I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, because I get these questions a lot:
- Why isn’t X book available in Kindle Unlimited?
- Why isn’t X book available on Kobo/Barnes & Noble/Apple/etc.?
I wanted a place to send folks where I can explain. It’s hard to get all the points across in a response to someone’s Facebook comment. Especially since I always forget how to do the darned hard returns (SHIFT + ENTER, in case you also didn’t know or keep forgetting) there.
So, here’s the scoop:
Amazon requires authors to make their books EXCLUSIVE to their store in order for them to be enrolled in “KDP Select.”
Among other things, checking the KDP Select box puts your book into the Kindle Unlimited subscription program. For as long as it’s enrolled there, you are forbidden (yes, they enforce it) from selling the books on other stores or even your own website.
So, why do some authors go along with this?
As I write this in May of 2019, each borrow through Kindle Unlimited counts as a sale in regard to determining sales ranking and overall visibility in the Amazon Kindle store.
I’ll pause for a moment so you can debate whether that actually makes sense. When you’re a KU subscriber, you essentially get any books in the program for free with your subscription. Yes, you pay $10 a month for the service, but that money gets automatically sucked out of your account every month before you even notice. It feels like those books are free.
And yet Amazon weighs borrows the same as sales in determining sales rank.
And sales rank determines how visible your book is in the store, i.e. how many people (potential new readers) have a chance of seeing it when they’re browsing the Top 100 lists in their favorite genres.
Thus, it’s a clear benefit to authors to have their books in Kindle Unlimited. Putting aside how much they make from borrows of books (payment is on a per-page-read calculation and, for all but very long and very inexpensive books, is less than an author would make from a sale), the authors are more likely to have their books seen by readers in their target audience.
What may be less obvious is that it’s now a huge disadvantage on Amazon if you launch a new book and it’s NOT enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. You have to get let’s say 200 sales a day to rank in the Top 20 for your genre whereas the author who is enrolled can get 100 sales and 100 borrows, or no sales and all borrows, and achieve the same position–gain the same visibility.
If you’re curious, go take a look at those Top 100 lists and see how many books have that “Kindle Unlimited” tag on them. In the genres I write in, it’s almost all of them. All of the independent books. Sometimes there are some traditionally published juggernauts by authors we all know and buy. Those guys are big enough that they can overcome this disadvantage and still sell well on Amazon. Most indie authors struggle to do that.
It’s why you get situations like the one I find myself in.
I don’t WANT to be exclusive to Amazon, and I resisted that for a long time, but it became clear that I was releasing new books, and it was mostly only my regular readers picking them up. They promptly dropped off the genre lists because they couldn’t compete in sales with books that were being checked out (essentially) for free.
Yes, you can decide to just accept that you’ll only sell to your existing fans, but that’s tough for new authors without many fans yet. And even for those more established authors, there’s always attrition. Some readers won’t follow you into a new series or a new genre. Some readers just fade away with time. If you want to be a career author, you have to continuously work at getting new readers to try your books.
This is not to say that it’s hopeless and you can’t sell books if you’re “wide” in all the stores and not exclusive to Amazon. It’s to say that it’s easier to sell a lot more books on Amazon if you’re in Kindle Unlimited.
But, you may ask, don’t you lose out on a lot of sales by not being in the other stores?
In my case, I definitely lose some sales. Or at least delay them.
My current strategy is to launch new series into Amazon and then, once they’ve stopped selling as well, take them out of exclusivity and publish them in the other stores. To somewhat get around the fact that this means readers on other stores may not get the books for a year, I run a Patreon campaign where I release my books in mobi, epub, and pdf there first (before I launch on Amazon and click the exclusive box).
It’s not ideal, as most people would prefer to buy from their favorite store and have the books automatically appear on their devices, but it’s at least an option that sort of works for now. For those who are on my mailing list and know about it. The rest of the readers have to scratch their heads in puzzlement (or irritation) when they can’t find my new releases in their stores.
