THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR CHERYL KAYE TARDIF

Mystery, suspense, thrillers, paranormal, horror & YA by "Cheryl Kaye Tardif" & romance by "Cherish D'Angelo". Cheryl is represented by Trident Media Group in NY.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Kindle Unlimited: Amazon's new program for KDP Select authors and publishers--and readers

As I predicted months ago, Amazon has come out with a new program to entice indie authors and publishers using KDP back to the Select program, and it's called Kindle Unlimited. The easiest way to explain this program is that it's just like Netflix, only for ebooks and audiobooks.

Kindle Unlimited is a subscription-based service similar to Oyster and a few others that gives customers unlimited ebooks and audiobooks, providing those ebooks/audiobooks have been enrolled in Amazon's KDP Select program.

You may all remember that I was one of KDP Select's success stories in 2012/13 and a strong proponent of the program until it slowed to a crawl.

Let's break down the advantages and disadvantages of Kindle Unlimited for readers and indie authors/indie publishers...

Advantages of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited for Readers: 
  • You can sign up for a free 1-month trial of unlimited, participating ebooks and audiobooks. 
  • After the trial period, you pay $9.99 US per month to subscribe to this service and read as many ebooks and listen to as many audiobooks as you want.
  • You can cancel any time.
  • Anyone in the US can read a Kindle ebook in this program, even without a Kindle ereader, by downloading a free app for smartphones, tablets or PC.
Disadvantages of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited for Readers: 
  • You'll pay $9.99 US each month, even if you don't download any books.
  • Not all ebooks on Amazon will qualify for this program.
  • It is only available for US readers at this time. There is no word yet on when it will open to Canada, UK or other countries.
Advantages of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited for Indie Authors & Publishers:
  • You'll most likely earn more per download than you would per sale without participating.
  • Your books will have more exposure and a better chance of being discovered with this program.
  • Even if someone only reads 10% of your title, you will receive your royalties for that title.
Disadvantages of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited for Indie Authors & Publishers: 
  • eBook/Audiobook titles enrolled in Kindle Unlimited will be exclusive to Amazon and won't be sold anywhere else in ebook/audio format (other than Audible, an Amazon company).
  • Authors will risk alienating customers who read ebooks on other ereading devices.
US readers, sign up here: Kindle Unlimited

Indie Authors/Publishers, learn more here: KDP Select - Kindle Unlimited

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