Well, a major bomb has been dropped on the publishing world today and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens (to say the least). The new Kindle Unlimited subscription model allows readers to borrow as many books as they’d like from the Kindle Unlimited library for a monthly fee of $9.99 and the first month is free. There’s lots of speculation right now about whether this is good or bad for authors (I don’t see how readers could possibly lose but maybe I missed something). This link to Hugh Howey’s blog offers a good look at a cross section of reactions from authors, many of whom sound very concerned while Hugh Howey himself seems to be looking at the optimistic side as well as how readers benefit .
What this means for indie authors might be a big deal, indeed, since inclusion in this library means going into KDP Select (making their books exclusive to Amazon). Typically, I get most of my sales from Amazon so for me it might make sense to go back to Select. I like the idea of my books being available on other platforms, though, such as Kobo and BN (especially Kobo since it’s a really friendly platform for writers). If I understand correctly from the blog post mentioned above, high profile authors like Hugh Howey are being included in Kindle Unlimited anyway but might have to choose regarding exclusivity down the road (seems hard to believe Amazon would make them choose but that’s what I gathered). I have to say, I was amazed to hear him say he’d actually consider going exclusive with Select as he has in the past. I was planning on it anyway for my new book (Jump When Ready Book 2) when I release it since that program offers some nice promotional tools. So, an interesting coincidence there for me, at least.
I know there’s going to be tons of conversation about the repercussions of all this and will be very interested in learning more. Many have been saying for years that this model is coming. Well, now it’s here and we’ll just have to see what happens next. One thing is for sure, though. There’s never a dull moment in indie publishing.
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