You may have noticed that the novels in my Battle Scars series have been Kindle-exclusive the last few months. I’ve read about other authors’ mixed experiences, including some who have been quite successful with one of the perks of going Amazon only. Amazon has a program for authors called KDP Select, which enrolls novels in their Kindle Unlimited (KU) library. This allows subscriber-readers to download up to 10 books a month to read as part of their subscription plan.
If a KU subscriber reads my book, I receive royalties based on the number of pages read, a magical number Amazon calculates through some formula. Maybe some writers are making big bucks – I know one reported a million pages read in one month; my royalties feed my 2 latte a week habit.
It is fun to watch the dots, except when they remain at zero for days on end. But all good things must end – though I might be exaggerating about this experiment being a good thing.
With KDP Select, I am Amazon-exclusive, which means – unless you’re a savvy ebook person – readers cannot buy an ePub version of Battle Scars I & II to read. (Kindle is in .mobi format.) No Nook, no iTunes, no Kobo or Sony or other ebook sellers. I couldn’t add epub or pdf version on Smashwords or other sites. This apparently hasn’t been a big deal (or you are all savvy and know about the Calibre reader (and I’m sure there are others). I haven’t heard any complaints – I only heard from one person who ended up buying the Kindle version when they couldn’t find it on the B&N site. My first 2 novels were on B&N and died after the first 2 months
In early October, I will be taking For King and Country off KDP Select. Men of the Cross will stay enrolled and still be available via KU. KDP Select has given me the opportunity to offer countdown deals, but with For King and Country‘s nomination for the HNS 2017 Indie Award, I want to make this novel available across multiple platforms so as many people as possible will have an opportunity to discover and read it. (You can help with the discovery by sharing this post, by leaving a review, by following and sharing things I post on Facebook or Twitter!)
You will still be able to read & download the samples and purchase both books in the series from Amazon (which I would LOVE you to do, of course). http://author.to/CharNewcomb Read, enjoy, and do leave a review, even if it’s only a few words.
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