So, yes, even with workarounds, I lose out on some sales to readers on Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc., But I’ve always made at least 80% of my income from Amazon (sometimes that creeps closer to 90%). Amazon is the largest store by far and has the most potential book buyers by far. My numbers have been like that since the beginning (eight years now), even before Kindle Unlimited and KDP Select existed.
I don’t honestly know how long I’ll play the exclusivity game. As you can imagine, it’s tough seeing your income take a huge hit by opting out, but I may get fed up at some point and just make do. Even if that means making less money and getting my books into the hands of fewer readers.
My point with this post is not to bash Amazon (though I won’t try to hide my ongoing frustration with the exclusivity setup) but to explain the situation to readers.
If X book is not in Kindle Unlimited, it’s because the author wanted to sell their books in other stores, or because they wanted to be paid a 70% royalty rather than accepting a smaller cut from a subscription service. If X book is not available on your store, it’s because the author is staying exclusive to Amazon for now because they feel they have to for the sake of their career. Amazon moves more ebooks than all the other stores combined, and, for the most part, ebooks are how indie authors make money.
I hope you found the answer you were looking for here, even if it wasn’t a satisfying one. As always, thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for sharing this, Lindsay!
I was a KU subscriber for at least two years before I recently pulled the plug.
Sure, some months I read more than $10 worth of books (which makes it a great deal), but usually, I was consuming something more like $6-10 of content per month. So, in the end, not only was I losing as a customer but YOU the author had been losing on potential royalties.
I think the subscription programs are nice for voracious readers, and the exclusivity thing bothers me more than the lesser earnings from borrows (though I’m always pleased when a reader wants to buy my books!). I tend to see it like the library where you might get paid once for a book that’s checked out a lot of times.
Hi Lindsay. Thanks for the really clear explanation. I didn’t realize that KU borrows counted as a sale. No wonder so many books get released there. I need to keep this in mind if I ever manage to get my book out there.
You’re very welcome, Brian. Yes, it’s a quirky system. I’m not sure if Amazon intended to favor KU stuff so heavily or if they just didn’t want to bother creating another “store” for KU-specific stuff (the way they have free books on different lists than paid ones).
Thank you very much for this very clear explanation on why your books are delayed getting to Barnes and Nobles (and other stores) where I can purchase them for my Nook. I am a strong B&N supporter, and do all of my shopping there – yes, it’s a personal preference that limits me a bit apparently, but I like to support the ‘little’ stores more than the big all-encompassing juggernauts.
I have been a little annoyed in the past that I have had to delay my reading of your books like I have ones by other authors that come out in HARDcover first (where the ebook price is higher than when it is when the book finally comes out in paperback as well – I want to pay my authors, but not the hardcover prices for an ebook), however I see now thanks to your very clear blog post here, it is not (entirely) your fault…
again, thank you for explaining things, it makes it a lot more palatable to bear the wait for your excellent writing.
Lindsay, thanks for the explanation. I knew about the per-page payments but not about the “sale” credits. Speaking as a reader, I really prefer KU and other subscription services as it allows me to budget my reading expenses accurately (I’m retired and controlling expenses is important). Also, it gives me a chance to try new authors, and there’s no loss if it turns out to be a bomb. Yes, I know you can frequently get introductory books free or for 99 cents, but that makes maintaining my library a chore. Amazon does not make library maintenance easy, but they are better than Apple! Being limited to 10 books at a time forces some discipline into the process.
Thanks and please keep using KU!
Walt
Thanks for explaining all this – I admit I had no idea how it works. I’m not a KU subscriber, and think I’ll continue avoiding that.
I figure, you have to do what’s best for you!
Thank you for reading, Anna!
This made for very interesting reading (would have been better with a dragon though!). For me, your Patreon Campaign has been the way to go. Early access to your books plus I can download them into my Kobo app (I do have the Kindle app, just because).
