Indie authors - if you have not opted for Amazon KDP Select, why not?
Discussion on this matter is not
new and is on-going with various arguments for and against registering your
independently publish books with KDP Select. In general the answers are broad
and non-specific and we all have our own reasons for the path we take. Below I
will provide my reasons in dollar terms for me.
Registering with KDP Select means
that you agree to channel that specific title through Amazon KDP exclusively
(no Nooks or Apples or whatever). In returned Amazon pays an amount each month on
books which are borrowed through their Prime and Kindle Unlimited lending
systems - the amount of royalty payment is based on the number of pages read
per day.
When monthly payments are made,
KDP provides authors with and XL download sheet showing payments to each
country and the amounts paid showing a split between earnings for book sales
and earnings from KOLL and Kindle Unlimited (pages read).
For me, my sales are mainly UK and
US. Here are some examples of the makeup of payments I received from Amazon earlier this
year.
Feb US – Sales $843.84 + KU/KOLL
royalties $778.31
Jan UK – Sales £581.94 + KU/KOLL
royalties £434.48
Nov US – sales $1236.85 + KU/Koll
Royalties $1060.43
From these figures readers can
see there is little difference in income between book sales and books borrowed
and read.
While I realize many of my fellow
authors have income from their books far in excess of mine, I’m also aware
there are many aspiring authors, with only one or two books published, who are
still a long way from these figures.
To summarize, for me, signing up
for KDP Select is a no-brainer.
