Gayla, once again you’ve explained something for me that I’ve always wondered about. I have KU because we subscribed by accident and now we’ve found a few older books by authors we like to read so we’ve kept it. I really didn’t know how it worked though. And I didn’t know about the magazines. Thanks
I'm glad the newsletter was helpful. I really like it because I can also get the audiobook on many of the books I want to read. That allows me to read while I'm at home and then listen while I'm out and everything sync's back the next time I open my kindle.
KU definitely has more variety and quality now than it used to. There's one drawback, though, in that Amazon does not compensate authors fairly because they pay per number of pages read (not per book), and the rate per page is ridiculously low. Just something to be aware of from the creator side: it benefits an author much, much more if you buy their work elsewhere.
Lisa, thank you for taking the time to comment and I appreciate that you are here and that you feel you can comment honestly.
There was much more I could have said about KU, but I didn't want to make the newsletter that long. Yes, there was and may even still continue to be a big "bru-ha-ha" over how authors are paid, as they are paid by pages read at some partial cent per page. And unless it's changed, I believe this rate fluctuates every month based on some formula known only to Amazon. And then there were unscrupulous e-book creators (I didn't want to say authors as I don't consider these people authors, they are scammers) that would make huge e-books with nonsense data in it to extend the "pages read" and that just hurts all the authors trying to make a living. I don't know if KU has put a stop to this or not, but this was one of the biggest sore points a few years back. I'm not following KU from the authors side closely anymore, so hopefully, safeguards have been put in place to keep the fraud from continuing and it has become a better place to be for an author, at least from that perspective.
I can see that you are coming at this from an authors perspective and I appreciate that. In my newsletter I was definitely writing from a readers perspective, and I believe there are more "pros" for the reader and more "cons" for the author overall. I'd like to ask you a question as your perspective is different than mine and I don't know any authors that I could ask. And, I do agree with your statement that the author makes more money when they sell a book versus receiving the proceeds from KU.
That being said, if KU is bad for an author money wise and they could make more money selling books both on Amazon and elsewhere, as I believe you have to be exclusive to Amazon to be in KU, why do authors participate in KU? It seems like a choice they are making knowingly, am I wrong? I know if you are published by one of the Amazon imprints, the author likely doesn't have a choice on KU or not, but again, they know this going in. I'd really like to understand why authors participate in KU if they don't make any money or don't make what they believe they should be making, and could be making more not participating in KU. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Feel free to message me privately if you would like. Thanks again.
Gayla, please know I thought this was a great, informative article! My comment was also offered from a reader's perspective, aimed at those who may want to go the extra mile to support the authors they read through the choice of where they get their books. :) Still, there are valid reasons for readers to choose KU. Though I personally do advocate for Amazon alternatives, I by no means boycott them myself. They have a place in the ecosystem, for sure! :)
You're right that I do work with authors and have published myself, so I do hold that perspective as well, but I'm not an expert on self-publishing or KU by any means. From what I know, KU does benefit the BIG names, and especially the Action/Adventure, Mystery/Suspense & Romance genres you mention. Bestsellers will do well on any platform because of the writers' reputations and the fact that many are page-turners: we gobble those up, so they'll get paid for every page! LOL
My sense is that mid-list, literary and other genre/niche authors don't fare so well on KU. Readers might download their books but never open them (just like our physical book piles grow but we don't get to them all), or start a book but then switch to something more mainstream (for any number of reasons). I would guess that authors like these who are on the platform are following advice that it might help them expand their audience, even if they don't earn great amounts in royalties.
With self-published authors, honestly there aren't a lot of distribution channels open to them so they have to take what they can get. (Sadly, it's this aspect where I find Amazon takes advantage...) Sometimes, for new authors, it can be a lack of understanding of the realities until they go through the process and earn essentially nothing. (I know authors where this has been the case, after investing a lot in their books.) Other times it can be the ever-present belief an author's book will reach a huge number of people on KU (which it has the power to do), catch readers' imaginations, and exceed all expectations. That happens, of course; it's just a fraction of a percentage of the time.
I've also heard what you mention about some stuffing their books just to get more pages read. It's a shame, for readers of course and also how that then influences the way Amazon (or others) might structure things.
Thanks for indulging the conversation, Gayla! It's wonderful to be among those who love books and offer info and insights to readers, the way you do.
You make many good points, thanks for continuing this conversation.
