kindle editions for myself, because I don't have any physical room for books.

I'm sure Amazon is hoping to lure paperback buyers into the ebook sphere with this program. That's fine with us, because we think that's where most of our sales will come from in the future. We see the print-on-demand paperbacks as a kind of archival copy, there to order if someone wants the paperback in their library. Most of our paperbacks are sold directly to our authors by us for book-signings and sales at readings.

What I'm really curious to see is how this two-fer arrangement is going to impact the sales rankings of books. If the Kindle edition is not priced free, it's going to count as a second sale, right? At least that's how I'm thinking it's going to work. So those books that are sold through the Kindle Matchbook program will count double in terms of rankings over books not enrolled in the program. This could be the difference in whether a book shows up on the radar or not.

We'll still do our free Kindle promotions via Kindle Select, of course, but it's time-consuming for us to do this. We have 54 titles out and 20 more already scheduled for next year, so most indie authors with only a few books won't be as burdened by managing those free Kindle promotions as we are. I'm very grateful for the Kindle Matchbook program.

[K.T.]

A question - I scheduled my 4th book, 'The New Du Rose Matriarch' for free promotion Saturday 7th September (today in NZ) but it is still showing as 'scheduled' 8 hours into the day. It said it was on Pacific time, which I am. I have messaged the people at KDP, who are usually really good at answering, but that won't be until today is over and I have used up a free day for nothing. Anyone else had this problem?

[L.L.]

Time zones confuse me, but I do know it's 4:25 PM on Friday, September 6 in Oregon and I'm in the same time zone as Washington state, where Amazon is headquartered. If you set your promo up for September 7, I would expect it to start seven and a half hours from now, at midnight PST. Possibly I'm completely misunderstanding the situation. If so, my apologies.
--L. L. Thrasher

[K.A.]

Some good points, FutureCycle...

[Elle]

K.A. wrote: "Some good points, FutureCycle..."

I agree, especially FutureCycle's observation I'm sure Amazon is hoping to lure paperback buyers into the ebook sphere with this program.

K.A. thanks for responding to my comment above. I now think my assumptions re: buyers, are too limited. Your point is a good one (gifts).

[M.]

I've always enrolled my books in KDP Select.

I make it work the old fashioned way by following the cliched strategy of "a foot in the door." KDP Select free promo is only effective if you can drive traffic to your other non-freebie titles. The simplest way to achieve that to put an in-your-face Amazon Affiliate Widget right there in your book description. The thing scrolls and grabs their attention. If they abandon your freebie and go check out another title of yours, its not exactly a loss.

Can you put a Flash widget in description? You may ask. Yes, pretty much everything, including social networking widgets like a tweet box or Facebook box in there. After many month of investigative work, I’ve discovered KDP’s dirty secret. It’s all recorded in my book “KDP’s Best-Kept Secret Revealed: How to Embed Videos and Widgets in Your Book Description.” Take a look when you get a chance and see if you like the way I do it: http://amzn.to/1evdevT.

[Rita]

Chandra wrote: "Yes, I have put my first book 'Memsaheb and the Thief' for KDP select. I am waiting and watching. This is set in India and traces the life of a rich pampered girl to a cop's wife...."

Hi Chandra,

Your book is not showing on your author page. It's a good idea to put it there so that people see it when they look you up when you make a comment. Good luck with the KDP promo. I think it's best to take it off after 3 months and add your book to other sites such as Smashwords.com

[Rita]

I have decided not to joining Kindle Matchbook - I've given away all the free books I'm going to unless its for a charity raffle or a giveaway I'm organising.

[Elle]

Rita wrote: "I have decided not to joining Kindle Matchbook - I've given away all the free books I'm going to unless its for a charity raffle or a giveaway I'm organising."

I joined Matchbook because it's one more option for readers making purchases and also for writers as a way to sell: it seems to me that benefiting readers and writers is a good thing. Also, it's innovative, something Amazon's known for.

