Support for Indie Authors discussion

Does anyone know why my royalties on Amazon would be dropping? They were cut in half a few weeks ago, and now they've dropped maybe another $0.80.

no, but if you find out, please share the info.

Royalties from sales or from lends? (The only thing I can think of is that Amazon changed the KU/KOLL royalties from units borrowed to pages read.)

I have no idea. I had something like $6.00 in royalties, and no spikes on the "borrow" thing. Then I got one borrow, and it looks like every page was read. Then my royalties dropped to $2.80. And a week later (now) it's at $2.10. It's chump change at this point; but if, say, $500.00 were to be cut in half, I might start punching my computer.

Yes, I've just looked and have the same. Looks like it's happened in the last week? Bizarre. I'll wait til end of month and check the reports.

If you got any returns, that would affect it.

Bill wrote: "Does anyone know why my royalties on Amazon would be dropping? They were cut in half a few weeks ago, and now they've dropped maybe another $0.80."

Hi, Bill. It sounds like you're talking about royalties from sales. Was your book previously enrolled in KDP Select, and then the 3-month enrollment period ended, so now your royalty rate dropped from from 70% to 35%? That's the only reason I can think of why a royalty rate would drop. (But I'm new, so I'm sure there are lot of things I don't know.)

I would e-mail Amazon. There's a "Contact Us" link on the KDP author's dashboard page. I've e-mailed them before, and they were very responsive, with an answer back to me within 24 hours.

April

If there was a return, wouldn't my number of sales change? It hasn't. And that would mean at least five people returned it at the same time. It has to be something else. I suspect it's something related to the "pages read" conspiracy...

I can't think of any legitimate reason Amazon could "take" money that's already been earned.

As days go by, previous sales disappear from the chart along with the royalties. Could it just mean you had less sales lately? Were the five you're speaking if the same day or close?

Bill wrote: "If there was a return, wouldn't my number of sales change? It hasn't. And that would mean at least five people returned it at the same time. It has to be something else. I suspect it's something re..."

Bill, if there were any returns, you would be able to see those on the sales report link. The sales report link shows purchases, as well as returns, within a given timeframe.

I disagree that the change to the KU/KOLL payout policy is a "conspiracy." It's actually a well-considered policy change that makes KU/KOLL payouts more equitable for writers across the board. Don't believe the conspiracy hype that's out there. The policy change plugs a hole on a lot of scam publishing. But that's off topic.

I think if you e-mail Amazon, you'll be able to find out the reason for the change in your royalties. Best of luck to you. Please let us now what you find out. We would all benefit from what you learn.

April

If that's the case, then it makes sense. I assumed the royalties would just keep adding up until Amazon transferred the money to my account at the end of the month, or three months, or whenever they do it. How are you supposed to keep track of your total royalties then?

I wish I knew since I didn't set up a bank for the deposit and have to wait for the amount to be big enough for the to send a check. (75-100$)

Bill wrote: "If that's the case, then it makes sense. I assumed the royalties would just keep adding up until Amazon transferred the money to my account at the end of the month, or three months, or whenever the..."

Bill, there are links and filters on the author dashboard page that allow you to run reports on your royalties over varying lengths of time. You can run monthly reports, or quarterly reports - whichever time span you like. There are many ways to view and slice the data on the author dashboard. Take a look and see what you find.

Amazon pays out royalties on a monthly basis, although there is a 60-day delay from the end of a month to the date when the royalties are actually paid out.

April

G.G. wrote: "I wish I knew since I didn't set up a bank for the deposit and have to wait for the amount to be big enough for the to send a check. (75-100$)"

If you set up a bank account for direct deposit, they'll send over *almost* any amount, no matter how big or small. But if you opt for a paper check, then they do have thresholds for how much money you have to have earned before they'll issue a check.

April

April wrote: "Bill wrote: "If there was a return, wouldn't my number of sales change? It hasn't. And that would mean at least five people returned it at the same time. It has to be something else. I suspect it's..."
I only call it a "conspiracy" because I don't understand it. It conspires to confuse me.
In the spirit of lessening my ignorance, let me ask you a question...The "pages read" only applies to borrows, right?

Bill wrote: "April wrote: "Bill wrote: "If there was a return, wouldn't my number of sales change? It hasn't. And that would mean at least five people returned it at the same time. It has to be something else. ..."

Hi, Bill. :)

Yes, that's right. The payout for direct book sales has not changed. But the payout for "borrows" through Kindle Unlimited (KU) or Kindle Owner's Lending Library (KOLL) has changed.