I am not anti-Amazon for many/most things and since I'm primarily an e-reader, I do use Amazon for any e-reads that I purchase. However, when I want a physical copy of a book I always start with independent bookstores. Yes, their prices are higher than Amazon most of the time, but that is a trade-off that I'm willing to make to support them. I am not currently doing any monthly subscription boxes for many different reasons, but I've supported several independent bookstores in the past by subscribing to their offerings. For me, there is a place for both in my ecosystem, as you said above.
I've followed one self-published author for several years and she has had phenomenal success with self-publishing. I realize she is the exception to the rule, but I also know enough about her journey to know that she worked really, really hard to get to where she is. She didn't let "no" stop her at any point in her journey, she just found another way of doing things. She has a wonderful team that she put together that helps her tremendously in the success she has achieved. She has had traditional publishing deals, she been in KU with different books for different reasons, and at the end of the day, she remains a self-published author by choice. She's in the romance and suspense categories and like you said above, those genres do exceptionally well in KU.
I agree that most self-published authors are without many or good distribution channels and that is unfortunate, but that is also where Amazon fills a need; anyone can self-publish on Amazon through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and that is both good and bad and the topic of another conversation for another day. lol
I'd like to see more authors, (big name or not) put more of their backlist books in KU, but that's my wish and it may not make financial sense for them as I'm not able to see their stats. I've discovered many authors when they do this and then I go on to buy their books that aren't in KU. I'm sure that there are so many other factors that need to be considered about where an author puts their book up for sale, these are just my wishes as a reader.
Thanks for being here for this discussion and supporting our little bookish community on Substack. I've got an idea; I'd like to message you privately, would that be o.k.? I'm swamped at work, but if you don't mind, I'll contact you this weekend. Thanks again.
You make a great point about authors making their backlists available on KU to help lead to other sales. Again, just guessing here, but Amazon has some/many practices that don't favor publishers/authors, so that may be why they choose not to be there.
It should (could?) be a much more harmonious system that ultimately gets as many great books into readers' hands as possible, and thereby benefit authors, publishers and sellers fairly, but as with so much in this world that's sadly just not the case. :(
Self-publishing can definitely be the way to go for many writers. Like anything, there are pros and cons to every choice and tons of factors involved to succeed -- including gaining experience and incredibly hard work, as you so rightly note. It's wonderful and inspiring to hear the stories of those who do beat the odds!
Reach out privately anytime, Gayla. Have a lovely rest of the week.
I had KU when it first started as well. Like you mentioned, there weren't a lot of known authors available at that time but I did find some good reads regardless. At that time, I was still working and had a hard enough time reading the purchased books I had let alone all those available in the KU, so I cancelled. I also forgot about the magazines, which I do enjoy reading. I may pick it up again. Thanks for the reminder.
Also, the discussion you had with Lisa below (reader and author perspectives) was very interesting. I enjoyed seeing both sides of the story.
I think KU has a lot of good things to offer, but because it's Amazon, there are many bad things too. The quality of the magazines has also gotten better in the last couple of years. I cancelled several print/digital magazines and I read the ones that I'm interested in through KU. I have noticed that I don't read as many anymore, but maybe that is a good thing as that leave more time for reading books.
I've had KU for a few months at a time over the years but never used it that much. I did read many of the Prime First monthly reads. I like how you can save them in your kindle library forever before having to read them. Taking a break from Prime and it's actually one of the things I miss the most about it. I've just recently tried the Comixology unlimited $5.99 membership but have yet to read anything yet. I think I just need a full time reading job haha!
I agree, we all need a full time reading job; Imagine how fun life would be. I'm not into comics etc, but that sounds like a great deal for someone that is. Most subscriptions, be it books, streaming services, etc. all have their place in time. The key is to subscribe to the ones that you use to get your money's worth.
I think it's the greatest thing ever. I've been a KU subscriber for about 2 years and I probably read 5 books a week. My genre is Psychological thrillers and the free choices are amazing. I have discovered so many new writers. Yes, I love my Kindle!
Gayla, once again you’ve explained something for me that I’ve always wondered about. I have KU because we subscribed by accident and now we’ve found a few older books by authors we like to read so we’ve kept it. I really didn’t know how it worked though. And I didn’t know about the magazines. Thanks
I'm glad the newsletter was helpful. I really like it because I can also get the audiobook on many of the books I want to read. That allows me to read while I'm at home and then listen while I'm out and everything sync's back the next time I open my kindle.
