Authors Share Their Thoughts About Amazon Unlimited



Today we're taking a look at Amazons new Kindle Unlimited Feature. Is it good news for authors? What is it anyway?

"Kindle Unlimited is a new service that allows you to read as much as you want, choosing from over 600,000 titles and thousands of audiobooks. Freely explore new authors, books, and genres from mysteries and romance to sci-fi and more. You can read on any device. It's available for $9.99 a month and you can cancel anytime." 

Kindle Unlimited is currently available only to US customers but Amazon plan to expand this service to other countries. Any customer can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. They don't need to be Amazon Prime members, they simply need to pay the subscription fee. You can find out more about Kindle Unlimited at https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1002872331.

Sounds great from a reader point of view doesn't it? What about from an authors point of view though? Still sound good?

If you have a book enrolled in KDP Select, it will automatically be enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. It will also remain enrolled in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which is currently available to Amazon Prime customers in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Japan. If you do not want your book(s) in Kindle Unlimited, you have the option to immediately remove your book from KDP Select.

Once a customer reads more than 10% of your book, or a Kindle Owners' Lending Library customer downloads your book, you'll receive a share of the KDP Select Global Fund.

So what do authors think about it? I asked around to see whether Kindle Unlimited is an authors friend or foe and this is what they said...

DT Linda Gross
"You can have the best written book in the world, if you don't have the proper exposure, it won't do you a darn bit of good. Obscurity is an author's biggest enemy.

Conversely, exposure is an author's best friend. Amazon Unlimited is one step towards putting your book name on a list to be seen by readers who never heard of you." 






Khalid Muhammad
"I joined Kindle Unlimited a few days ago and am already seeing a positive effect on my book. I am getting many people that are checking it out with the Kindle Unlimited program that would probably not purchased it since I am a new author. So far, good results."

http://www.agencyrules.com






Carolyn Howard Johnson
"If your e-book is already on Kindle's Select program, it will automatically be part of Kindle Unlimited. And, yes, it may feel a bit chintzy not to pay authors upon download, but I get that it's a hedge against cheating.  And, yes, I still think this is a coup for authors selling e-books on Kindle!  I think it shows great possibilities for more exposure for new authors."

http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com


Over all is seems that authors are viewing it in a positive light and feel that Kindle Unlimited will help get their books seen by a larger audience. 

 What are your thoughts about Kindle Unlimited? Do you think it's a good thing for authors? 
blogsignatureWA

1 Comments

  1. Anonymous15 December 2014 at 19:49

    If you don't mind 89p or $1.33 royalty and lost sales on other channels due to exclusivity then great. My biggest issue is the reported drop of around 60-70% of traditional sales from Sept onwards. KU effect or something else? If so, KU may bite Amazon in the bum, as authors flee to other channels to keep their money rolling in...

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you. So feel free to comment, but keep in mind the basics of blog etiquette — no spam, no profanity, no slander, etc.

Thanks for being an active part of the Writers and Authors community.