Comments on: Amazon changes Kindle Unlimited payment policy

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 16:24:44 +0000

Thanks for weighing in, Barbara. It’s unfortunate that authors you know are making less with this model. Amazon is in business to make money, so it makes sense that the formula works in Amazon’s favor if, in fact, it does. The good news is that authors who don’t like this new approach have an option: They can opt out of KDP Select, which removes them from the lending program. There’s that, at least!

Sandy

By: Barbara Billig

Barbara Billig — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 15:10:11 +0000

It is an established fact that 60% to 90% of sales are impulse buys. So the author is being deprived immediately of a large volume of sales that have been turned into lending and hoping the borrowers get around to reading the book. Payment is made on some unknown formula(money contributed into a fund?) that is obviously to Amazon’s benefit. The delays on the payments are at least 90 days (or more?) after. The authors I communicate with say their income is down and I have to agree. They also say they have raised the price on their books. While Amazon is a publishing opportunity it remains to be seen whether Kindle Unlimited enrollment is beneficial or not. I have one novel that is currently selling well and being read thru Kindle Unlimited – but I have no idea how much I am going to be paid for those reads. It bothers me to sell my work for an unknown price.

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 20:48:28 +0000

In reply to Katje.

Well put, Katje. That’s an interesting point about serial titles pushing others down the list — totally makes sense and has to be frustrating! Thanks for weighing in.

Sandy

By: Katje

Katje — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 08:17:27 +0000

As a reader, I’m going to hope that this will get rid of the endless serials that are currently glutting the market. Having to wade through ten pages of serial titles just to find one or two long novels will hopefully be a thing of the past.

As a writer, I hope the same thing. It’s really hard to maintain new title visibility when serial titles can push your title down to the second or third page within hours if not a day or two.

As for the fairness, assuming (big assume, granted) that the payout per page read is fair, I don’t know why so many people are screaming about the fact that Amazon is paying for page read. If what an author wrote isn’t useful or interesting enough to keep the reader engaged, why should the author be paid disproportionately for the borrow? This is actually better for most authors, because rather than getting the same $1.50 (random ass number) for a 100k novel as a 10k story, they get paid for the work done in a fairer fashion.

As someone who writes both shorts and novels, the novels take way more time, effort, and planning. The amount of investment is simply different and it is only fair it should be rewarded as such.

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 01:30:55 +0000

Dorothy, they’re ahead of you. If you click through on the Amazon link above, you’ll find this explanation: [To determine a book’s page count in a way that works across genres and devices, we’ve developed the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC). We calculate KENPC based on standard settings (e.g. font, line height, line spacing, etc.), and we’ll use KENPC to measure the number of pages customers read in your book, starting with the Start Reading Location (SRL) to the end of your book. Amazon typically sets SRL at chapter 1 so readers can start reading the core content of your book as soon as they open it. ]

Sandy

By: Dorothy May Mercer

Dorothy May Mercer — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 01:08:40 +0000

The stats show that the average novel has become much shorter in recent years. I wonder how this will affect the way we write and publish. For example padding our pages to add to the length. Also, I wonder just how Amazon counts pages in E-book format. There are no pages, as such, but just one long continuous page. What happens if I double space everything and add a “page break” after each paragraph or two? Perhaps Amazon hasn’t thought this through.

By: Peggy Dabney

Peggy Dabney — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 14:18:47 +0000

In reply to Sandra Beckwith. I never thought of it like that. I like your positive attitude! :D

By: Sandra Beckwith

Sandra Beckwith — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 20:24:39 +0000

In reply to Julia Dutta. Makes sense, Julia. Sandy

By: Julia Dutta

Julia Dutta — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 18:39:22 +0000

I would say, lets wait and watch and follow the discussion with Amazon. Finally, they are reader conscious as much as author focussed. In case they fail the author, there are other platforms we can chose to belong to, but as of now, I can’t see anything that surpasses Amazon.com KDP. It is a wait and watch for me.

By: Diana Schneidman

Diana Schneidman — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 19:59:50 +0000

In reply to Sandra Beckwith.

If all the books in a series are borrowed and read, the author probably comes out ahead or at least even.

However, if the book is divided into smaller “books,” the reader has to go to amazon and borrow each “book” separately.

Writers will find that more pages are read if it is presented as a single book so that readers maintain momentum and keep reading without having to stop to access the next book and consciously make a decision to keep reading.

-d