I didn't know much about KU either. Now I do, thanks to you. I'll probably give it a try later this summer! Thanks, Gayla.
It's worth giving the free trial a run and see what you find that you might like to read.
KU definitely has more variety and quality now than it used to. There's one drawback, though, in that Amazon does not compensate authors fairly because they pay per number of pages read (not per book), and the rate per page is ridiculously low. Just something to be aware of from the creator side: it benefits an author much, much more if you buy their work elsewhere.
Lisa, thank you for taking the time to comment and I appreciate that you are here and that you feel you can comment honestly.
There was much more I could have said about KU, but I didn't want to make the newsletter that long. Yes, there was and may even still continue to be a big "bru-ha-ha" over how authors are paid, as they are paid by pages read at some partial cent per page. And unless it's changed, I believe this rate fluctuates every month based on some formula known only to Amazon. And then there were unscrupulous e-book creators (I didn't want to say authors as I don't consider these people authors, they are scammers) that would make huge e-books with nonsense data in it to extend the "pages read" and that just hurts all the authors trying to make a living. I don't know if KU has put a stop to this or not, but this was one of the biggest sore points a few years back. I'm not following KU from the authors side closely anymore, so hopefully, safeguards have been put in place to keep the fraud from continuing and it has become a better place to be for an author, at least from that perspective.
I can see that you are coming at this from an authors perspective and I appreciate that. In my newsletter I was definitely writing from a readers perspective, and I believe there are more "pros" for the reader and more "cons" for the author overall. I'd like to ask you a question as your perspective is different than mine and I don't know any authors that I could ask. And, I do agree with your statement that the author makes more money when they sell a book versus receiving the proceeds from KU.
That being said, if KU is bad for an author money wise and they could make more money selling books both on Amazon and elsewhere, as I believe you have to be exclusive to Amazon to be in KU, why do authors participate in KU? It seems like a choice they are making knowingly, am I wrong? I know if you are published by one of the Amazon imprints, the author likely doesn't have a choice on KU or not, but again, they know this going in. I'd really like to understand why authors participate in KU if they don't make any money or don't make what they believe they should be making, and could be making more not participating in KU. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Feel free to message me privately if you would like. Thanks again.
Gayla, please know I thought this was a great, informative article! My comment was also offered from a reader's perspective, aimed at those who may want to go the extra mile to support the authors they read through the choice of where they get their books. :) Still, there are valid reasons for readers to choose KU. Though I personally do advocate for Amazon alternatives, I by no means boycott them myself. They have a place in the ecosystem, for sure! :)
You're right that I do work with authors and have published myself, so I do hold that perspective as well, but I'm not an expert on self-publishing or KU by any means. From what I know, KU does benefit the BIG names, and especially the Action/Adventure, Mystery/Suspense & Romance genres you mention. Bestsellers will do well on any platform because of the writers' reputations and the fact that many are page-turners: we gobble those up, so they'll get paid for every page! LOL
My sense is that mid-list, literary and other genre/niche authors don't fare so well on KU. Readers might download their books but never open them (just like our physical book piles grow but we don't get to them all), or start a book but then switch to something more mainstream (for any number of reasons). I would guess that authors like these who are on the platform are following advice that it might help them expand their audience, even if they don't earn great amounts in royalties.
With self-published authors, honestly there aren't a lot of distribution channels open to them so they have to take what they can get. (Sadly, it's this aspect where I find Amazon takes advantage...) Sometimes, for new authors, it can be a lack of understanding of the realities until they go through the process and earn essentially nothing. (I know authors where this has been the case, after investing a lot in their books.) Other times it can be the ever-present belief an author's book will reach a huge number of people on KU (which it has the power to do), catch readers' imaginations, and exceed all expectations. That happens, of course; it's just a fraction of a percentage of the time.
I've also heard what you mention about some stuffing their books just to get more pages read. It's a shame, for readers of course and also how that then influences the way Amazon (or others) might structure things.
Thanks for indulging the conversation, Gayla! It's wonderful to be among those who love books and offer info and insights to readers, the way you do.
You make many good points, thanks for continuing this conversation.