Thanks for posting!
I think your current release strategy is excellent. I’m planning to go wide eventually, but for now KU provides over half my revenue. I also think that Amazon exclusivity is the best choice for new authors because it is simpler and has an effective ad platform.
Thanks for sharing Lindsay. I have done my research into Kindle Unlimited before and was aware of the way KU locks in authors and also how some authors game the system.
I completely understand the financial reasons you are choosing to list your books with KU, but I have to admit, from my own extremely limited POV, it saddens me. I refuse to at this point move to kindle. I hate Amazon for its strong arm tactics across the board and try to do as little business with them as I can.
I have enjoyed your books and will continue to wait until they become available at my preferred ebook site. I have purchased books for years through a single vendor in order to keep my library consolidated.
You’re far from the only author I read that participated in KU. Though I’m not trying to tell tales out of school, I know several that will provide an ePub if proof is shown of purchase at Amazon.
Regardless, I support any author doing what they need to to make a living with their words. I enjoy your stories very much and will wait patiently for them to arrive.
Thanks again for the post and good luck with all current and future books!
Thanks, Gary. It’s why I do the Patreon option. I’d rather have folks pay them (and I even get a larger cut!) than make them buy something on Amazon. It’s not perfect, but I live in hope that Amazon will drop the exclusivity thing some day. 🙂
Hey Lindsay,
Great post as usual. I have been wondering when you were going to post another ebook publishing related piece. As usual, your summary of the situation is more succinct and honest than most of the writing out there on this subject. I appreciate that you’re never trying to sell me anything with these pieces.
Good luck,
Mollie Player
Thx for this, Lindsay.
I just tried Kindle Select for the first time and was surprised by how invisible my new book remained on Amazon. It wasn’t listed under new releases and didn’t appear in ANY topic-related searches, even though the book’s subject is IN the title. I had expected Select to help with visibility. Silly me? The single way to find this book on Amazon was to type in the entire title AND subtitle (9 words).
With my 4 previous books, I’ve always gone and stayed wide. Fortunately, I always do paperbacks, too, which offer a little more weight, and my new book became slightly more visible on Amazon with the paperback added (permitted in the Kindle Select agreement, thankfully). But I remain baffled by any advantages of Kindle Select…I must’ve missed a cue somewhere. Does Amazon just want me to bring in my own list to spend money there? If so, I’d rather take my gang to a store that actually lists my product for sale!
Select isn’t a cure-all for visibility and sales. You still need to be selling a certain number of books on your own to get the ball rolling. The things that appear on the “new releases” lists in the genre categories are there because of their sales ranking.
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Thanks for enlightenment of the process. I had no idea why Amazon was taking over the ebooks. I want authors to be successful so they can continue writing.
I regularly check B&N for fav authors so I’ll be patient and hope and wait. Your books are worth the wait.
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Thanks for the article. I do understand the benefits of both options for the author. However, as a KU reader, my biggest pet peeve is when the first book(s) of a series are available on KU, but the rest aren’t. It just feels slimy. I will gladly pay for every book in a favorite series that is entirely unavailable on KU (I just did this actually, paying $10 a pop for each of a 14 book series), but to get sucked in to a good KU series just to find out it’s only PARTIALLY available there feels like a bait and switch tactic that I really do not appreciate. I understand authors do this trying to win new readers, and it must work or authors wouldn’t do it. But personally, I think it’s gross. I’ll often drop an author completely when this occurs. The funny thing is, everyone I’ve talked to about it feels the same way. Who are all the readers authors are winning by using this tactic?
I don’t actually know anyone who does that. You’re right that it’s not a good choice. Sometimes, if an author has chosen to take a series out of KU, the contracts for the individual titles will end on different days, and you can end up with some in and some out, but that’s more Amazon than the author. Honestly, Amazon brings this on themselves by requiring exclusivity. Almost all authors would just be in it with everything if they didn’t.