[M.]

If you've come to the point where you are debating whether to join Matchbook or not, you are already in good shape. That is a good problem to have because Matchbook only gives away free copies to readers who have bought the paperback version of your books.

From my point of view, if someone's already bought my paperback, I'm giving to give him 10 copies of ebook, if he wants. More about it here: http://amzn.to/1evdevT

[M.]

I truly believe that nobody can twist the arms of those who are not willing to pay for ebooks to actually pay for your ebooks. Those people will always hunt for freebies. And if the freebies are NOT available, they will check Torrent and download the pirated copies free anyway. It happened with many of my books.

With those free-loaders and hoarders, you can't win. But the point of KDP Select is to build a lot of affiliation. If a book of yours does not sell and you do not promote through KDP Select promo, it will just set there pretty by itself. Very few people will ever stumble on it since it will not pop up in any category ranking (Amazon only list the top 100 best sellers of each category.)

On the contrary, when your book takes a ride on KDP freebie promo, it builds extensive, random affiliation, such as "Buyers who viewed Joyland also viewed [insert your book title here]" or "Buyers who have purchased Fifty Shades of Grey also bought [insert your book title here]"

The rest is statistics. If one of one hundred of those random affiliation brings you one sale after the promo and you have had three hundred free download, you will sell three copies. Math will never disappoint you. That's why you want more people to download your book when it is free. In this hypothetical example of one to one hundred sales to freebies ration, three thousand downloads will give you 30 sales.

Of course, you can do a lot to maximize the return of these free downloads, particularly during the downloaders' visits to your book page.

My wrote a book recently to discuss the wonderful and effective things you could do to retain the visitors attention and also sell them your non-freebie title, or at least to try the free samples.

Take a glance of my book on this subject to see if it can be of any value to you: http://amzn.to/1evdevT.

M. Eigh
http://m.eigh.com

[Alexa]

Marcus wrote: "I've always enrolled my books in KDP Select.

I make it work the old fashioned way by following the cliched strategy of "a foot in the door." KDP Select free promo is only effective if you can driv..."

Hi Marcus, I've just been to your book on Amazon. I read the "Inside" portion, well written. How long do you think it will be before Amazon finds what you've done and shuts out your account? Please I'm not saying this in a negative-towards-you-tone at all; I'm just wondering "how long" before they discover what you're doing? It just seems "too good to be true?" ... that you're able to "do it" without any Amazon ramifications?

[M.]

Hi Alexa, Thanks for the compliment. We live in a democratic free country where the law is based on the assumption that whatever is not explicitly forbidden is permissible. I'm a bit surprised that some authors actually choose to self-censor themselves, like some docile subjects living in North Korea.

Regarding the Power Book Description introduced in my book, there is not a single step that differs from what authors are doing everyday in the routine, normal way. No rules are broken, no due checks are circumvented.

That is the beauty of it. It is possible that someone can use the method I invented to pursue something illegal -- but then again that someone can do it without my method as well.

There is no way Amazon can "shut it down" because all Amazon authoring interface accessed are the normal thing you as an author access everyday -- the KDP Bookshelf and the AuthorCentral Book List. I cannot imagine that Amazon will shut those interface down, as that will mean a complete halt to the KDP program.

But to be fair, Amazon can change the game. I don't think the method I've introduced in my book is big enough a deal for Amazon; but I can't speak for them.

But for individual authors like you and me, I think it is a big deal. If you book description delivers that visual or verbal impact strong enough to retain the visitor's attention, you may have just gained a buyer or perspective buyer.

Make hay while the sun shines; just sayin'. Take care and may your books sell well!

[Dead]

Yep. I'm in it. I like it well enough. I published for the first time about 17 days ago. Across the three stories I'm selling about 2 copies per day. The free downloads have netted around 700 downloads.

I also have stuff to read on Goodreads.

