Keep the ebook exclusive to kindle?

D.Varsha · May 3, 2014

Hi,

I'm a published author coming out with my first self published ebook. I'm very confused

as to keep the book exclusive to kindle & create space (because of the KDP offer) or to bring out on various platforms like, nook,smash words, kobo etc. I have a big reader base in inda even though I'm based in the US.

Any and all advice would be very helpful.

Thank you,
Varsha
www.varshadixit.com

cmhbob · May 3, 2014

At the moment, I'm second-guessing my decision to join KDPSelect, and will not renew at the end of this term. I feel like I'm leaving sales on the table by not covering other platforms.

D.Varsha · May 3, 2014

cmhbob said:
At the moment, I'm second-guessing my decision to join KDPSelect, and will not renew at the end of this term. I feel like I'm leaving sales on the table by not covering other platforms.

Thank you Bob. Appreciate you sharing your feedback

Polenth · May 3, 2014

You can do a bit of both. Put it on Kindle at first, and run a free promotion. Then add it to the other places when you leave Kindle Select. It's not an irreversible decision.

cmhbob · May 3, 2014

The timing is what's made me unhappy. You have to wait 30 days between promotions, and you have to wait 30 days before you run your first. I might try it again when the sequel is ready. We'll see.

Literateparakeet · May 4, 2014

Polenth said:
You can do a bit of both. Put it on Kindle at first, and run a free promotion. Then add it to the other places when you leave Kindle Select. It's not an irreversible decision.

This is my thought as well. My first book got a nice little boost from doing the free promotion with Kindle Select. I will likely renew Select when the time comes and run another free promotion.

For my second book, I haven't decided what to do. I will likely put it on Select for one cycle, and then take publish it elsewhere as Polenth said. Different books, different goals.

Being a published author, I'm torn as to what I think the best advice for you would be. Perhaps since you already have an established fan base, it would be better to have your self-pub book available in as many formats as possible. But again, it doesn't need to be a permanent decision either way.

shelleyo · May 4, 2014

Using Select for a brand new name can give you some visibility you might not have had otherwise. (I think it's best to use the free days when you have at least one more book out that people can purchase, but some people don't and are still happy with the promotions.)

It's only 90 days. In the grand scheme of things, that's not much to commit to. Just be sure to uncheck the box that will continue it automatically, so you get to make the choice.

girlyswot · May 4, 2014

For the first 18 months of self-publishing I earned approximately 10x as much at B&N as I did at Amazon. If you sign up with Select, you're taking a big gamble, imo.

Not to mention you're increasing Amazon's power in the market and in the long run that's only a bad thing for authors.

SunshineonMe · May 4, 2014

Select isn't for everyone, or so I've heard. From what I've gathered Select is best for single published books, not in series, or first time authors.
Have you run a countdown event yet?

Do you get borrows?

For some people the amount they sell at other avenues doesn't equal the amount they can sell during a count down, or the borrows.

It's really a personal choice. So far Select has been a good fit for me, but that can always change.

veinglory · May 4, 2014

In the long run, more platforms means more sales. If you want to do select, do it for a limited time.

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

Polenth said:
You can do a bit of both. Put it on Kindle at first, and run a free promotion. Then add it to the other places when you leave Kindle Select. It's not an irreversible decision.

Thank you. That is some sane advice

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

cmhbob said:
The timing is what's made me unhappy. You have to wait 30 days between promotions, and you have to wait 30 days before you run your first. I might try it again when the sequel is ready. We'll see.

Hi Bob,

that is my grouse too. I'm planning to do a book-bub promotion and want to maximize the sales rather than keep them restricted to one platform. The person who is helping me publish wants me to use the kdp advantage. Conundrum!

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

Hi Leslie,

thank u for sharing ur woes. And here I thought writing a book is the tricky part. Good luck in making your choices. I might just do the 30 day loaded exclusive on Kindle. Like many here said the decision is not irreversible

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

shelleyo said:
Using Select for a brand new name can give you some visibility you might not have had otherwise. (I think it's best to use the free days when you have at least one more book out that people can purchase, but some people don't and are still happy with the promotions.)

