When Kindle Unlimited was unveiled, it initially looked like a great idea. But now, several months later, it’s clearly not the boon many self-published writers initially thought it would be. Nor is it a reader’s paradise. It didn’t take long for scammers to figure out how to game the system with extremely short books, where just reading a few pages would trigger a “buy” and a payment. The numbers also don’t add up for people with books priced over $2.99, because you make less per KU borrow than you would an outright sale.
I’m also hearing more reports from readers who complain about the poor quality of many of the books (even the ones that aren’t “scraped” content gaming the ‘Zon’s system).
Writers are paid out of a monthly “pot” set up by Amazon. This pot can fluctuate, meaning the per borrow amount can fluctuate, and you don’t even know for sure what your earnings will be until the next month. (Unlike outright buys, where you can see how many you sold.)
Personally, I saw a dip in third-party Amazon sales for my publisher-published titles upon the inception of KU. (My publisher is, fortunately, NOT participating in the KU program.) Many other authors also saw similar dips in sales, even authors without books in KU.
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,202571.0/all.html
http://www.thebookseller.com/futurebook/honeymoon-over-ku-comes-between-amazon-and-self-publishers
For readers, you don’t get to keep the books you borrow. In some cases this isn’t a bad thing (if you get a real turkey). I’ve heard some readers report that they don’t read enough of the “free” content to make it worth the $9.99 a month in addition to books they already buy.
For authors, being in the program means you’re locked into exclusivity with Amazon. While the KDP select program wasn’t bad in terms of being able to use the free promo days, unfortunately it looks like you can’t opt-out of the KU part of the program. (Someone please correct me if that’s incorrect.)
Also, Amazon controls the amount of the “pot” the KU earnings come from. This means they could conceivably say, “Hey, the new amount is $.50 a borrow.” And…well, you’re screwed at that point. And the amount of scammers now trying to game the KU system means that much less per “borrow” for the legitimate KU authors out there.
Where would KU be a good thing? If you have a brand new pen name you’re trying to get out there, using the service for initial launch and then pulling out after the initial 90-day period. But I certainly wouldn’t use it for a whole backlist.
So that’s my $.02 opinion. I’d love to hear in the comments other authors’ stories about KU, if it’s working, if it’s not. If you’ve seen a drop in third-party sales (especially Amazon) since July when KU got cranking, if you use Oyster or Scribd and have seen good results there, etc. Please feel free to sound off in the comments about it, or with any other links you’ve found about the issue.
I don’t even know where to begin with KU. Since it became so popular my sales have tanked. My borrows now far exceed my sales. When I look back at the before and after it shows I’m still averaging around the same amount of books going out, but now about eighty percent are coming from borrows. Come January when my time expires, I will only be putting two of my books in KU.
Saw this coming. I’m like, an oracle. Heh. Seriously. Amazon never does anything out of some sort of altruistic motive. Pfft. Authors are freaking out now. And the more they freak and lower their prices and do “99 cent boxed sets,” and give away books, the more they shoot themselves in the foot. IMHO. YMMV. Don’t shoot me, it’s JUST MY LITTLE OPINION.
We have to play on the ball field we’ve got.
If you have a strong loyal following are established, you probably shouldn’t be in KU.
If you are an unknown author, the KU may get you known by the mega readers (who else would pay $10 every month to read books? The subscribers of KU clearly have time to read a lot of books.)
True you won’t make as much on those reads, but would the mega readers have read you otherwise? The answer will vary per author. Look at your situation and decide.
KU changed the ball field, so we all need to figure out where we are best suited to play on the new field.
I am just a reader, but when I seen this KU thing it was like, “really?” If I want to “borrow” a book, why do I have to pay for the privilege? I can go to the library for free. Okay, they may not have all your books but, these days $9.99 can buy enough books. Not to mention, I already pay a “Prime” membership. I am not paying more to borrow a book, especially when they used to let me borrow that book on the membership. No, doesn’t work for me. And that is my two cents!
Reader here. Like has been said already have Prime. Everything else has been added to Prime but this is extra. No way. Also, I probably read more than $10 a month in books but I want 1. the ability to pick what I want not what is available on a service. 2. I want my favorite authors to keep publishing so I want to buy their books to keep them working.