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Kindle Authors: Will You Stay With Kindle Select?

by KenJ
28 replies
Many Kindle authors will now be coming to the end of their first 90 days on the Kindle Select program.
Will you stay with it or not?

For those who don't know, You can only be on Kindle Select if you sell exclusively through Amazon/Kindle sales channels.

Personally I am thinking that I will stop as I want to freely promote my books elsewhere.

KenJ
#authors #kindle #select #stay
  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    i'm going to stay with it for my books that get a good amount of borrows and stop for the books that don't.

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author Megan Duffy
      I'm keeping my .99 books in, since I'll be making about the same amount with Kindle Select, but I'm taking my higher priced books out. I lost a LOT of money on borrows for my $9.99 books.
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      • Profile picture of the author cashcow
        Originally Posted by Megan Duffy View Post

        I'm keeping my .99 books in, since I'll be making about the same amount with Kindle Select, but I'm taking my higher priced books out. I lost a LOT of money on borrows for my $9.99 books.
        Oh, yes, I should have noted that mine are all $2.99 or $3.99. I don't have any higher priced ones but that would be a consideration if I did.
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  • Profile picture of the author ratracegrad
    I have removed 2 of my 3 books from the program. I will remove last one when the 90 days are up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Megan Duffy
    The one thing I will say for kindle select is that you can't refund borrowed books. Not that I get many refunds, but there are more and more as people learn how INCREDIBLY EASY it is to refund a kindle book.
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    • Profile picture of the author chrisg942
      I have a few books I'm pulling out of Kindle Select later this week. Those books have a following now, so I don't need the KS tools anymore and I would like to explore other avenues with them.

      Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Absolutely! It's a great program and works well. Amazon is the #11 visited site GLOBALLY so it's a huge traffic source for your books.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I'll be keeping mine with it. The free promotions seem to get me some nice reviews and sales always increase after. Besides, I don't do all that much promoting and my books do really well anyways. I'm fine with having them be Amazon exclusive.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I won't do KDP Select beyond the first 90 days.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author bchez
      I thought after the 90 days was up, the monopoly was lifted. i.e. after the 90 days you can list your books elsewhere? Am I wrong in thinking this?

      https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishi...=A6KILDRNSCOBA

      I understood this to mean that only the first 90 days was exclusive?

      Through KDP Select, for an initial period of 90 days your Digital Book is exclusive to Kindle and is included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library Program where it will earn a share of a monthly cash fund when readers borrow it.

      I haven't started adding my books to Kindle yet, so I haven't read a lot about it, but that certainly makes a difference to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    As long as you are opted into KDP Select, you are agreeing to list your book exclusively with Kindle.

    If you optin to KDP Select, you are required to remain enrolled for a minimum of 90 days.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author MaggieDavid
    Never did enrol with Kindle Select. Decided to sit and wait to see what others thought of it before jumping, in.

    so this thread is of interest to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author KenJ
      Thanks for all the replies so far.
      My books are at $2.99 but I want to raise the prices to $3.99 and $4.99. This is one reason for leaving the Kindle Select program. The borrows do not pay out enough IMHO.
      I also think that the "Free" days did no long term good for my rankings in the listings. Sure 3000 - 4000 readers a day got my book for free and there was a very short sales increase subsequently.
      Then everything returned to what it was before the "free" day.

      KenJ
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      • Profile picture of the author tpw
        Originally Posted by KenJ View Post

        Thanks for all the replies so far.
        My books are at $2.99 but I want to raise the prices to $3.99 and $4.99. This is one reason for leaving the Kindle Select program. The borrows do not pay out enough IMHO.
        I also think that the "Free" days did no long term good for my rankings in the listings. Sure 3000 - 4000 readers a day got my book for free and there was a very short sales increase subsequently.
        Then everything returned to what it was before the "free" day.

        KenJ

        Don't get me wrong. I think there is real value in KDP Select, but that value is limited.