It's only 90 days. In the grand scheme of things, that's not much to commit to. Just be sure to uncheck the box that will continue it automatically, so you get to make the choice.

Thank you Shelleyo. That seems the most practical route

)

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

girlyswot said:
For the first 18 months of self-publishing I earned approximately 10x as much at B&N as I did at Amazon. If you sign up with Select, you're taking a big gamble, imo.

Not to mention you're increasing Amazon's power in the market and in the long run that's only a bad thing for authors.

Thanks Ros..true the business side of self publishing cannot be overlooked. I will have to read some more and discuss this better with the gentleman who is helping me format my book. Thank u for the advice

)

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

Thank you SunshineonMe (love the name, it instantly invokes image of a perfect beach day

)

I will be uploading my book in a few days and will def enroll it in the countdown deals. Thank u for the great suggestion. All the best with your writings.

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

veinglory said:
In the long run, more platforms means more sales. If you want to do select, do it for a limited time.

I shall run with advice

Thank you for the tip.

stormie · May 4, 2014

For my one MG novel and short story, I used Smashwords first (and formatted the mss. to the way they wanted it), so I could get it on B&N, Sony, etc. Then I went over to Kindle and formatted it for them (which was easy once it's formatted to Smashwords specs).

Smashwords has a free guide on their site to help out. It's great.

SunshineonMe · May 4, 2014

D.Varsha said:
Thank you SunshineonMe (love the name, it instantly invokes image of a perfect beach day )

I will be uploading my book in a few days and will def enroll it in the countdown deals. Thank u for the great suggestion. All the best with your writings.

Here's what I did- when you enroll into Select they make you wait the 30 days before the countdown. The best thing you can do is advertise for your countdown deal. You don't have to spend a lot, I went with this place( http://www.fiverr.com/bknights )
For $5 you can get him to tweet about your book. There is also ENT- which you pay from the commission you actually make on the books they sell. That really helps.

LOTLOF · May 4, 2014

I'm going to swim against the current. I have self-published two novels and used the Select program with both. No regrets so far as I have made a good bit of money from borrows. On my first novel I waited about eight months before using a promotion. It got me a good number of sales at a discounted price.

If you don't like the results you can always opt out after 90 days.

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

Thank you for sharing your experience Stormie. Appreciate it

)

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

SunshineonMe said:
Here's what I did- when you enroll into Select they make you wait the 30 days before the countdown. The best thing you can do is advertise for your countdown deal. You don't have to spend a lot, I went with this place( http://www.fiverr.com/bknights )
For $5 you can get him to tweet about your book. There is also ENT- which you pay from the commission you actually make on the books they sell. That really helps.

Thank you SunshineonMe...very kind of you. Will do as you suggested and check out the links u posted. Thank you

SunshineonMe · May 4, 2014

I'm excited for you!!!

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

LOTLOF said:
I'm going to swim against the current. I have self-published two novels and used the Select program with both. No regrets so far as I have made a good bit of money from borrows. On my first novel I waited about eight months before using a promotion. It got me a good number of sales at a discounted price.

If you don't like the results you can always opt out after 90 days.

Thank you Nelson for sharing your efforts. I too am thinking of doing kindle select for 90 days and then will put my book on other platforms. All the best with your writings

)

D.Varsha · May 4, 2014

SunshineonMe said:
I'm excited for you!!!

Thank u so much. Me too...

Keep the ebook exclusive to kindle?

D.Varsha

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

D.Varsha

Polenth

Mushroom

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

Literateparakeet

Nerdy Budgie

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit

girlyswot

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

veinglory

volitare nequeo

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

stormie

storm central

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

LOTLOF

D.Varsha

D.Varsha

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

D.Varsha

D.Varsha