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I included mine today!

I'm planning on checking out the service soon.

I pulled my books out of KDP select while I had the opportunity and republished them on a variety of sites through Smashwords and also on Google Play. I don't like having all my eggs in one basket, and the terms of other services like Scribd and Oyster are far better for the author than what Amazon offers. For me the exclusivity requirement on Amazon wasn't worth it, especially since I only had one borrow during my time in Select.

There is no set amount. You get a percentage of whatever the fund is that month based on how many unique times your books are read enough to trigger a commission. Depending on the price of your books, you could either do better or worse than you would with a sale. If your books are under $3.99 you'll probably be doing better. $3.99 or more and you'll be getting less, and the more expensive a book is, the less benefit you'll get from it. Plus the fund is variable, so you never know what you'll be getting anyway. With Scribd and Oyster, which are both basically the exact same type of services, If a reader reads 30% of your book or 10% respectively, it triggers a sale and you get 60% commission based on the retail price. So you always know what you're getting and you don't get shortchanged.

That's why I pulled out of select and went back to publishing through Smashwords and on Google Play. I don't like the way Amazon is jerking authors around with the exclusivity of Select and the lack of true commission amounts. I'm still selling on Amazon of course, but I'm not in Select anymore, so I'm free to make my books available for purchase anywhere.

I like the Kindleunlimited program so far. I have a few more books borrowed from me on a daily basis.
I don't quite understand a few things still.
I hope someone can answer this question for me.
I have quite a few audios at ACX (an Amazon Company, if you don't know)customers pay $14.95 per month for (and I may be wrong) 2 audios on audible.com.
All audios that are on ACX are sold in a couple of places including Amazon. With the new Kindleunlimited program, customers can get as many books and audios as they want for $5.00 less than audible.com.
Does that mean that audible.com will will losing money in the long run.

KU is like Netflix for readers lol, I personally think it's a really cool idea. I have had 3 borrows I believe , and even though they were before the Unlimited began they do show that there is promise in the program. Like many authors out there I am hoping that the new option will move books more easily since it opens up a book buffet essentially. My book has started to really slow down, and is getting lost in the pile. I am surprised this happened to early but I am praying that KU will bring it back to the top again! :)

-Asher J
author of Problem with Pets

Still with my first novel, so I'm really just trying to experiment.
Nookpress I sold a single copy of my book.
Smashwords it only seems to sell when it's free.
I'm going to give it a try, and if at the end of my 90 days It is not doing me any good, I'll unenroll and not add any more to Kindle select.

All my books are on KDP, it works for me, and borrows (which have jumped up more with the new Kindleunlimited) helps also. The last couple of days since the new program started, I've had about 12 borrows a day instead of my usual 3-6. I know it's due to the new program.

Wow Pennie sounds like you are doing well. I could only hope to have as many borrows as you! Congrats on your success.

Well I don't want to speak too soon lol.But hopefully it keeps that way. One thing I have never tried is other sites like scribd and oyster etc to sell a book, They've all been in the KDP program since the start. May be, on my next book I will try that. I'm so set in my ways lol.

N.R. wrote: "Part of the problem, I believe, is that something like 85 percent of all books online are sold on Amazon. Or maybe it's more, I'm not sure. All the other platforms together, like B&N, iBooks, etc o..."
You are right, Amazon is a huge platform but don't think I would ever jump the ship so to speak. To be honest, I don't think I would ever have got published at all without their help. I'm doing pretty well with them and I appreciate what they do for me :)

It's not good for anyone if Amazon were to become a virtual monopoly.

I like it so far as well. As Penny stated above, I don't think I could have gotten the exposure without Amazon KDP Select, so I'm grateful for whatever sales and traffic come my way. Writing is not my primary source of income, however, so I can understand other perspectives on this. My borrows have been up since Kindle Unlimited started, so I'm cautiously optimistic...

I'd warn that folks shouldn't make any conclusions one way or the other on how well they're doing for the next 30-60 days. With a multitude of people trying it out during the free introductory period, you're bound to get a lot of borrows that may not materialize once the free euphoria wears off.

As for whether this will work, well... I've been having some discussions over at G+, and I have some serious doubts about this type of program really working out for most readers. Except for a few genres (romance, crime) where readers pound through 1-2 books per week, I'd wager the more likely pace is 1 per month, maybe 2. At that pace, $9.99 per month will not pay off for most readers when they can get 1-2 ebooks at $0.99 - $3.99 each.

One area where I do see some potential is serial story-telling. If like Netflix, you release several episodes of an overall story line (say at 15-20K words per "episode") and priced accordingly (don't make me do math in public) to generate a nice return per borrow or purchase, this might work both for the reader and author. Not sure my style of writing can turn episodic (by that I mean, one fully contained episode, with a satisfying ending and a hook to tune in to the next one), but I am tossing one idea for a soft SciFi story I've been dreaming up for a while.