Before, authors were paid for each book "downloaded" through KU or KOLL, whether the person who downloaded it read it or not. Now, Amazon is going to pay PER PAGE READ. So, if someone downloads a book through one of these programs and reads five pages of it and never reads any more, the author gets paid for the FIVE PAGES READ. If a person downloads a book reads a 100 pages, or 200 pages, or whatever, the author gets paid for all pages read. This method of payout rewards good/serious writers, and it makes it harder for scammers to scam the system (scammers are those who were putting tons of non-fiction titles out there just to get the downloads, not caring if anyone read them or not).

We don't know the pay rate yet, for how much Amazon is paying per page read. It varies month to month, based on several variables. And July is the first month this pay policy has gone into effect. We're all learning about it still, but I'm pretty optimistic about it.

I hope that helps!

April

For a sec there I thought a royalty eating worm was planted into Amazon's system by Alibaba or ebay -:)

Thanks to April here for alleviating my fears, who seems to be very knowledgeable re all the benefits of Amazon. If it depended on me, I would vote for April's nomination to head Amazon's book division -:)

Direct deposit option is available for US, UK and authors from 2 more countries (4 in the total) and not to us - lowly writers from the rest of the world -:)

Bill, are you looking at the royalties under the graph in the dashboad? Because if so, those only show the last 30 days, which means that sales older than 30 days will drop off and the total you see will change.
For an accurate ammount, you can change the view to month to date.

Ok, I get it now. Thanks, everyone, except Nik, who has started a new conspiracy involving an Arabian worm that eats my Kindle money. :(

No thanks needed, only hard cash. Unfortunately, 0.80$ leftover doesn't leave me much to feast upon

Nope. Worms will starve over here.

You should sell more books, man, both for worms and yourself with an almost perfect mark and some awesome reviews

The short story game is a tough one...

Didn't realize it was 28 pages..
The long story isn't that much of a difference

Bill wrote: "The short story game is a tough one..."

It is tough. I might have to sell one of my Lamborghinis in order to put in that extra Japanese garden in the villa over in Spain. I haven't been there yet, but one of these days I might visit.

But, seriously, you're right. Have you thought about writing some longer pieces? Novellas or a novel or two? This is in my plan.

I'm sure I will eventually; but as it stands, I tend to lose interest when nearing 10k words. It stops being fun and I lose sight of where I was going. I'm not one to add filler material so...I guess it is what it is, for now. I think of this story and the next two I'll be publishing shortly as a way to build my brand, not make money. I do hope to have a Japanese Lamborghini garden one day, though.

Bill wrote: " I do hope to have a Japanese Lamborghini garden one day, though..."

I guess if one could find the secret on how to grow miniature Lamborghinis, one would be rich. :P However, if you find how to grow any, mini or regular, please share with us. (Heck any car model will do!) :P

Sorry, I couldn't resist. When I read that I immediately saw rows of little cars grow (I say little because Japanese garden are always a mini version of the real ones), I immediately saw $ signs. ;)

What a view it would be!

(Sorry for the interruption!)

Bill wrote: "I'm sure I will eventually; but as it stands, I tend to lose interest when nearing 10k words. It stops being fun and I lose sight of where I was going. I'm not one to add filler material so...I gue..."

Hi, Bill. I agree; filler is not good. :) Here's another idea: some people publish "collections" of short stories... then you have a higher page count per title to offer readers. But whether you write ten 10-page stories or one 100-page novella, you've still produced the same total number of pages, and you have the same number of pages for readers to read (and therefore the same potential for income).

April

April wrote: Here's another idea: some people publish "collections" of short stories... then you have a higher page count per title to offer readers. But whether you write ten 10-page stories or one 100-page novella, you've still produced the same total number of pages, and you have the same number of pages for readers to read (and therefore the same potential for income).

Wonderful advice guys, especially with the changes to KU going the way they are. This seems like where Amazon wants to "Push" authors without really forcing them.

I think we all have great potential to drive Lamborghinis and fly private jets, but .... probably not from writing short or long stories. Does anyone feel the same?

Nik wrote: "I think we all have great potential to drive Lamborghinis and fly private jets, but .... probably not from writing short or long stories. Does anyone feel the same?"

I'm still hoping for my first million seller before I die :)

That's an American dream many of us share. I hope that you already have 990k sold and another 200 years to live-:)
But seriously, with 10 books out and probably some more on the way, you have good chances of doing it! V. W is Volkswagen, right? -:)

Bill wrote: "Does anyone know why my royalties on Amazon would be dropping? They were cut in half a few weeks ago, and now they've dropped maybe another $0.80."

I noticed it in small amounts. They do roll off eventually, by month I think. Have you checked your six weeks prior royalty report?