Kindle Publishing: Is It a Good Idea to Enroll Your eBook in Amazon's KDP Select Program?

March 5, 2013 - PRLog -- I've been a self-publisher since 2004, long before sites like Amazon made publishing ebooks as easy as it is today. Because of this, I receive a lot of questions about the self-publishing process - which include everything from creating ebook covers, to the technical components of what's involved.

Following is a question about ebook marketing from a newbie to publishing on Kindle. She wrote:

I've been meaning to ask you this for a while.  Could you please let me know your reason for not joining the KDP on Amazon? I know it doesn't let you sell your ebooks anywhere else (not even on your own site) - is this the reason why? It's just that I've heard from many sources that the free promotions on KDP (which lead to higher Amazon rankings and more sales) far outweighs the exclusivity to only Amazon.

Any thoughts on this welcome!

Before I respond, let's get on the same page. For those who don't know, following is a brief explanation of what Amazon's KDP Select program is all about.

What Is Amazon's KDP Select Program?

In simple terms, this is an ebook marketing strategy that Amazon devised. How it works is, authors enroll their ebooks so that they can be included in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library program.

This lending library allows Kindle owners to borrow ebooks - at no cost. As a lot of ebook readers will try free ebooks, you're in essence promoting your ebook - and gaining a following for your works -- for free.

Ebook Marketing Via Amazon's KDP Select Program: Some Pros and Cons

All of the above sounds good in theory, no? Following are a few pros and cons.

Con: Exclusivity. You can't sell the digital version of your ebook any place else while it's enrolled in the KDP program - not even on your own website or blog.

Pro: You Get Paid. How? Via a the KDP Select Global Fund, which is a special fund set up by Amazon to pay authors based on the number of borrows their ebook gets. Amazon set up (the KDP Select Global Fund). How much you're paid is based on how frequently your ebook is borrowed.

Con: Miss Months of Sales. If you decide to enroll your ebook in the KDP program, you have to do so for at least 90 days. This means you could be missing out on three month's worth of sales via your own site/blog and other outlets.

Pro: Sell Paper Version. The program rules only apply to the digital version of your ebook. So if you publish a paper version via Smashwords, for example, you can still sell that anywhere you please.

Pro: Can Opt Out. You can do this at any time. Note though that once you sign up - even if you do so say a week later -- the 90 days still have to expire before you can start selling your ebook other places.

Pro / Con: Certain Genres Do Better. This is a pro or a con, depending on which genre you publish in. Fiction tends to do better than non-fiction in the KDP program.

My Response to Should You Enroll Your Ebook in Amazon's KDP Select Ebook Marketing Program

I enrolled one of my ebooks in this program. As I didn't see a big jump in sales, I took it out after the 90 days expired. But I advise all self-publishers to try it at least once. Ebook marketing (http://inkwelleditorial.com/ebook-marketing-tips-for-self...) is all about trial and error. And with this program, you have nothing to lose because you can opt out at any time.

I hope this insight helps and happy selling!
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About the Author: Yuwanda has written and self-published over 50 ebooks, which can be found on major sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, in addition to her freelance writing website, InkwellEditorial.com. If you found the info here insightful, get more in the complete package on writing an ebook. It will not only teach you how to write an ebook (in just a few days!), but also outline some ebook marketing strategies (http://inkwelleditorial.com/ebook-publishing-package-get-...) that will have you raking in sales within a week - really!