Taking control of your eBook business
Taking control of your eBook business is a scary idea, but it is one that I am willing to undertake. Don’t get me wrong, Amazon has helped and will continue to help me find new readers, but their cut is killing my wallet. If you enter your book into Kindle Select, it is available in Kindle Unlimited for free to Amazon customers who purchase the reading plan. Using that plan prohibits you from selling your eBook anywhere else, including your own website for a minimum of ninety days. It will automatically renew unless you change the settings before the end of the exclusive period.
Amazon lures you into this deal with the promise that if your book gets into the top 100 of all books sold on Amazon.com and Amazon.uk, and Amazon.de, you will receive bonus royalties in large amounts depending on your rank on Amazon. There are two ways to get bonuses if you have an author profile and have claimed your books in Author Central. The Global Select fund is the money earned from memberships to Kindle Unlimited. That money is used to pay the All-Star bonuses by marketplace. To be eligible, your book has to be enrolled in KDP Select.
Many self-published authors do not achieve the kind of sales that it takes to reach the top 100 of all books sold on Amazon. The closest I’ve come in four and half years is a book title rank in the 600’s. I am a good writer and I’m improving constantly. Maybe Amazon’s exclusive deal is the right deal for me. I’m starting to make my books available directly on my site (www.creativekrs.com/direct-discount-book-store). These titles will be available in Mobi format to work with Kindle apps and devices. Support any author who has determined that selling direct may be a better way to earn their living. Buy direct from that author that you love if that offers that option.