I am not anti-Amazon for many/most things and since I'm primarily an e-reader, I do use Amazon for any e-reads that I purchase. However, when I want a physical copy of a book I always start with independent bookstores. Yes, their prices are higher than Amazon most of the time, but that is a trade-off that I'm willing to make to support them. I am not currently doing any monthly subscription boxes for many different reasons, but I've supported several independent bookstores in the past by subscribing to their offerings. For me, there is a place for both in my ecosystem, as you said above.
I've followed one self-published author for several years and she has had phenomenal success with self-publishing. I realize she is the exception to the rule, but I also know enough about her journey to know that she worked really, really hard to get to where she is. She didn't let "no" stop her at any point in her journey, she just found another way of doing things. She has a wonderful team that she put together that helps her tremendously in the success she has achieved. She has had traditional publishing deals, she been in KU with different books for different reasons, and at the end of the day, she remains a self-published author by choice. She's in the romance and suspense categories and like you said above, those genres do exceptionally well in KU.
I agree that most self-published authors are without many or good distribution channels and that is unfortunate, but that is also where Amazon fills a need; anyone can self-publish on Amazon through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and that is both good and bad and the topic of another conversation for another day. lol
I'd like to see more authors, (big name or not) put more of their backlist books in KU, but that's my wish and it may not make financial sense for them as I'm not able to see their stats. I've discovered many authors when they do this and then I go on to buy their books that aren't in KU. I'm sure that there are so many other factors that need to be considered about where an author puts their book up for sale, these are just my wishes as a reader.
Thanks for being here for this discussion and supporting our little bookish community on Substack. I've got an idea; I'd like to message you privately, would that be o.k.? I'm swamped at work, but if you don't mind, I'll contact you this weekend. Thanks again.
You make a great point about authors making their backlists available on KU to help lead to other sales. Again, just guessing here, but Amazon has some/many practices that don't favor publishers/authors, so that may be why they choose not to be there.
It should (could?) be a much more harmonious system that ultimately gets as many great books into readers' hands as possible, and thereby benefit authors, publishers and sellers fairly, but as with so much in this world that's sadly just not the case. :(
Self-publishing can definitely be the way to go for many writers. Like anything, there are pros and cons to every choice and tons of factors involved to succeed -- including gaining experience and incredibly hard work, as you so rightly note. It's wonderful and inspiring to hear the stories of those who do beat the odds!
Reach out privately anytime, Gayla. Have a lovely rest of the week.
I had KU when it first started as well. Like you mentioned, there weren't a lot of known authors available at that time but I did find some good reads regardless. At that time, I was still working and had a hard enough time reading the purchased books I had let alone all those available in the KU, so I cancelled. I also forgot about the magazines, which I do enjoy reading. I may pick it up again. Thanks for the reminder.
Also, the discussion you had with Lisa below (reader and author perspectives) was very interesting. I enjoyed seeing both sides of the story.
As always, thanks for sharing.
I think KU has a lot of good things to offer, but because it's Amazon, there are many bad things too. The quality of the magazines has also gotten better in the last couple of years. I cancelled several print/digital magazines and I read the ones that I'm interested in through KU. I have noticed that I don't read as many anymore, but maybe that is a good thing as that leave more time for reading books.
I've had KU for a few months at a time over the years but never used it that much. I did read many of the Prime First monthly reads. I like how you can save them in your kindle library forever before having to read them. Taking a break from Prime and it's actually one of the things I miss the most about it. I've just recently tried the Comixology unlimited $5.99 membership but have yet to read anything yet. I think I just need a full time reading job haha!
I agree, we all need a full time reading job; Imagine how fun life would be. I'm not into comics etc, but that sounds like a great deal for someone that is. Most subscriptions, be it books, streaming services, etc. all have their place in time. The key is to subscribe to the ones that you use to get your money's worth.
As I already feel overwhelmed and stressed with the reading I don't have time for, I avoid KU at all costs! 😂
Oh no, don't let what you don't have time to read stress you out; enjoy what you do have time to read and feel good about it.
Working on it!
I think it's the greatest thing ever. I've been a KU subscriber for about 2 years and I probably read 5 books a week. My genre is Psychological thrillers and the free choices are amazing. I have discovered so many new writers. Yes, I love my Kindle!
I love KU when I want to binge read an author or a specific subject. I love psych thrillers, I'll have to check those out.
Here is a link to get KU at a discounted rate by sending yourself a gift subscription:
https://amzn.to/47fnh6X
I've used this the last few times that I've renewed my subscription to KU.
Also subscribed to your newsletter. :)
Thanks for reading!