Indie Book Club discussion
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KDP Select
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Diana, without commenting on the KDP thing just yet, I wanted to say make sure the Kindle edition and Smashwords edition are listed on Goodreads. You put them all up separately, in the same way as the paperback, then post in the Goodreads Librarian's group to have all the editions combined. That way they are all available on "The Never King" book page, and people can go straight to Amazon from the Kindle book page. Just make sure you add the Amazon ASIN.
If you don't want to add them yourself just post in the Goodreads Librarian's group, listing the book details, and they'll add the other editions for you. It's just a standard thing that's done on Goodreads.
As for KDP select, success with it or not depends on so many different factors it's hard to say whether it would be worthwhile for your father's book. The book is only new, so maybe you should aim for wider distribution initially. On the other hand, you do get free days with KDP select, however there are so many free books that you really have to heavily promote your book, to ensure you get a lot of downloads on those days.
It works for some people and not others. You could always try it for the 90 days, then go back to Smashwords. The main thing with reviews is that you won't get them unless you ask for them, even if your book is free and gets thousands of downloads. The book is only new, so it's hard to get reviews. Ask for them in various ways, without being pushy, and then they might come in slowly.
If you don't want to add them yourself just post in the Goodreads Librarian's group, listing the book details, and they'll add the other editions for you. It's just a standard thing that's done on Goodreads.
As for KDP select, success with it or not depends on so many different factors it's hard to say whether it would be worthwhile for your father's book. The book is only new, so maybe you should aim for wider distribution initially. On the other hand, you do get free days with KDP select, however there are so many free books that you really have to heavily promote your book, to ensure you get a lot of downloads on those days.
It works for some people and not others. You could always try it for the 90 days, then go back to Smashwords. The main thing with reviews is that you won't get them unless you ask for them, even if your book is free and gets thousands of downloads. The book is only new, so it's hard to get reviews. Ask for them in various ways, without being pushy, and then they might come in slowly.
I have to say that the Select program has been good for me if only for the "borrows" from the KOLL. Typically they add about 50% to my sales every month. This month the borrows are currently ahead of my sales, though sales are rapidly catching up. The To Select or Not to Select question has been asked a lot in many forums and always gets mixed response. As Mona notes, you can give it a try for 90 days and drop it if it doesn't work for the book.
Mod
Now, that isn't to say it doesn't work for all people. I know that it has for some. But if you were to ask me, I wouldn't want to limit your father's book by restricting which people can purchase it.
By the way, if you create both editions of the book as Mona suggests, then I can combine the editions for you as I'm a goodreads librarian! Hmmm, doesn't sound too macho, does it? :)
Big J
I agree with Jeffrey that it's not for everyone. I'm currently in the program, and so far I'm calling it a success. Today is the 3rd day of my 5 free days and I'm still holding onto the #1 Free Teen Sci-Fi/Fantasy rank (yay :D), and #5 Free Teen book.I've been taking some notes and I'm going to write a blog post once it's all over with my findings, and I'll try to draw some conclusions on why it worked/didn't work, and what books I think would be best for the program.
Diana, I'd suggest NOT doing KDP Select until your father puts out at least one more book. In the early days of KDP Select, some folks rocketed to success by promoting their only book using that promo, but the program has changed. Nowadays, the program generally works best if you use the free promo to draw readers to potentially buy your other books. As to getting reviews by giving the book away, that may not be the best way to get reviews; a lot of the readers who pick up your freebie will not be your audience (they just like free stuff), so they will be more likely to review you poorly. I've heard some successful authors say that their worst reviews came right after a free promo.Regarding the changes Amazon made to the KDP Select Program: the free ranking doesn't translate to paid ranking the way it used to; when KDP Select first started, you could boost your ranking during the free promo and then get a lot of visibility after the promo ended. But Amazon changed that late last year. A free download now equals something like 1/10th of a sale, in terms of ranking (and one sale of a $0.99 book equals less than a sale of a $2.99 book, btw).
You have to give away a lot (supposedly thousands) during the promo to come out with a decent ranking boost in the paid listing. More likely, you'll see a paid ranking drop after your promo ends.
