Sometimes we’re asked why our books are not in Kindle Unlimited. Usually we mention two reasons. One, KU is an exclusive kind of game. Once you’re in KU, you can’t sell your titles anywhere else, unless you are a BNA (Big Name Author) like Hugh Howey, for example. We want our books to be widely available.
Two, you’re paid a tiny amount. A 400 page book on Amazon priced at $5.99 would net $4.19 cents to its creator. The same book in KU would earn $1.60. At first glance, this might look like an excellent opportunity to promote your work. People can try it for free. But KU isn’t a good promotional vehicle either. It’s a subscription service that lets its users borrow and read all the books they want for $9.99. A lot of people who use it are on a limited income. They are retirees, college students, and people on tight budgets. They don’t typically buy books. In fact, half of KU customers have never bought a book from Amazon, which is one of the reasons Amazon created Prime Reading.
But there is a third reason, which we usually don’t talk about, because it’s an author problem rather than reader problem. I wasn’t going to mention it, but I saw Grace Draven’s post and I agree with her reasoning that readers have the right to know.
KU system is riddled with scam artists.
There is a lovely article on this by David Gaughran, who lays this our much better than I could, available here.
Amazon claims to be taking the problem seriously, but it isn’t even acting on reports of these assholes breaking in to the very top of the US Kindle Store, so that claim is hard to swallow.
Scammers Break the Kindle Store
I hope you read it. To this I would add only that if you want to avoid such scammy tactics, look at the sales rank of the book. If the book has been out for a bit and shot up 2 million points in rank in KU and it has abysmal reviews, it’s probably the product of some dirty finagling. This post isn’t meant to discourage you from using KU in any way. We subscribe to KU. We just want you to know when you’re being swindled as a reader because someone is gaming the system.
Thank you for this. I stopped buying books from Amazon years ago when they tried, in my opinion, to deal dirty with authors. For a time, I believe, they removed certain authors books from their site. Seems it was some contract fight. I haven’t bought a book from them since. I do buy other things, but even then I keep it to a minimum.
It is also a vehicle to sell books. In long series usually half are there and half you have to but to have access to – in haphazard fashion… if I have to buy the series to read them all, I don’t want to only buy 3, 5, 6, 8,&9. I am an avid reader, but it was not a good fit for me. Also, I would rather own a book, pay for it legit, and unlike most kindle readers, I don’t ‘try stuff out’ on Kindle, I prefer to buy kindle of my favorites. I do paper books of try-out so that I can rehome them if I dislike them.
Yes, but every book on Kindle already allows for the sample of the first few chapters. 🙂
Ilona, are you aware that Amazon is already shipping out the audio version of Wildfire already?
I wanted to listen to the audiobooks after all of the praise I have read on here for them. Barnes & Noble only had 1 of them, so I ordered the CD’s from Amazon. I wouldn’t subscribe to their monthly service, even to get 2 of them for free. I just checked my email and there is a shipping notice that Wildfire was otw and would be here tomorrow.
I mean this is great for me as I don’t have to wait till next week for my Nook to get it’s version, but they shouldn’t be releasing stuff early either.
I pre-ordered as soon as it was available for pre-ordering and just checked my email, no notice of shipping. Plz post a note if u actually get it earlier than the rest of us.
They sent me a tracking # and I checked it, it is in transit and it is due here Thursday, not tomorrow. I got my days mixed up, I wasn’t quite awake all the way yet when I posted.
Sane for me. I ordered the CDs so I could share with a coworker who also has a long commute and they are arriving Thursday. I’m happy and excited but it sucks for everyone else
Like the first hits of crack…I have been sucked into many books this way. But I don’t use KU.
Sadly its not just book buys or reviews. I won’t buy anything without checking it through fakespot.com because they artificially inflate reviews for darn near everything. It makes me so sad and cynical.
Thank you for telling us about this. I had been considering subscribing to KU, but it sounds like a bad deal for avid genre readers and authors alike. I will stick to purchases and my public library.
Actually, it isn’t. Just look for what you like via key word and go. If the summary sound ok get it. Remember, if it is a dud, you toss it back. Ignore the reviews.
