Comments on: What does Kindle Unlimited mean for authors?

By: Attention book lovers: Read at least 10% of your Kindle Unlimited books - Build Book Buzz

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:57:30 +0000

[…] who love to read are excited about Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s new service that lets book lovers pay $9.99 per month to borrow up to 10 e-books […]

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 01:16:07 +0000

Christine, another thing to note here is that most big publishers aren’t in the KDP Select program, so their books aren’t included in this new lending library.

I don’t have the answers to your questions, but it will be interesting to see how the indie KDP Select authors do now that they’re in Kindle Unlimited, whether they like it or not. (That’s another odd element — you can’t opt in or out.)

Sandy

By: chris tripp

chris tripp — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 13:54:43 +0000

>In addition, before an author makes any money, the borrower must read at least 10% of the borrowed book<

Sandra, how odd that this would matter at all, so long as Amazon is getting their payment.
I know my Library system allows for the borrowing of downloaded ebooks and like you say, yay, it's free (already you've paid for it in tax dollars so USE it:)
Tumblebooks licenses children's ebooks to Libraries and all Authors and Illustrators share in the pool of money TB's receives for this licensing which is more advantageous to the lesser known folks (such as myself) then the known ones, in that the pie is shared. In essence, I'm getting my share of the royalties via the hard work of the most popular Children's book Authors and Illustrators of today and yesteryear!
This Amazon/Kindle will hopefully not hurt too badly the Publishers and the trade published Authors and Illustrators, because royalties are coming from elsewhere as well but for indie publishers, will this turn of events end up being their only form of royalty and a very small one at that? It doesn't sound good from what I've read about it so far.
What percentage of the almost $10 is Amazon going to put into the pool for the creators of the content?

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 01:10:02 +0000

In reply to John Holt. John, authors will get a percentage of a pool of money. From what I can tell, nobody knows quite yet how much that will be per book. In addition, before an author makes any money, the borrower must read at least 10% of the borrowed book. Sandy

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 01:07:20 +0000

In reply to J.P. Grider.

J.P., many libraries actually will carry indie books. (See more here: http://bit.ly/1m3NCJF.)

When you read an indie book, is it usually printed or an e-book?

Sandy

By: J.P. Grider

J.P. Grider — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 15:41:12 +0000

In reply to Erin Sinclair. The only problem with the public library is they don't want to carry indie author books, just like Barnes and Noble doesn't. Even my own town library doesn't support me. I love libraries too, but I would be missing out on a whole plethora of indie published authors if I just borrowed books from them.

By: John Holt

John Holt — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 15:00:15 +0000

Amazon Prime has allowed individual ebook to be borrowed, for quite some time now. Each time an ebook is borrowed the author gets a payment of about $2, which is many cases is more than the royalty they would result had the ebook been purchased. This new item is only an extension of that idea, although, of course, amazon will reap the $9-99 per month. What the author will get I don’t know. I can’t imagine that it will have a major impact on an Indie author, but we shall see. One thing though $9-99 does seem expensive to me, although Scribd, which offers a similar service is $8-99. I have three novels on Scribd. To date I haven’t earned a penny.

By: Erin Sinclair

Erin Sinclair — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 23:29:45 +0000

In reply to Sandra Beckwith. Same here, Sandy and the employees are so helpful and knowledgeable! Erin

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:05:12 +0000

In reply to Erin Sinclair. I love libraries and their services, too, Erin. My town's library is also something of a community social hub, which is nice. Sandy

By: Erin Sinclair

Erin Sinclair — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 21:06:39 +0000

I prefer free libraries. I wish people would stop underestimating the value of their town or city’s public library system. Amazon is a corporate giant and found a way to make money from what is and has been a free system. To each their own, but I’ll stick with my local public library which is free if I wish to check out a book.