Move Over Netflix … Here Comes Bookflix

The Buzz Arrives … Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited Lands!

Amazon has a new offering … the dust hasn’t settled but the buzz is flowing. You have heard of Netflix. This is Bookflix.

If you at think about using this program, here’s a HUGE caution:

Indies would do well to avoid Kindle Unlimited for one simple reason: it requires KDP Select exclusivity. For me, doing an exclusive means that there has to be a tremendous bonus, usually financial with it. Smashwords’ CEO Mark Coker posted a blog that covers this that you are encourage to read: http://shar.es/NVnRC

With that said … read on …

If you are on KDP Select, you might have got this notice from The Kindle Direct Publishing Team via email:

Today we are excited to introduce Kindle Unlimited–a new subscription service for readers in the U.S. and a new revenue opportunity for authors enrolled in KDP Select. With Kindle Unlimited, customers will be able to read as many book as they want from a library of over 600,000 titles. KDP authors and publishers who enroll their books with U.S. rights in KDP Select are automatically enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. Inclusion in Kindle Unlimited can help drive discovery of your book, and when your book is accessed and read past 10% you will earn a share of the KDP Select global fund. For the month of July we have added $800,000 to the KDP Select global fund bringing the total to $2 million.

KDP Select is an optional program that makes your book exclusive to Kindle and eligible for the following benefits:

Reach more readers – With each 90-day enrollment period, your book will appear in Kindle Unlimited in the U.S. and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) in the U.S, U.K., Germany, France, and Japan which can help readers discover your book.
Earn more money – When your book is selected and read past 10% from Kindle Unlimited or borrowed from KOLL, you’ll earn your share of the monthly KDP Select Global Fund. You can also earn a 70% royalty for sales to customers in Japan, Brazil, India, and Mexico.
Maximize your sales potential – Choose from two promotional tools including: Kindle Countdown Deals, time-bound promotional discounts for your book, available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, while earning royalties; or Free Book Promotion, where readers can get your book free for a limited time.

Learn more about KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited. Visit your Bookshelf to enroll your titles in KDP Select, and click on “Manage Benefits” to get started.

Check to see if your book is included already. Suggest you log out of your Amazon account, or access Amazon from a browser you rarely use and search the book. if you’ve bought the book or browsed it a lot (as in checking for reviews, status, from your account as the author, it won’t show up.

To see other titles that are included, check out Kindle Unlimited at: http://amzn.to/1ra0UYH

Per Amazon, if you want your title selected, here’s what they said:

To enroll your other books in Kindle Unlimited, you’ll need to meet the KDP Select eligibility requirements: http://bit.ly/1syW1KJ

Money is always important, here’s what Amazon says about how you get paid:

The (KDP Select Global) fund amount is variable and announced on a monthly basis. We constantly monitor all factors that impact the KDP Select fund in order to set the fund amount for our KDP Select authors. You can earn your share of the KDP Select Global Fund amount when readers chose and read more than 10% of your book from Kindle Unlimited, or borrow your book from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

In other words, readers must read 10% of your book in order for you to get paid from this fund. Don’t expect it to be the same, it most likely will vary from month to month.

Does this affect sales rank on Amazon? Per Amazon, the answer is yes. How it affects it is still unclear.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd a book publishing expert and coach. She is the Founder of Author U, a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. Judith is the author of 31 books including Author YOU: Creating and Building Your Author and Book Platforms (ForeWord Indie/Fab Book of the Year), Snappy Sassy Salty: Wise Words for Authors and Writers and a speaker at publishing conferences.

Become part of her inner circle by joining the Author’s Ark and exclusive monthly webinar and coaching event. Her audio and workbook series, Creating Your Book and Author Platform is now available. Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Author U – Your Guide to Book Publishing on the Toginet Network at http://tinyurl.com/AuthorURadio. Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” at AuthorU and Judith Briles – TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact Judith at Judith@Briles.com.