I can’t say it’s a horrible deal. I found a few fav authors like Rachel Aaron and Patrick Weekes via KU. But the ratio of trash has increased exponentially the last year, I suspected the authors were underpaid (looks like that’s true!) and this post just made me go cancel it until they clean it up. I’m making a real effort to not buy anything Amazon if I can find it elsewhere.
I do use KU to explore new authors and new genre. I’ve ended up buying books from those authors after that, but then, I guess I’m not a usual reader.
Nope, you are the other half. 🙂
I’m like Vinity. I’m a voracious reader and find new authors via KU. However, as an author I’ve used KU to launch a new series under a pseudonym. It was stunningly unsuccessful, despite a full promotional campaign. I just do better with wide distribution than just through them. Add in the scammers, and it’s a No Go.
I also use KU to sample new authors but I still spend a shocking amount per month on books and would never use it solely. I have my authors who I truely love dearly ( you guys are way at the top of my list) and for my fav authors I don’t care what the book costs I want it pre ordered in my kindle on the day of release so I can devour it immediately. When I’m waiting for the next book In a series abd I’m in a dry spell then I scour KU but there is a lot of rubbish to wade through. I will always be a book buyer first
I use KU 3-4 months a year. I also use the library. I’m retired, I can’t afford to buy books these days, just to see if I like an author. I worked in a library for years, so? I spend my ( dwindling) book budget on known authors that I know I like. KU and the limited time free and cheap prices give me a chance to find new authors.
I read an average of 350 books most years. I used to own thousands of books. But I began giving them away or donating them a few years ago.I now only have as yet unread, or my favorite re-reads on my shelves. I didn’t want to leave thousands of books behind for the kids to deal with.. and also, we are now thinking of downsizing. So I use my kindle more and more. Also, it’s easy to read anywhere and any time regardless of the available light.
I have seen other authors posting about Amazon and some books scams. For me, it’s either kindle deals or library ebooks, or give up reading. It is one of the few pleasure I have and a life long way to escape. I still feel guilty about using Amazon 🙁 at times.
Try Bookbub. Most of the books on it are free or .99. It has many best selling authors on it as well, so lots of quality.
I read 100’s of books a year as well and I used to have many thousands of physical books. An entire room filled with bookcases that were all overflowing. I now only have 2 shelves of old favorites and my Nook. I donated about 3 truck loads to the library. Moving is much easier now, as is finding the book I want to reread, going on vacation with plenty of reading material, etc.
You could try booklending.com . It’s a free lending service for kindle (or kindle app) users. The wait can be long since publishers only allow an e-book buyer to loan a book once and not all books are loanable in the first place, but it’s FREE.
Try Bookbub. I have found some good authors that way. It will alert you for the genre you pick weekly for deals. Many good authors have an earlier book in a series on a free – $1.99 promo when they are about to have a new book come out.
https://www.bookbub.com/home/
I also don’t buy books from Amazon, IMO their business practices are shady.
I like Bookbub I might try a free book but if I like the work I buy into the series and keep watch for new books
That was how I came across T S Paul and others
I do the same. I actually had to unsubscribe from them because I was overwhelmed with new books to read that I didn’t have time for. Which considering how much I read is kinda funny. If I have a day off I read on average 2 full books a day, even if I am working that day I read several hours a day at minimum.
Yep, thats me too. I borrow, then buy the ones I like. It tides me over between releases from the authors I am addicted to permanently. If I am reading this right it flys the book to the top but they do not have actual reviews to back it up. I have not in the past written many reviews just clicked the stars, that needs to change obviously. Thank you for the education Authorlords.
And BTW I keep getting mesmerised by the count down timer….sigh….
hmm I am one of these people on a budget but also an absolut book addict –
I buy books, even expensive ones like when a new Brandon Sanderson comes out this November, but if I can get them for free on a subscription even better – I read your kind of books which there aren’t that many on KU but most months i make my min of 3 books to make it worth my while – two authors I have found real fun and they are on KU either all the time or with some of their books are Lindsay Buroker (I think you reviewed one of her books during holiday read) and recently Jasmine Walt. Another thing is simple relaxing chick lit – when I am desperately waiting for the next Ilona Andrew’s book to come out and I don’t see anything else I want to spend money on 🙂
So glad I cancelled my subscription. Now I wish I had done it sooner.