[Teresa]

I enrolled both of my books in KDP and at the advice of another author, did a freebie promotion for the first book the same weekend that I released my second one. I think that it worked pretty well because 570 people downloaded my book that would not have otherwise given me a second glance. I'm hoping that it has the 'foot in the door' effect as I continue to publish more and more books! I also did a give away on Goodreads as well as another site. I'm not seeing any reviews for the ones that I gave away yet though.

[M.]

It does not happen every time, but it happened once to me. I gave this short story away free with an abandon ( 5 days) http://www.amazon.com/My-Mothers-Shad...

What I got back was 2 five star reviews from two Amazon Top Reviewers (one top 1000 and one top 500.) Both unsolicited.

The reviews came in a few days after the giveaway so I am not a 100% sure the two top reviewers got it free. But then again I can't imagine they actually bought it.

Anyway, the two reviews drove the sales up by like 10 copies and then all things petered out. The book is in the most unpopular short fiction category and I am perfectly happy with the two good reviews that I would never have gotten had I not jumped on the KDP Select bandwagon.

[Jim]

Here is some information on the new Kindle Countdown promotion:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[[deleted user]]

Reading these "success stories" I have just "tracked" the sales of some of the books on Novel Rank.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Caroline]

I have one book on KDP. I had 180 downloads over 5 days worth, spread out over two weekends.
I haven't made any money, but I don't have my best book on there. I feel like I'm kinda in a catch twenty-two; if I put the best out there, then I won't make anything. Yet, not having the best might turn them away. What to do??!

[Edward]

Caroline wrote: "I haven't made any money, but I don't have my best book on there. I feel like I'm kinda in a catch twenty-two; if I put the best out there, then I won't make anything. Yet, not having the best might turn them away. What to do??!"

Why wouldn't you make anything if you put your best work on KDP?

(Note the difference between KDP and KDP Select. The latter being when you make your titles exclusive with Amazon for the freebie days and Countdown promo.)

All of your books should be on Amazon, but not all of them should be in KDP Select. Those that you have in KDP Select will hopefully bring attention to the others that aren't.

Is there any reason you don't have a Kindle version of Bleu Moon available?

[Philip]

I have just blogged about my first year writing with my main sales outlet being KDP including inside select and countdown.

http://phenweb.worpress.com

[[deleted user]]

I found it eventually here, Philip

http://phenweb.wordpress.com/2014/02/...

[Philip]

Sophie wrote: "I found it eventually here, Philip

http://phenweb.wordpress.com/2014/02/..."

Thanks Sophie

[Edward]

Philip wrote: "I have just blogged about my first year writing with my main sales outlet being KDP including inside select and countdown.

http://phenweb.worpress.com"

That was interesting, Philip. You mentioned the things that didn't work, but what did you do that did work?

It looks like you did something extremely successful with An Agent's Demise in February. An in August with To The Survivors.

Any idea what accounts for those awesome spikes?

[Caroline]

Edward wrote: "Caroline wrote: "I haven't made any money, but I don't have my best book on there. I feel like I'm kinda in a catch twenty-two; if I put the best out there, then I won't make anything. Yet, not hav..."

Hi, I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?

I did not know that, what??? So much to keep track of that I missed that. Seriously thinking of putting my first to KDP today as its been in a coma (someone told me that word, lol), but all your very hard work is not a laughing matter; no wonder the age old term 'starving artist.'

I read the blog above n that is good sage advice. I do like the writing, but will not write 50 books with no compensation, just won't!

It takes a lot to write a book, so I don't think all these writers will stay with it. Good stuff/works will surface, hopefully.

Thanks to Goodreads for these exchanges/learning groups.
Caroline

[Edward]

Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?"

Now you do. Must've been a glitch, but I swear when I looked at it last night, there was just a paperback.

[Philip]

Edward wrote: "Philip wrote: "I have just blogged about my first year writing with my main sales outlet being KDP including inside select and countdown.

http://phenweb.worpress.com"

That was interesting, Philip..."

