It’s hard to believe, but Kindle Unlimited (KU) was launched
only a short two years ago. It feels like authors and readers have been
complaining about it for a lot longer than that. For authors, it’s usually
about royalties. For readers, it’s about the availability of books they want to
read. Being both an avid reader and an author, I was, needless to say, a
skeptic.
I finally subscribed to KU this spring, and I’m close to
being a raving fan. This is something of a leap for me, because skepticism is
my natural state, especially when it comes to subscription services. But, let
me share why I’ve been so happy with KU so far.
Payback
I would not recommend KU to anyone who is not an avid
reader. (But I’m not sure I know anybody who isn’t an avid reader.) I probably
read 3-5 books a month. The prices usually range from about $3 up to $16, so I’d
put my average cost at about $5-6 a book. To break even on KU, I only need to read
a couple of these books a month.
Of course, you’re not going to break even as quickly if 99
cent novels are all you ever read. But, if that’s your thing, I’m guessing you
read even more novels a month that I do, so your breakeven point may be just as
easy to reach.
Availability of
titles
It’s true. You’re not likely to find the latest best sellers
on KU, but then I tend not to read the latest best sellers. I like what I like,
and it’s usually not what everybody else likes.
What I can find on KU are quality authors that I might not
have tried if I had to shell out $5 or more for someone I had never heard of.
(Not to say that they aren’t well known. They just aren’t well known to me.)
Here are a few authors I’ve discovered specifically because they had at least
one title on KU: MaryLu
Tyndall, Tamara
Leigh, Robert
Masello.
Quality of titles
I’ve also heard it said, many times, that KU only has
self-published authors whose works are of questionable quality. There’s no
doubt that there are a number of them out there. I would guess that for every
book I finish, I probably download three or four. The great thing is that I can
try the author out without worrying about doing any due diligence. (I used to
spend tons of time combing through reviews.) If, after a few pages, I find it’s
not my cup of tea, I set the book aside, and I’m not out anything but a few
minutes of time.
Over the years, I can’t tell you how much money I’ve spent
on books that I would rather have tossed into the trash bin than finished. (Just
because a book has hundreds of 5 star, raving reviews, does not mean it’s
actually good, if you know what I
mean.) But, because I paid out good money, I often read to the end. That’s time
I will ever get back. Plus, those of you who are writers understand the dangers
in reading poorly written books. Bad writing is contagious.
So, from an avid
reader’s point of view, I can’t see how one could lose by subscribing to KU.
But, how about from the author’s point of view?
I may not be the best judge of this as I’m not trying to
make a living writing novels. (I make my living writing; just not romance
novels.) But, it seems to me that there is an advantage to KU for the
struggling/just-starting-out writer as well. If you can get your work in front
of more people, that’s a good thing, right? And, unlike giving away a sample
work for free, you get paid when someone reads your book. In fact, they don’t
even have to read all of it, and you still get paid. (Last I heard, the
subscriber had to read at least 10%, and then the author earns royalties based
on the total number of pages read even if the reader doesn’t finish the book.)
I have only one book on KU, but if it were up to me, I would put
all of them there. However, it’s not. That decision is my publisher’s, and I’m sure
they have a method to their madness. But what say you? Is KU a
reader’s/author’s dream come true, the bane of your existence, or somewhere in
between?
MJ
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