Wanted to add, my public library gives me access to several digital libraries. It may not have all the titles I want, but at least I know I’m reading legitimate, hard working authors. I know the library pays a monthly subscription fee for these services. They recently had to reduce patron checkouts from one service from 10 to 5 a month because it’s so popular they kept running up against their limit. I always wondered if libraries paid more for their books for author compensation. I’d be interested to know how or if these digital library services pay royalties or fees to authors.
I must be an exception because if I find a book I love on KU, I will buy everything else the author has every written.
Me too! I love it when the first book is free on KU. I find some authors are obviously not for me within the first chapter but many take a full book or more for me to make that decision. So I’ll read the free one first, then buy the rest if I like them.
I use KU to read and give reviews and discuss at book club and my fb group I run as I read way way way too much as in easily 3-5 books or more a week. My pocketbook can’t handle that addiction with it I subscribe to 2 services AND I still buy the newest book from my fav authors series when they come out. What I don’t understand is why do some authors put book 2, 5, and 6 up but not the others that always baffles me I understand books 1-2 and not the rest as it’s a chance to know you want to buy the series. I used to buy .50 books from the library. If the publishers had a system where we paid half price if we bought more then …. amount of books ild do that. Not trying to slight authors heck if I could tip some good ones I would
I don’t use KU. I heard about authors not making much money and I think that is unfair to them. I’m not on a limited budget and I don’t read voraciously so I will pay. I will read an excerpt if they have one available to decide whether to buy one of their books. Sometimes it work, sometimes not.
My favorite authors, including IA of course, I buy as soon as they become available. Others I will wait the year until the price drops before I buy.
Amazon is not my favorite place to buy anything. I used to be on B&N but their ereader kept reverting back to factory settings and I would lose everything on the reader (books, bookmarks, shelves etc) and have to reload. Their help desk was no help and after multiple times I gave up on them. I decided I wanted a waterproof ereader and Waterfi did waterproof kindle versions so now I am on Amazon.
It is amazing how no mater what system you put in place people will find a way around it or a way to scam it. If only they used their powers for good instead of evil …..
And this is why I use a nook.
I use Nook and KU I use kindle when I want to try knew authors and low on funds . I use Nook for by favorite authors ( yours are definitely a favorite of mine) I started with Nook it is still my favorite.
Me too! But I definitely like the option of KU for trying a new author. I can’t tell you how many ebooks I’ve returned on KU cause they weren’t worth the digital page they were printed on. I read up to a book a day and can’t waste money like that on poor authors. That being said, I happily spend the money on BN to purchase new releases by my favorites. I also don’t pay much attention to reviews, just read the description and if it catches my interest I judge for myself.
I do not subscribe to KU for the simple reason that they do not pay the authors well. I have been to several book signings by different authors who all said this same thing when asked why their books were not part of KU. Authors have to make a living and deserved to be paid for their work. When I purchase a book, no matter the format, I am paying for the intellectual property created by the author not the printing or binding or editing. The gamble of if I like it or not is all on me. There is also this great place where so many books are available to borrow and then return if you don’t like it or are finished with it…..the library 🙂 My librarians know my family by name we are there so often.
Thank you for sharing and being honest about this with your readers without throwing anyone under the bus:)
As a reader, I love KU. It is a challenge to weed through the books that look interesting but don’t deliver, but tbh that’s a challenge with non-KU books too – and I’ve been burned a few times by buying full price books that were awesome through the sample chapters but lost polish and narrative cohesion in the later parts of the book. KU is a less-risky way for me to try new authors, and I save my actual book buying for authors I already adore (like you guys!)
When I find an author I like on KU, I tend to borrow everything they’ve got available, and sign up for their email lists to find out about new releases. 🙂 So far, I haven’t bought anything I borrowed on KU, but there are a few I’ve borrowed and read through multiple times that are on my “to buy when I have extra book money” list.
I went ahead and subscribed to KU after a surgery this past winter because I’m an avid reader and figured I could cancel once I’m back on my feet and reading the normal amount of books work and family will allow, but I found that I did enjoy discovering new authors that I maybe wouldn’t have tried if they weren’t on KU. I still buy books regularly, but still use KU enough that I get my money’s worth each month. It helps when I find an amazing series by an author that is on KU and then buy others that they have written that isn’t. And it also helps me not to feel guilty about the books that I borrow that are too terrible to finish! I would have suffered before, now I just say, “nope!” and look for a different book.