        The only reason I like using KDP Select is because I get five days for free, which will allow people to take a look at my book and hopefully leave a review with my book.

        Those free days also give me the opportunity to put new people into my book sales funnel.
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        Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
        Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
    I'm still learning how to market mine so I'll keep it with Kindle Select for now and keep my options open for later

    Kim
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  • Profile picture of the author mizambar
    I'm sticking with it for now because I'm only selling $.99 books. But in the future; I might reconsider - Especially if I go with a higher price point.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kev Stevenson
      I think it's worth staying in with books that make less than $2 per sale.
      The 'borrows' earn that at the moment.
      So, with a .99c book - it seems a no-brainer to stay enrolled in Select.

      For more expensive offerings, Select looks like a good launch platform...
      A short free promotion and initial borrowing should get a bit of 'sales-rank juice' flowing.
      Thats the theory I'm working on at the moment...

      P.S. There are stories of a free promo "destroying the sales" an otherwise strong, established title.
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  • Profile picture of the author stephenwaldo
    Sorry guys, can I clarify this one more time...KDP Select is exclusive for all books for the entirety of your membership, NOT just the first 90 days, correct?

    I don't do a ton with Kindle and certainly don't keep up with it; I just a dabble. I still haven't jumped on KDP and would like to learn more about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author cashcow
      Originally Posted by stephenwaldo View Post

      Sorry guys, can I clarify this one more time...KDP Select is exclusive for all books for the entirety of your membership, NOT just the first 90 days, correct?
      You have to opt-in to KDP select for 90 days and during that time it is exclusive.

      After the 90 days are up, you can choose to not use it anymore and then you can sell your books anywhere else you want.

      If you do choose to opt-in it will be for another 90 day period in which your books must be exclusive.

      The settings automatically renew for you after 90 days so you have to go in and uncheck the box to automatically renew that if you don't want to opt-in to the program again.

      Hope that helps!

      Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author Norfolk
    Is there any point for non-US crowd to opt-in for Kindle Select? There are no payouts for us "outsiders" for having our books borrowed, which is a shame.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kev Stevenson
      Originally Posted by Norfolk View Post

      Is there any point for non-US crowd to opt-in for Kindle Select? There are no payouts for us "outsiders" for having our books borrowed, which is a shame.
      Books borrowed in the US earn borrowing fees - no matter where the author is based. It's working for me.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
        phew I was worried about that when I first read the post, Doesn't say anywhere in Amazon (as far as I can see) that the author doesn't get paid if they are not in the US

        Kim

        Originally Posted by Kev Stevenson View Post

        Books borrowed in the US earn borrowing fees - no matter where the author is based. It's working for me.
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      • Profile picture of the author Norfolk
        Originally Posted by Kev Stevenson View Post

        Books borrowed in the US earn borrowing fees - no matter where the author is based. It's working for me.
        Thanks Kev. I must have read something wrong when I was checking Select couple months back.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    I tried with one of my books and the results were not that
    stellar, but I'll keep it there still as a test.

    -Ray Edwards
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  • Profile picture of the author Amy Harrop
    I agree...I like to do it once to take advantage of the built -in promotional opportunities and then branch out after the 90 day period and not auto-renew.
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  • Profile picture of the author colinph970
    personally I wouldn't use Kindle select for most of my ebooks. I'm taking all mine out as the 90 days expire.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I'm keeping a few books in each series in the select program after looking more into sales/borrows. I will be keeping a few in there for free days because I include links to other books in the series as well as to my website inside the books.

    I only have 2-3 books in each series I do free days on so every other one will not be enrolled again.
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      I experimented putting one of my ebooks into the program and did not renew it after 90 days. I can see that it was beneficial in raising sales of that product, but I'm not sure it did that enough to surpass what I would have made selling the ebook on other platforms as well during the 90 day exclusive period.

      I will not repeat the experiment with future ebooks unless I have one that feels like it would need a special boost, such as being on a less popular topic.

      Marcia Yudkin
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