Hi,

The Agent's Demise spike was caused by the initial KDP Select Free Days which took me to No 1 on .com in Spy Thrillers for nearly three days before disappearing. Nearly 3,000 free downloads. I thought fantastic I can retire from the interest driving future sales then nothing

The To The Survivors spike was it's launch when I had some blog reviews and I set a launch price of 99c. I then experimented with price for a little while but it has consistently sold a few copies per week

My third book has had adverts, free days, discounts and has not shifted.

Once I have finished the new edits then I may try some publicity again to see if I can get some interest, but the biggest marketing I will do this year will be the sequel to An Agent's Demise, how I promote that I have not yet decided

Sorry for any implied spam of my books, no links added for that reason.

[Caroline]

Edward wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?"

Now you do. Must've been a glitch, but I swear when I looked at it last night, there was just a paperback."
Yes, I just checked it now, too. Phew!
Sounds like staying power is what a person needs. I did read that huge amounts (like 80-90%) of all books purchased are e-read. Personally, I have never read a book on kindle. In the end, today anyway, I feel like I should put my book/French Bleu to KDP and write another one and see what happens, probably won't hurt.

[Philip]

Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?"

Now you do. Must've been a glitch, but I swear when I looked at it last night, there was just a paperbac..."

After my very limited experience of only one year I think it unlikely I'll publish in physical form again. The cost and effort involved provide no return in hard cash - not that that is the reason I write, but that is cash that could pay the mortgage.
Other e-readers don't seem to have the market, so Amzon Kindle it is.

[Edward]

Philip wrote: "After my very limited experience of only one year I think it unlikely I'll publish in physical form again. The cost and effort involved provide no return in hard cash "

In my year of experience, I've had practically no sales of paperbacks (that I didn't sell myself in person) but, you can publish on Amazon's CreateSpace at zero cost.

I'll continue to do so. Not because they sell at all (and in fact, they lower your overall author ranking) but because it gives me a way to print them and give them away.

[Philip]

Edward wrote: "Philip wrote: "After my very limited experience of only one year I think it unlikely I'll publish in physical form again. The cost and effort involved provide no return in hard cash "

In my year o..."

CreateSpace is not so easy for authors outside the US - I used Lulu.

[Caroline]

Philip wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?"

Now you do. Must've been a glitch, but I swear when I looked at it last night, there wa..."
good note~

[Philip]

Lynn wrote: "Hi all.
I am in KDP Selec t. I only uploaded my book at the end of January. I did a five day free promotion and got 467 downloads in the US and 76 in the UK. I got to no 2 in Women's Literary Ficti..."

That is is the main question, do free downloads create more readers hoarders and lead to alternate sales and reviews. Who knows, I cannot see a direct correlation of do this and it will result in this.

[Christine PNW]

Philip wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?"

Now you do. Must've been a glitch, but I swear when I looked at it last night, there wa..."

Your blog post references only downloads, with no indication of whether those were paid downloads. It is your business what you share - of course - but you don't answer the burning question: did your books turn a profit, and if so, how much.

[Edward]

Lynn wrote: "Hi all.
I am in KDP Selec t. I only uploaded my book at the end of January. I did a five day free promotion and got 467 downloads in the US and 76 in the UK. I got to no 2 in Women's Literary Ficti..."

Two things: If you have only one book available, and you make it free. Then it does nothing for your sales. How could it?

Those who wanted a free book, got one, and now they've moved on. The benefit in having a free book is that you gain exposure. Ideally, that means people might see something else you have for sale, and maybe even buy it.

Imagine that you have a brick and mortar store and you put an ad in the paper saying that the one and only product in your store is free for a week.

The reason that even physical stores have a product at a reduced price is in the hopes that you will buy other things *while* you're in the store.

The other thing is, I don't think people download freebooks indiscriminately, but I think there are so many free books available, that they stockpile them and probably have hundreds, if not thousands of free books to provide them with a lifetime of reading at no cost.