I don’t buy as many paperbacks as I used to. I am out of shelf space and have been for years. If I buy a new dead tree book, I have to find a place for it. That usually means something is headed for a donation box. I do still buy my favorite authors in “real” book form, but I usually get a kindle version, too. My phone and ipad are much easier to tote around. (My copy of Wildfire is preordered at MBTB.)
I do use KU, especially for those “They want how much for 43 pages?!” books. There is a lot of dreck out there. If I like something, I will buy it. However, I have a separate list labelled “Lower price” and many of those books go on it.
I also have a “Hard copy” list. It’s for a reminder of what comes out when. I have bought one “real” book from Amazon. I usually shop at my local indie bookstores and B&N as a last resort.
Thank you for the excellent link to Dave ‘s posts, this explains so much crap I have seen on ku with good sales ratings. While I have found a handful of new authors I follow, I am about burnt out wading through the mud.
I was wondering why multiple books with 20-30 pages and the same cover made it onto the first three pages. They even beat a lot of the classics.
Also, there are some terrible people who copy and paste directly from published works (books and even fanfic [it’s happened to two fanfic authors I follow]) and publish on amazon. It took a considerable amount of effort for amazon to pull the stolen works and to the best of my knowledge, the FF writers never saw a dime.
I have a Kindle but I don’t do Kindle unlimited because most of the “free” books aren’t usually that great to begin with. And what if I am reading a really good book and don’t feel like reading that crud, I’m out 9.99 that month for nothing. Naw, I’d rather save my pennies and buy the newest book for full price from my Favorite authors.
Very educational reading; thanks. I’m happy with my Nook and gutenberg.
Glad to know about this. Im sure it will come in habdy one day if I change the way I explore other authors’ material. Although I only buy ebooks written by you and nalini for the past 3/4 years. Since I moved to canada, I utilize the library here to scout new authors or books and see if i like the material. I don’t really go by rating or reviews as I like to know for myself if an author is worth reading or not.
I have a Kindle Fire and I buy most of my e- books from Amazon. However I still buy a lot of paperbacks (I buy all of your wonderful books as paperbacks). I will not use KU. The number one reason is that if you quit KU, they take back all of the books you read. Essentially you did buy them for the monthly fee you paid, but you still lose the books. Also, it is a very limited selection. I had no idea of all the other problems with KU. Really bad deal!
I figured out pretty early that KU just has a bunch of crap but I read a lot of unliterary literature anyway so I don’t care. I’m not sure if the subscription has significantly cut into my kindle bill or not. I buy paperback copies of anything I would read again or recommend/ loan out. I order a lot of books on Amazon but I don’t really like their recommendations very often.
Also, putting that countdown clock on the end of this post is just cruel. I saw the hours before I registered the days. ?
It’s summer. I’m a teacher. I have no idea what day it is.
LOL! As a former teacher also married to a teacher, I completely identify with this!
Thanks Ilona Andrews for the interesting information. I am on a very tight budget now that I have gone back to school to re-tool for my next career. I did try Kindle Unlimited but the genre books I like to read and the authors I like to read are not on it. I am rural rural so I have to travel to the nearest bookstore which now is only Barnes &Noble 30 some minutes away as is nearest public library where i usually i have to get books to read via Inter Library Loan. Also the only used bookstore in 100 mile radius closed after Books a Million left several years ago. Since i do not read formulistic romance WalMart is out as a book supplier. Plus I ran out of bookcase shelf space [as well as bedside table space] and I do not want to build another bookcase until i finish re-tooling and find a paying job wherever. I kept Dad’s Baen website subscription for awhile since we both enjoyed the website and many of the authors. But i had to cut costs to basics so i dropped that subscription as well as newspaper and i switched to electronic books from amazon and use the state run digital library. I find that i prefer paperbacks as they go anywhere such as with me on temporary jobs for lunchtime reading. I do eventually buy paperback books of my favorite authors of which you are one, i just have to budget and wait. Thanks again for the interesting info.
