Last month, I discussed why I, a mainstream author, decided to self publish ebooks too My Adventure As A Mainstream Author Doing Self-Published eBooks Part 1. This month, I’ll share my experience with using the Amazon KDP Select program.

I decided since The Commitment Plan and VIP were two of my older titles re-released as ebooks that I would try the KDP Select program and see what the hype was about.

One of the drawing factors to the program was being able to offer the title for free for a limited amount of time. Free? How does that benefit the author financially if the book is free?

Several ways. There are millions of people with Kindles. Unless you’re a Jackie Collins or James Patterson, you may not have a million readers so being able to offer the book for free is a good way to give readers an opportunity to read a book with no strings attached by an author they are not familiar with or who’ve they’ve always wanted to try but was unsure.

Will offering the book for free guarantee future sales? Nothing is 100 percent but from my experience being a part of the KDP program, my sales not only increased for the book that was offered for free but also sales for some of my other titles increased.

I saw sales triple for both The Commitment Plan and VIP after being put on the program. What gave it the boost? Believe it or not is offering the book for free over a one to two day period. I don’t know what the magic is about increasing sales after a free promotion but yes, folks, it works.

When the books were offered for free there were enough downloads to place the books in the top 100 Amazon best sellers list which brought more awareness to the books. Another thing that happened is the books were also offered as a “recommended” read after a customer makes a purchase of another book in that same category.

I experienced the most sales the first six weeks after being in the program. Although sales have waned some from the first six weeks, they are steady.

When is a good time to put your ebook in the KDP program?

• If your book is an older title being re-released as an ebook, then it may benefit you.
• If your book is part of a series and you want to get people interested in the series, then it may benefit you.
• If you noticed low to no sales and need a boost, then it may benefit you.
• If you only have one title out, it may or may not benefit you.

Another feature of the program that is either a plus or minus is people who have the Amazon Prime Membership will have the option to borrow the book. Authors get paid when the book is borrowed, but the amount paid per borrow will fluctuate. Members are only able to borrow one book per month but can extend the borrow. There aren’t any limits on how many people can borrow one book though.

In my opinion, the only negative I could find with the program is giving exclusive rights to sell for a period of 90 days. That means you can’t sell it on your website or at any of the other online retailers for the specified 90 day period. So people who don’t have Kindles, will not be able to read your book until after you offer it on the other devices after the 90 day period.

Overall, participating in the program has worked for me. Remember, my journey is not every author’s journey. If you decide to try it, put forth your best effort. Stop back by next month when I talk about writing under pen-names, the pros and the cons. 

Are you an author using the Amazon KDP Select program? What have been your personal pros and cons?

Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments field.

Shelia M. Goss

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For a full list of the books in the Shelia Goss eBook Collection go to: http://www.sheliagoss.com/ebooks

Shelia M. Goss is a national best-selling author and a 2012 Emma Award Finalist. She has over thirteen books in print and numerous of ebooks available. She writes in multiple genres. With unique storylines, her goal is to create “stories with a twist.” For more information, visit her website at http://www.sheliagoss.com/

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