Amazon KDP allows books to be enrolled in Kindle Select, making the book eligible for Kindle Unlimited. The minimum time for a book to take part in Kindle Select is 90 days. I enrolled Members of the Cast in Kindle Select when it was first published. After 90 days, I opted out of Kindle Select and listed the book with Draft2Digital. I very much like the concept of Draft2Digital and wish to support their company.
During the 90 days, Members of the Cast was part of Kindle Select, Kindle Unlimited readers read 1700 pages. I discussed Kindle Unlimited in an earlier blog and believe that readers turning pages in my book is good. When I left Kindle Select, Kindle Unlimited also stopped. I was willing to lose that readership in trade for an opportunity for Apple, KOBO, and NOOK readers to find my book. Unfortunately, my sales through other vendors turned out to be a total flop.
The two sales in six weeks were generated by me purchasing a paperback copy and an Apple copy of Members of the Cast. These weren’t a vanity purchase as much as me wanting to see how Barnes & Noble’s print copy looked and how the digital version appeared on Apple Books. At the time, I didn’t understand that Draft2Digital only handles digital versions. The Barnes & Noble print copy was the same as an Amazon print copy provided by Amazon through Extended Distribution. The Apple Books version looked exactly as it should.
In light of zero sales from vendors other than Amazon and no sales from Amazon Unlimited, I have delisted Members of the Cast with Draft2Digital, and plan to re-enroll in Kindle Select. Some say I have not given Draft2Digital time to have sales build, but while zero sales were being generated from other vendors, Amazon KDP sales have continued, minus pages that Kindle Unlimited readers might have read. We must remember, Amazon began as a bookseller and has 70+ percent of the market.
One caveat is that Kindle Select means giving Amazon exclusive rights to a digital title. So, if you deselect a book with Draft2Digital, you cannot re-enroll the title in Kindle Select until it has been removed from all other digital vendors.
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