Have you checked out paperbackswap.com? Being from a very rural area I used the heck out of them. They do have a subscription fee now but I found it to be cost effective for filling in back-lists and if I read a book and liked it, I could wish list it and wait for it to come up.
The library system here in Virginia Beach is fabulous. I got the paperwhite and haul it around with me a lot. Finances are always an issue so I only buy books I know I will reread many times. I love the sample chapters available on Amazon. That is the first thing I do to check out new authors or recommendations.
Speaking of, someone recommended Alex Lidell and Sherwood Smith to me, she rereads them all the time.
Ha ha ! I know Alex. 🙂 She is a sweetheart.
Is Grace Draven’s post available publicly? I haven’t been able to find it…
https://www.facebook.com/grace.draven/posts/10211234484430725?pnref=story
thank you!
So, I’m an author in KU. I’ve tried three times to post a comment with some thoughts on KU from my perspective and the current scammer situation, but it won’t let my comment post, even though I can reply to other comments? Not sure why.
I tried KU but it was not for me. I buy all of my books from Amazon because I need the bigger print. I learned early not to look at their top list of books because I bought some douzies. ( not good) My income is limited and someday I shall have to go without buying books. I will never again have to give away all of my books because I had to move. They are there for me to take with me in my kindle. I have a lot of audible books also. As my eyesight and memory fail, they are there waiting for me to read and listen to again. Of course I buy kindle edition and audible of our authorlords books. Thank you for writing Ilona and Gordon Andrews.
The scam happening in KU is called “catfishing” (see reference below)
https://www.google.com/amp/www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/exclusive-inside-a-million-dollar-amazon-kindle-catfishing-scam/
I am subscribed to KU and before I download books from there, I find them first and check thoroughly through Good Reads for review if the genre and plot interests me.
So far I did not encounter any catfishing incident yet and I would advise to do a thorough research on the author and story you would like to read before downloading it.
I hate to learn that KU is so riddled with problems for authors. As a reader I love it, since I read at least a book a day (usually 2-3) and can easily burn through a series in a single night, so having a boatload of books available to borrow for $10 a month is a good deal. Even if a bunch of it is pure dreck, there is still treasure to be found, and to assuage my KU guilt I will go back and buy the ones I loved the most (Susie Tate, Cassandra Gannon, Anna Hackett, Helen Harper, these are all great authors I’ve found through KU)
Thanks for the very informative links.
I like KU for the same reason – I can burn through books really fast, and I love being able to cycle through stuff without worrying about how much money I’m spending. And yeah, the quality isn’t always the highest, but sometimes I’m just fine with that- it’s an hour or two’s worth of entertainment, I don’t need it to be high literature.
I used t swear by paper books, but more and more, I’m on my Paperwhite- it’s portable, and I never run out of reading material.
I am a huge book lover, I used to come back from my USA holidays with a suitcase full of books. I live in the UK where our bookshops have been decimated. I had not heard of KU. We have one bookshop which is part of a group and it has limited choice. Our last independent bookshop was forced out of business by a large supermarket who proposed building another of their stores on its site (it was never built but we lost our bookshop forever). Our several Borders also disappeared so I buy my books from Amazon. I used to have thousands of books but sadly as we are downsizing the majority have gone to a local literacy charity and hospice shop. Over the years my reading tastes have changed but I have a number of favourite authors including IA and Nalini Singh and as soon as their latest books are published I buy both paper copies and iBook. Nothing beats actually holding a book in your hands. Our public libraries are also disappearing and have much reduced fiction stocks. I am much encouraged though that the young children in my extended family are avid readers, I just wish there were the type of bookshops I grew up with in the 1950’s locally for them to experience.
I read a ton, really, and I have mixed feelings about KU. It has helped me to find authors that I wouldn’t otherwise have read so while the $1.61 isn’t great, I guarantee they wouldn’t have gotten anything from me otherwise and if they are good I’ll purchase their entire backlist.
However, I find the quality of KU books to be fairly poor (for what I read) and sometimes out and out fraudulent. Maybe authors don’t put high quality work on KU because of the reimbursement but if the sample wasn’t high quality I won’t buy anything else.
