Writing from a Mountain | Why KDP Select Works Best For Newbies
Attracting Readers is never easy
The more you experiment, the more you know. The more you know, the less confusion there will be.
There are reasons why I always advise new authors to start their writing journey from KDP Select. This was the first place where I published my first book. There were ups and downs. Some days were good, some bad. But there were so many parameters to look after and no one tells you when you start.
What is KDP Select?
Kindle Select is also called Netflix for books.
If you have published with KDP then you already know it well. But for those who are new and looking to get into this field then —
KDP Select is a place where your books will be locked for 90 days and readers who are in the Kindle Unlimited program, can read your books for free.
So that’s millions of readers you are getting for free. Not all will read your work. But few will definitely. And when more people read and leave reviews, Amazon KDP will widen your reach.
Genre plays a very important role here. If you are into fiction then it works well. Romance is at the top of this game. But for non-fiction, I never had any luck.
What’s my profit if books are read for free?
You will be paid per page read. If any reader with a KU subscription, downloads and reads your work then you will be paid a certain amount for each page read. It has changed a lot from time to time.
September 2022: $0.004713915
So if your ebook has 300 pages and the KU customer reads the whole book then-
300 x 0.004713915 = $1.4141745
This is for a brand-new customer who doesn’t even know you.
The more pages they read, the more your book will be promoted by Amazon.
Should you consider enrolling your eBooks in Kindle Select?
As I said, I used it at the start of my career.
This helps to gain more readers in a short period of time. Yes, retaining those customers will be difficult. because once they finish your work, their device will be bombarded with new books in a similar genre as yours.
Driving traffic is never easy for any author, especially if they are new. You will have to write books continuously in order to make a decent income. So, doing more work (along with sending traffic) will not be a good choice for a starter. Go slowly and gradually. One step at a time.
What is the most important thing for every new author?
Books.
Your books should be your first priority. So pay attention to books and let the marketplace handle your books for some time.
Some writers prefer to build an audience first and that has worked well for them. This may work for some, while for others it won’t. But in my experience, it’s draining to tweet all day or post on Instagram for followers and engagement. It’s not an easy job and has really drained much of my creativity.
Writing and marketing at the same time is not an easy task. It requires a lot of energy. Once you get into the habit, it becomes a little easy for you.
Cons of Kindle Select
When I follow anyone on YouTube or on any marketplace, I never take their suggestions right away until they have mentioned the cons. It is necessary for authors to know both sides of the coin beforehand.
Seeing always the greener side encourages us a lot but can never prepare for difficult times.
- You are fully dependent on the marketplace. If it’s just a hobby then no worries but if you wanna become a full-time author, you shouldn’t be fully dependent on one platform.
- You will have to publish consistently. In my experience, you do get some sales when you first publish your books. Whenever I upload books on any of my three pen names, I used to get sales (with no promotion) within a week. But after that, no sales at all, until I publish the next one.
- Bad reviews affect sales. I previously got one bad review on my second pen name and after that no sales at all!
Even though I have written the cons and pros of this marketplace, I still believe that every writer shouldn’t stay away from this. As I always say experimenting is the key.
If you want to know more about making money writing ebooks, then you can check out my book “My Mistakes in Self-Publishing”. Happy Writing Journey!
