I went wide years about 3 years ago and it's the best decision I've made. Readers there are more likely to pay full price for books. Often my wide income now beats that from Amazon.
Bah. Yes. You get some authors who are indomitable writing word-count machines. Literally millions of words a year, even without AI agents. I suppose KU would suit them fine. The rest of us aren't so well-situated. Besides, even KU is its own narrow silo. One hell of a big silo, but a silo nonetheless.
You are both right, it depends on genre (my post-apoc readers buy a lot of paperbacks, my LitRPG lives entirely in KU). Maybe I wasn't clear in the article - not everyone should immediately run away from KU - it's quite nice golden cage :)
Yeah, this is probably the only reason to put the first book in KU. Not forever though - KU exclusivity stops you from going wide. Even including that first book in a bundle sold elsewhere is risky.
Well, there's one aspect you're not mentioning. When you get a new reader to look at your book, a price of $2.99 may scare them off, where just reading the book on KU costs nothing. They get the book for free and you get half a cent per page.
Agreed. Which is why some big and major traditional publishing houses use it to rank low sellers (push them up the chart -ie BSR) however some also have an arrangement with Amazon so they can go wide--their books are in KU and wide at the same time. They tend to do this in quarter 4, or if a series is really selling low. Or for indies who have "distribution only" deals with major traditional publishers. I still like KU.
I went wide years about 3 years ago and it's the best decision I've made. Readers there are more likely to pay full price for books. Often my wide income now beats that from Amazon.
Thanks for sharing this deep dive into KDP Select and KU, Marcin. Really helpful.
Great info to consider. The more I research, the more I lean towards going wide.
Bah. Yes. You get some authors who are indomitable writing word-count machines. Literally millions of words a year, even without AI agents. I suppose KU would suit them fine. The rest of us aren't so well-situated. Besides, even KU is its own narrow silo. One hell of a big silo, but a silo nonetheless.
This is interesting. What about genres like cozy mystery, where the readership is older and looking for bargains? Those readers seem to all be in KU.
Same here. My historical romance readers are overwhelmingly in KU. It's about 70% of my royalties. I think this advice varies by niche.
You are both right, it depends on genre (my post-apoc readers buy a lot of paperbacks, my LitRPG lives entirely in KU). Maybe I wasn't clear in the article - not everyone should immediately run away from KU - it's quite nice golden cage :)
Everything Amazon does is rigged for their own profit.
I haven't done KU since my first book. Each additional book is not KU, and is sold wide. I put in on Amazon and Ingram. That way it goes everywhere.
If the goal is to gain a readership for the first book, even if the profit isn't optimal, do you think KU a good tool?
Yeah, this is probably the only reason to put the first book in KU. Not forever though - KU exclusivity stops you from going wide. Even including that first book in a bundle sold elsewhere is risky.
That was my plan. And yes, I'm not even posting the first chapter online. That way, I can maintain the exclusivity while I use KU.
FWIW, it's okay to share up to 10% of the book online if you're KDP Select. If you want to, that is. https://reedsy.com/blog/guide/kdp/kdp-select/
Thank you so much!! This is great to know. Will hopefully help me when it's time to promote.
Cool.
Wondered that myself. thanks for asking.
Well, there's one aspect you're not mentioning. When you get a new reader to look at your book, a price of $2.99 may scare them off, where just reading the book on KU costs nothing. They get the book for free and you get half a cent per page.
Is there an Indie version of something like KU? Besides the Library system, of course... ;) Maybe that is my own answer, eh?
Thanks for the tutorial.
Agreed. Which is why some big and major traditional publishing houses use it to rank low sellers (push them up the chart -ie BSR) however some also have an arrangement with Amazon so they can go wide--their books are in KU and wide at the same time. They tend to do this in quarter 4, or if a series is really selling low. Or for indies who have "distribution only" deals with major traditional publishers. I still like KU.