Mostly I think of KU as a repository for “not ready for prime time authors”. Sad to say but some author’s work is just not well enough developed yet. If that is the case KU gives them a chance to get better, and hone their craft. To me these are people that 20 years ago would still be getting rejection letters from publishers but through the magic of technology are able to self-publish.
There is one particular author I find quite frustrating. She keeps trying to break out of of KU but her books just aren’t that good yet. She has potential but in no way is she in the same league with our dear authorlords yet she charges $3.99 for 150 page novellas and $4.99 for 250-300 page books (with incomplete storylines and dangling plot threads and HOLES). I keep reading her KU books and occasionally buying her non-KU in hopes of improvement but so far no luck. She keeps intimating her frustrations with KU but really the problem is she’s just not ready.
I don’t know what’s best, but I do know that quality of work makes a difference, which is why IA gets 5 star reviews and shouldn’t be on KU, yet others can’t seem to manage without it.
I really think KU is an example of indie publishing as a whole – perhaps distilled, because pretty much only indie authors use KU, other than a handful of trad pub juggernauts like the Harry Potter series. Quality is very relative, because anyone who ever thought of writing a book can now publish online, and if they use a good enough cover and decent blurb, the only clue on the quality of writing inside the book is going to be actually reading some of it. And to be fair, even trad pub has cover “misses” sometimes that aren’t really compelling visually.
I came from traditional publishing. I spent 30 years trying to get that golden book contract, sold a short story here and there, landed a big NY agent, and on the cusp of finally getting that deal, made the decision to go indie. Part of it was my genre. I write space opera with romance. I describe it as “it’s a lot like Urban Fantasy, if UF took place in space”. My agent very honestly told me that she was sure she could sell it, but that the advance was likely to be small because trad pub doesn’t really know what to do with something that is both science fiction and romance. She was the one who recommended I look into indie publishing in the unlikely event that she wasn’t able to sell my series. After some research, I decided to skip trad altogether and go indie.
However, having done that I have read a lot more indie authors myself. I even subscribed to KU. I have noticed a huge disparity in the quality of books being published. Some indie authors don’t seem to even use an editor. Others I think wrote their first draft of their first book, and published it. The advantage of trad publishing’s many hoops to jump through is time and practice. By the time most authors land a traditional contract, they’ve written multiple books and often several drafts of them. They’ve worked hard to hone their craft to get good enough to get that contract. Indie has changed all of that and allowed a fast track to publishing that, unfortunately, means that readers can no longer expect a minimum quality level in writing when they do to purchase (or borrow) a book.
I’ve run across a few indies out there that I love just as much as my favorite trad authors. But not many. It’s disheartening, considering I am an indie author myself. OTOH, I do get a lot of reviews that remark with some surprise on the quality of my books, which is nice to read when I’m having a bad day. 🙂
I want to provide financial support for the authors who whisk me away from my humdrum life. If that means I occasionally end up spending some money on an author whose book I give up on in disgust, so be it. This information makes me glad I’ve stayed with this model and not tried KU.
I originally subscribed to KU for my oldest, when she was a stay-at-home mom. She’d go through a book every other day. When I started using it for myself, I found some great reads like the Kutherian Gambit Series. I never would have found this otherwise. However, I still buy some of my favorite series.
Has anyone tried out Free Kindle Books and Tips? I subscribed to Michael Gallagher’s daily email and now have so many books downloaded that I’m way behind in my reading. He finds the deals being offered that are free or .99 cents. All kinds of genres to choose from. I feel it’s a win-win cause I can try out an author. If the book doesn’t grab me, all I have to do is delete it. Didn’t cost me anything. But if I enjoy it, I will definitely go back to purchase additional stories from them. I love getting things for free; but if I really like someone’s work, I’m willing to pay for it too. They’ve earned it! I prefer to go this route obtaining my books and discovering new authors instead of the KU. Can’t afford the monthly charge and I like owning the books.
Thanks for article link it was very interesting. I didn’t realize that KU had such problems. I read a lot and was interested in KU up until I realized I wouldn’t own the books. I like to own for the most part.
I have found so many new to me authors in KU that I would not have bought and read if KU were not available.
More of my book budget goes to family and pet issues every year so non-KU book purchases are limited to those authors who have always been auto-buys. Unfortunately KU finds keep increasing my auto-buy list. Or I can at least read then flag the books that I love so I can go back and buy them when funds aren’t as tight.