I downloaded about 40 free books last year (and probably bought at least the same amount, if not much more) and sometimes when I'm scrolling through titles on my Kindle, I see a book that I downloaded for free 9 months ago, but haven't gotten around to reading yet.

I think this is why authors should not be surprised that when they have hundreds of free downloads and don't get any reviews. It's not like people are downloading just that one book, reading it, and then making a choice as to whether they want to write a review or not. Chances are, they haven't even opened it yet.

Think of squirrels gathering all the nuts that they can, and then the tree sitting around anticipating a review on a single nut.

[Edward]

Moonlight Reader wrote: "Your blog post references only downloads, with no indication of whether those were paid downloads. It is your business what you share - of course - but you don't answer the burning question: did your books turn a profit, and if so, how much. "

I thought I read that he omitted the free downloads data for the sake of clarity, and so I assumed that the spikes were sales. Maybe I misunderstood.

[Christine PNW]

Edward wrote: "Moonlight Reader wrote: "Your blog post references only downloads, with no indication of whether those were paid downloads. It is your business what you share - of course - but you don't answer th..."

I went and reread the post. I still can't figure it out.

[Caroline]

Moonlight Reader wrote: "Philip wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Edward wrote: "I don't have a kindle e-book for Bleu Moon?"

Now you do. Must've been a glitch, but I swear when I looked at it last ..."
I don't really know! I wish I knew!

[Caroline]

Hello all,
I just sent my book to kindle for KDP, so we'll see. I have to wait for it to be reviewed, then I can add KDP. I didn't have a pic because the pixels were not enough. Amazon already has my book on their kindle list for sale. Does that stay there? Just in case someone comes along and is not in KDP, can they still purchase it?

[Kevin]

I used Story Cartel for my first novel and that resulted in 14 Amazon reviews and a few Goodreads reviews from 145 free downloads. I will be trying BargainBooksy later this week as an experiment.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Caroline wrote: " Just in case someone comes along and is not in KDP, can they still purchase ..."

If your book is on amazon, KDP or not, customers can purchase (some country restrictions).

KDP is just a platform for authors; customers cannot join KDP if they wanted to.

Most customers buying your books on amazon are likely to not even know what KDP is or which books/authors are or are not in the KDP program.

If you meant the prime lending library program, once you no longer have your book in that program customers all can still buy the book but just cannot borrow (free to them but author still gets paid) even if they are amazon prime subscribers.

[Caroline]

D.A. wrote: "Caroline wrote: " Just in case someone comes along and is not in KDP, can they still purchase ..."

If your book is on amazon, KDP or not, customers can purchase (some country restrictions).

KDP i..."

Okay, so I'm good. My Book is available in print and e-read and KDP to let some people get it for free, which allows it to ascend the ladder and get some exposure.
Thanks.

[Kevin]

Vicki wrote: "Thank, going to check them out now."

Just FYI, I did pay for Story Cartel's promo package so my book had increased exposure, but since this is my first time using them, I don't know how my results compare to somebody who just posted it on Story Cartel.

[Philip]

Just to clarify. My books have been at various price points throughout the year. The first two have turned a small profit after the costs of ISBNs, advertising and review copies. I estimate maybe $200 total. Now that profit has been wiped out by the cost of professional editing, only time will tell if that will be recovered.

Yes, free downloads got me some exposure and as I was a complete newbie - not even on Goodreads - I did not realise I should not give it away for free until I had a second book out. Cross promotion might work but my genre differences probably negated that for my second and then third books. I guess I'll find out later this year with a sequel to the first.

On my blog the charts are total Amazon sales including free downloads. I have the stats from Amazon for price points and royalty payments, but my blog is mostly about adverts. If I mapped adverts to to sales none coincide with any spike.

[Tri]

I just enrolled KDP two days ago and no significant result...yet. My adult romance book will be free tomorrow until Thursday (three days). Let's see how it goes for me.