(Photo credit: Fréderic)
There has been a bit of chatter among authors surrounding Amazon’s new Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which allows Amazon Prime members to borrow up to one book a month for free with no due dates. Much of the controversy revolves around whether authors working with established publishers are likely to see fair compensation when someone borrows their books through the program.
While that matter may take some time to sort out as contracts are analyzed and reinterpreted, indie authors are faced with a more direct issue: should they voluntarily join the library under a new Amazon program called KDP Select, whereby the company has set aside a $6 million annual fund (for 2012) dedicated to paying indie authors and publishers for each book that’s borrowed?
Here’s how KDP Select works. Each month (including December 2011) Amazon will set aside a monthly fund of $500,000. Authors and publishers can enroll any number of books in the program and, for each book, receive a monthly royalty payment based on each book’s share of the total number of borrows of all participating KDP books in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
For example, if your participating book is borrowed 500 times during a calendar month, and the total number of KDP Select books borrowed during that time is 100,000, you would receive $2500 in royalties, in addition to any regular income based on sales.
The catch? Amazon requires that you make your KDP Select books exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days (which is automatically renewed until you leave the program). To sweeten the deal, Amazon is promising access to new promotional tools, though it’s not clear at this stage what that includes.
Evaluating KDP Select
At first glance, KDP Select seems like an interesting idea. Following the introduction of the Kindle Fire, Amazon has refocused on a decidedly content-centric approach as a way to both position and differentiate its hardware (principally its Android-based tablet) against more feature-rich devices (Amazon is looking at you, Apple).
The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is part of that content-centric program, enabling Amazon Prime subscribers to gain access to a large library of books in addition to instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows. With such an active push, it seems to make sense for authors to jump on board the Amazon locomotive.
And, indeed, a number have. Amazon announced that 31 of its top 50 KDP authors including J. Carson Black, Gemma Halliday, J.A. Konrath, and B.V. Larson, among others, have already enrolled 129 titles. While every indie author needs to evaluate KDP Select for themselves, several of the authors went on the record as part of the announcement to endorse the new program. Here’s a sampling.
The #1 best-selling Kindle author of Borrowed Time, C.J. Lyons said:
“I’m thrilled to be offering my eBooks to Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library through KDP Select. I look forward to reaching new readers who enjoy my style of Thrillers with Heart.”
Patricia Ryan, best-selling historical mystery and romance writer, added:
“I chose to participate in KDP Select because it’s an innovative way to get my eBooks in the hands of readers who are new to my work. If they like what they read, they’ll most likely put me on their to-buy list, and maybe even recommend me to their friends.”
J.A. Konrath, author of the best-selling Jack Daniels mystery series, noted:
“KDP Select and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library are a boon to readers and authors. Reading eBooks for free? Sign me up!”
And finally, Paul Levine, best-selling mystery and thriller writer, offered:
“KDP Select is the best way I know to bring my Jake Lassiter series to a new generation of readers through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.”
Quite an endorsement to be sure, but it’s not at all clear that all authors will benefit equally. Unknown authors stand to gain the most as free access encourages downloads while, at the same time, offering at least some compensation to authors.
For more established authors, especially ones with an existing reader base, participating broadly in KDP Select might actually reduce revenue if a sizable portion of readers decide to read new titles for free instead of purchasing. In fact, in the near future, buying books might be less an imperative than it is today. As people become more comfortable with ebooks, they might be satisfied with reading a book once and knowing that it’s available for purchase at a later time, with a single click, if the need arises.
Who Should Consider KDP Select
So who should consider using KDP Select?
Candidates include:
- Initial efforts by new indie authors. Participating in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library could be a good way to get books in front of new readers.
- A single book in a series of books. Consider enrolling one book to hook readers into your series and build familiarity.
Candidates less suited for KDP Select include:
- New books featuring current events or released to coincide with a specific date. The requirement to make the books exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days could hurt potential overall sales.
- Existing books that are already selling well in other ebookstores, again because of the 90-day exclusive requirement.
- Books selling for much more than $9.99. If you have a specialty book that sells for $49.99 or even $29.99, making it available for free will almost certainly negatively impact revenue.
Interestingly enough, the more successful the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library becomes, the smaller the piece of the pie that each author receives, unless Amazon bumps the fund to match the growth.
Our Recommendation
It’s clear that Amazon’s focus on providing as much free or low-cost content as possible is a strategic direction that is only likely to expand. In this scenario, it probably makes sense for indie authors to dip their toe into KDP Select, especially if you have multiple books available. For example, you could choose one to enroll and leave the others for sale only. It also makes sense if you are just starting out and need to build an audience.
For established writers already in other ebookstores, the benefits are less clear. Yanking titles from other shops might be painful (inconvenient at least) and not likely to serve your readers who choose to shop somewhere other than Amazon.
Similarly, we wonder about Amazon’s insistence on any type of exclusivity arrangement; if Amazon doesn’t think that they can compete by offering books for free, then we must be missing something.
The final word: experiment cautiously and, if feasible, enroll a book that limits your potential downside.
If you’re interested, you can immediately enroll your books in KDP Select by visiting the KDP website, which also features detailed borrowing reports for each title. You can learn more about KDP Select here, and more about the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library here.