Well, based on past amounts that people received from the fund, they were getting around $2.38 or something like that per borrow. 70% commission on a $3.99 book is $2.75. So if you're charging $3.99 or more for your books, then you're making less money than an actual sale, and when someone can just borrow your books whenever they want, then there's no real incentive for them to actually buy them, which means you're losing both actual sales and money. The more you normally charge over $3.99, the more money you lose.

For people who charge $2.99 for their book, they'd get about $2.09 commission on a sale, so the borrows would actually end up paying them more than a sales commission.

Basically the program will only benefit those who are pricing their books in the $0.99 to $2.99 range. For everyone else it's kind of a screw job.

That's not even mentioning that big publishers are getting way better deals than the indie authors just to entice them into adding their books into the program.

Yeah, and that's not right at all. They throw out a number like 1500 borrows making five grand just to make it sound like you could make a whole lot of money, but realistically, how many indie authors are going to get 15 borrows a month, much less 1500? It all sounds really deceptive and I see it as being a really bad deal for independent authors.

Pennie wrote: "All my books are on KDP, it works for me, and borrows (which have jumped up more with the new Kindleunlimited) helps also. The last couple of days since the new program started, I've had about 12 b..."

This is what confuses me. If you are an Amazon Prime member (which brings you many benefits, not just book related) then you get to borrow one book/month for free from the Kindle Owners Lending Library . I have been getting quite a few borrows (more borrows than I had been getting in NOOK sales) so I have stayed in KDP select. Now, however, the "Borrow for free" button has disappeared, and the read for free button says customers have to enroll in Kindle Unlimited at $10/month to get my book for free. Apparently the Kindle Owners Lending Library still exists, but Amazon is not making it easy for customers to see this. Unlike you, I have not seen my borrows/KU numbers go up since this started. I am thinking of opting out of KDP Select, at least for a while so I can do a comparison. Honestly, I don't thing KU is that good a deal for readers, because there will not be any books from the big NY publishers included in it. They are all feuding with Amazon.

My Kindle edition is $3.99. What is Kindle Unlimited?

Eduardo wrote: "I'd warn that folks shouldn't make any conclusions one way or the other on how well they're doing for the next 30-60 days. With a multitude of people trying it out during the free introductory peri..."

I've seen a marked increased in borrows since the program started. I do think that Edwardo makes a good point. Many people are taking advantage of the free trial. We will have to wait and see the effect after this initial 30 trial runs out.

I'm hopeful though; as a reader I believe I will continue the service after the trial period ends. I believe many other readers will as well.

as far as the eggs in one basket, I sold a total of ONE copy on nook, and Smashwords only sells when it's free.

Amazon i've sold the most copies on.

Yeah so far so good I would say. I went from 0 or 1 borrow to 4 or 5 a day. I think it has some great potential for indies.

I've picked up a few borrows, but I wonder if it will continue once the free trial runs out. In my opinion there's pros and cons to it. We'll see!

I have had one borrow before the kindle unlimited began. I have not had any since, but I am not discouraged. My book series was just published in June. I have sold more books than I expected to and am very thankful for the program that Amazon offers. I am thrilled to know that the story and characters I enjoy writing about can be shared with anyone, even if right now it might only be my family and friends! I am looking forward to the trial and error of marketing my books and hoping my story continues to be enjoyed and read by many more readers to come!

I need a review.

I love the Kindle Unlimited program. Parts 1 and 2 of my series have made it to the Kindle All-Star status for the month of August (as one of the most borrowed books) People like getting things for free so I say still being paid for it helps the author out a lot. My books are on pace to hit all-star status again for the month of Sept (fingers crossed) so I say it's great.

I believe the Kindle unlimited program will eventually wear thin. As more authors join the program will become over saturated such as the 99 cent fad has become. As for me, I believe consistency, writing great storylines, and building awareness through multimedia and word of mouth will pay off better in the long run. Throwing your book in an oversaturated program on one platform isn't the way to go for the long term although it does have its benefits for the shorthaul.

Still, having a borrow for $1.50 with all my books linked at the end, means more sales. I have tripled my sales and my borrows are 6 times what they have been. This is my best month. Perhaps, it was because I released a new book--or maybe Kindle unlimited. Whatever, I am making more money and people are reading my books.

WARNING: Hot! Handle with caution. #FREE with #KindleUnlimited
MY SOUL FOR YOU
KISSING TROUBLE

Loren wrote: "Still, having a borrow for $1.50 with all my books linked at the end, means more sales. I have tripled my sales and my borrows are 6 times what they have been. This is my best month. Perhaps, it..."

I agree Loren that KU seems to work for me too. I have almost as many borrows as sales since they started KU which wasn't happening before. I also think some genres work better than others. The KU royalties so far seem pretty reasonable.

