There’s a decision indie authors have to make when it comes to where to distribute their books: “go wide” or “Kindle Unlimited.” Going wide means placing your book at any online retailer. Going with Kindle Unlimited means being exclusive to Amazon.
Most indie authors choose KU. It’s the biggest retailer for books, especially ebooks. “Everyone knows about Amazon.” It’s where the readers are, so why not be there?
Except that’s not as good a choice as it was. If it could ever have been called a good choice.
I mentioned in my post about Kobo Plus that authors in KU whose books end up at piracy sites can lose their accounts. Amazon views any KU book being available anywhere else as voiding the exclusivity of KU. Authors often struggle to make it known to Amazon that they didn’t put their books up on pirate sites.
This isn’t the only bad news for indies who are exclusive to Amazon. The payouts to authors from the KDP Select Global Fund are on a downward trend. Upper management is cutting costs. Amazon recently closed Book Depository, a service that allowed readers to get print editions worldwide.
What these news items point to is that Amazon seems to have a “take it or leave it” attitude towards books. They’ll cut payouts to gain profits. They could eliminate KU if it’s not profitable or not profitable enough.
Going wide avoids all those risks, for one thing. As a wide indie author, I’m not too concerned if Amazon cuts back on its book business. Yes, most of my sales come from Amazon. Still, if something were to happen to Amazon’s book business, my books are at other retailers. I’d have no trouble telling my readers where to go instead of Amazon. I wouldn’t have to scramble to replace it.
Another advantage of going wide is, well, being everywhere. Even if nothing happens to Amazon right away, books sold through them are generally available in maybe 15 to 20 countries. The Google Play Store, which offers books, and Apple Books are both available in around 50 countries. My books have the ability to reach much of the world because I go wide.
Then there’s my Gumroad store. Because I’m wide I can sell ebooks direct there. I’m in the process of putting up special collections, both themed collections and series collections, at my store. I’ll be able to market these specials to readers, and offer them at lower prices because Gumroad doesn’t take that much of a cut. Being wide allows me this opportunity.
It can also allow an indie author to reach for other opportunities. There’s marketing books that are at other retailers with sales. For indies writing out their usual genre or writing across genres, there’s the chance to place certain books in certain stores once the author gets a feel for what sells where. Then there are sites like Wattpad that allow authors to post excerpts or whole books, either to promote or to be paid through site-specific programs.
With indie publishing becoming more dynamic, to me it now makes far more sense to be wide than to be exclusive to one retailer. There’s simply less risk and more potential for going wide.
Writing Update: I’ve started editing my 2024 releases. I have 3 books ready and I’m almost done with another. I do have several to complete, so I’ll be at editing for at least a couple more weeks.
Find all of my books here. Thanks for reading!