KU provides another reading option that currently works for me. Your mileage may vary.
I have found some of my favorite authors through KU and gone on to purchase many more books they have written. I am talking, take the day off when you know a book is coming out type of authors. I would not have found them by other means. Yes, there are many bad authors in it as well but I have learned to quickly quit a bad book. It is too bad about the scam but it had never occurred to me to look at rankings. I tend to go on story descriptions, get a sample and go from there. Now if it really does cause problems for authors I would like to know more as I would not want to be a part of that.
How incredibly unfortunate! I’m glad that you shared the information as I have not heard of this particular issue. Cheating systems is not new. I’m mostly surprised at Amazon. I would have guessed that self-preservation from a business perspective would have been motivating. Amazon is huge because of the customers. I guess it is up to us! I have never perscribed to KU because my favorites are not there. Even though my budget is excessively limited I would rather purchase my favorites. There are plenty of ways to access free reads or samples without paying for the privledge. I explore Instafreebe. I also follow bloggers that talk about books. Both help me find new authors. Kindle has tons of stuff you can get for free from legit authors. They make the choice! I’m all for supporting legitimate hard working authors!!!!!
Wow great to know about Ilona!
I buy books on Amazon ALL the time and also books on KU. I notice that the KU books are usually not quite as well written which is probably why they are there. But its good when you’ve possibly spent up to £40 on books already in one month!!
So whilst Amazon may say it doesnt generate sales, I like to try authors on KU and if they have good series I will always buy their other books that aren’t on KU.
Hopefully it helps authors get started!
Will keep an eye out for scammers though
Always a pleasure reading your blogs.
Jade x
I only signed up for KU because half of my Goodreads TBR list were only on KU, and not available through my library. I don’t use KU to find new books to read and if something did catch my eye I would cross reference the rating with Goodreads, not that Goodreads rating system is infallible either, many people rate the book even if they haven’t read it just because a blogger they follow either ranted or raved about it. But using the two combined seems a good way to make sure your not wasting your time. Im an avid reader, I read over 100 books last year and 200 the year before. I do not have the funds to purchase every book I want to read, but I do buy my favorite books to re-read or share with family and friends. I will also purchase new releases in my favorite series as they come out as well. Also if the book weren’t exclusive I would have read them from my library which I know gets more money to the Author than KU. If the Author chooses to put their books on KU which is exclusive then I have no choice but to subscribe or not read those books.
All true and good points, except I make 4x as much on page reads as I do on sales, so it’s not a tiny amount. Without the page reads, I would be making 80% less, and I know for a fact that selling at other stores would not make up for that.
I am a picky paranormal reader. I have my favorite authors and I am constantly waiting for someone to put out their next book. Not interested in wading thru KU to find something to read. Never as enjoyable as re-reading one from my favored author. KU benefits those that read everything, so it is an affordable option. For me I would rather spend money on certain authors and you’re the one that I have invested the most in. (and will continue)
I’m using playster not bad and a number of publishers have signed on with them they do audio books which is why I signed on but they do books and video as well. You pay for each genre but I got a deal on books and audio books.
I’m also in the camp of opting out of KU. I looked into the service when I first became aware of it a while back. My first thought was, “I read several novels a month. Up to a dozen sometimes. It’s an amazing bargain for me, but that many authors can’t be compensated properly from my $10… can they?” This is extremely important to me, as I have professional creator friends who have trouble getting paid fairly for their work.
Even bad authors put hours (hopefully many of them) into their stuff. The good ones generally put weeks, months, or in some cases years of effort into a single volume. These people deserve to be paid an appropriate wage for us consuming their content. I’m on a limited budget right now, so I can’t justify spending $120 per year on a subscription ($10 per month x 12 months) AND buying a good number of books the traditional way too.
After googling “is kindle unlimited good for authors” and reading a few peoples’ opinions on the subject… I decided to pass. Yes, it means I won’t be reading as much since I’m buying it all at full-ish price. But this way I’m saving my money for the people who deserve it, and filling my remaining entertainment time with other activities.
Or (gasp!) re-reading my favorite stories. Which are free for the best reason- because I’ve already bought them.