Dion wrote: "I believe the Kindle unlimited program will eventually wear thin. As more authors join the program will become over saturated such as the 99 cent fad has become. As for me, I believe consistency, w..."

I think it's a stepping stone and like all these things we need to keep alert and move on to the next thing if it stops working. At the moment, KU works well for me but I agree completely with all you say regarding consistency, quality of work and the need to build our own fan base.

MISSING � DEAD OR ALIVE (A MYSTERY/SUSPENSE NOVEL) by PETER MARTIN
FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED
#NEW RELEASE 99C/99P
‘There was no reason for him to run away�
When Tim, Maria and Bob’s fourteen year old apparently model son goes missing, they are baffled and distraught. A police investigation reveals Tim wasn’t quite the son they thought he was. Frantic attempts to find him fail, and when their quest becomes an obsession this causes problems between them. But they never give up, and are determined to find him DEAD OR ALIVE, even though it may cost them dear.

LOOKING FOR REVIEWS. WILLING TO SWAP. EMAIL ME AT: [email protected]

Finding Love In New York (Book 1) a hot and steamy contemporary romance, is available for free on Kindle Unlimited.
Gabby Fitzpatrick has moved to New York from Ireland with best friend Jen Malone. There she meets Callum Jacobs. He's arrogant and domineering but from their first encounter, Gabby can't resist him. And it seems Callum feels the same. What follows is a relationship froth with passion and obsession.
This book contains explicit sex scenes and is only suitable for persons 18+

On the subject of Kindle Unlimited:

I just got the announcement that (yay!) the Global Fund for remunerating authors in the KU program has gone up from $3mil to $10mil, and is projected to hold steady around $11mil for the next several months. But (boo!) they are changing how they calculate royalties. They are no longer counting how many qualified borrowers checked out your book, they are now going to use a Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count where one page equals 250 words of 12-point font.

It is true that picture books are likely to be read more than once, but with the median Kindle novel clocking in at 64,000 words, borrowers would have to read my picture books around 70 times for me to get the same royalties as a novelist.

So just go be a novelist? Okay, I will, but in the meantime, I'd like to raise a little fuss and see if picture books can be counted in a different category. Amazon's goal, they say, is to incentivize quality content, although they are subsidizing quantity and not quality. Let's see how much incentivizing Amazon does for picture book authors. I predict that it is going to be very small, so that the reward for us will be hoping that we get visibility.

I've been posting on this topic for the past three days without any response from authors.

Is there anyone interested in writing a group letter to Amazon?

Please let me know.

Have a great day,

Bryan

On the plus side it works out that a 100 page book will now pay the author$10 if read through to the end.
personally I think someone at amazon PR has got this wrong but we'll see.
Another point, amazon say that their calculation of words per book may be different to that stated in the book description. as a writer who has often argued with amazon over their calculation of pages in a book it'll be interesting to see what they come up with but I bet it'll now bear little relation to the previous estimate.
on reporting, surely the pages read on a loaned book will vary day by day. will we now see a page total against each koll loan? seeing as only amazon know exactly what the sale and loan figures are, no transparency there is there, I doubt well see that figure either.
amazon also say this is fairer to readers, baloney, it'll make no difference to readers whatsoever.
I suspect that the only benefit from this change will be to amazon.
we shall sere.

one further point, the global fund has a base value of just 3 million dollars, this if not added too momthly will greatly dilute the royalties paid per page read and at this level would pay out $3 per book if 100 pages are read. (please correct me if I'm wrong) but actually this figure is not able to be correct because a limit the if the global fund total doesn't meet the pages read totals then the payout will by default become lower. Its rather like a fluctuating interest rate from next month and cannot be fixed any more by amazon as a total fund against a floating amount of pages read per month.
it will be interesting to see how this pans out
in truth I feel this is all an attempt by amazon to placate the big publishers who, of course stand to gain the most from this. just like they invariably do from the extra bonuses paid out.

Here's the announcement that Amazon e-mailed me two days ago.
________________________________________
Kindle Direct Publishing to me

Jun 15
Hello,

Today we have a few exciting announcements to share related to the KDP Select global fund. The first is that we’re adding a bonus of $7.8 million to the May KDP Select global fund on top of the previously announced $3 million base fund, bringing the total fund to $10.8 million. We are also pleased to report that:

•�      KDP Select authors are on track to earn over $60M in the first half of 2015 from books read in Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners� Lending Library.

•�      Total royalties across subscription and a la carte sales earned by KDP Select authors in the US are on track t

Here's the link to Amazon's description of the "normalized page count (npc)." I believe what they mean when they say that the npc may be different from what is listed on the sales page for each book is that they "normalize" the text from every book to account for font size, margins, half or blank pages. It's really a word count, and not a page count.

Uh Huh, let me know anyone if you find out how many words a 100 page book has because amazon don't say.

their explanation should be explained as a word count and not a page count