I have mine in KDP select but partly as I have been too busy and too lazy to faff about with other channels. Now has it worked for me? I dunno really. I have had a few borrows, which was nice but not many and I did have a give away a few months back and was surprised how many people were interested. How many of those people have actually read the book or will do so I can't tell. I saw a few extra sales after but not many. I agree with Eric it tends to be better if you have more than one book. I have brought books by authors when I have read the first one free.I think, like many marketing strategies it works for some but not others and it does depend what you want to achieve, if you want a lot of exposure (or at least a bit more), the higher chance of reviews (both good and bad potentially) and are planning or have a second book to back it up then yes it might work, especially if you aren't that bothered about racking up a ton of sales. If however you would prefer to get a wider variety of venues, and potential readers who pay for your book as opposed to possibly downloading when it is free with no actual intent to read it then I would say stick with the multiple venues.
I have no actual qualms about KDP select as I have no where with which to compare but I am thinking I will not rejoin when the time is up and go via other avenues as well. If that gets me nowt I can pull my books from the other sites and re enter KDP select.
You could try it for 90 days and see how you get on. Although you would have to pull the book from the other sites, but make sure they are definitely gone as Amazon will pull your book else.
My experience so far has been 180 or so downloads each time one of my books is offered free & then a few sales later of 1 of the other books, which has made me wonder if someone has decided to come back & buy one of the others because they liked the free one? So I agree it seems better if you have more than one book. I'm in the middle of writing a fantasy humor trilogy & will then probably offer them all on KDP Select, but run free promos only on the first, & then hope it leads to purchases of the others. But I have to write them first!!
I decided to try KDP because a friend made a tidy sum with the borrows, but I've been on for three weeks and have had only one borrow. Any ideas on how to promote the borrow aspect? I announced it on the Kindle forums here on GR--got a couple sales but no borrows.
Thank you all for your feedback regarding KDP select! Based on what you all have written I don't think that KDP Select if for me - for the moment. The Never King is part of a trilogy and when the second book is published KDP may be a good option for the first. Mona - thank you for telling me that I need to post each format of the book individually and then have the Goodreads Librarian combine...I didn't know that!! Going to go work on that now....
I have no idea about how to promote borrows, if anyone knows be sure to pass the tips on.
I notice that several authors mention in their tweets that Prime members can borrow their books at no charge.
Yes this is true, anyone with Amazon Prime can borrow but they only get one borrow a month. I don't have twitter but I do say in my facebook promos etc it is available. Doesn't seem to help though.
My borrows are ahead of my buys this month. I suspect that Amazon touts certain books every day to the Prime members and mine was lucky enough to hit the queue a couple of times. I think this because I have days with LOTS of borrows and days with none or one, and nothing I'm doing has changed. I have no idea how Amazon picks the books to feature, if indeed they do this. Amazon--a place of mystery. ;D
I am an Amazon Prime member. I haven't been sent any special promotional emails. All I notice, when I look at an ebook, is a blurb next to the price.
Hi,I tried it initially and in 90 days I got one borrow...not as effective as they claim for me.
I hate being tied to them..so it's a no go for me.
Harrison
My borrows were very low when I was on Select as well. It's a nice feature, but I think the only real draw for Select is the free promos.
I just finished my free days and wrote up my results, findings, and thoughts on my blog if you're interested. Maybe it'll help you figure out if it's right for you :)http://blog.georgethefox.com/2013/01/...
http://authorselectric.blogspot.co.uk...Hi Diana, I did a 5 day free promo of one title on Kindle Select from 21-25 Dec 2012, which has resulted in $1200 of downloads on my book since then...I wrote up my experience with links/helpful info etc for other KDP Select authors, or those considering it, in post above which was published today on Authors Electric.
All best,
John A. A. Logan
Great post John. Really interesting. I haven't quite managed to crack the right approach to my free days & have had hardly any borrows so I sometimes wonder if KDP Select is right for me ongoing. Think I'm going to commit to the next 90 days though & see if I can make it work!
I believe it is better with more than one title but as that is all I have I can't comment first hand:)
The book my father wrote that I am publishing, The Never King, went live on amazon In Kindle form last night. It will be joined by its print version early next week and has been on smashwords for a few days.
KDP is filling my inbox with emails encouraging me to sign up for KDP Select. I can see the benefit to enrolling: more exposure as people can borrow it for free which hopefully help to drum up some reviews as well as the " 5 days of promotion on amazon" (need to look into the details of that a bit further). However, I also am very wary of limiting my distribution channels, especially right out of the gate.
Does any one have any advice or experience as to how much limiting your distribution to amazon for 90 days hurts you vs how much you gain as being part of KDP select?
Thanks and Happy New Year!
-Diana