Is KDP Select good? Is KDP Select worth it? In my opinion, yes it is but know that I have only been using it for two weeks and haven't been paid yet. So, if you came here wondering about money, this blog isn't for you.
Short summary: The main reason why I enjoy KDP Select is because you can see the amount of pages read every day and so you know that people are picking up your book and reading it within two or three days. Money is important, but knowing that someone loved your book is very important as well.
Longer Summary: Before I put my book on KDP Select, I had it availiable on kindle for four months, I had planned three before putting it on KDP Select, but waited an extra month. Sales were good after I recieved a good honest review, but then they dropped when I recieved a bad honest review. Even so they remained consistently above zero. I was fine with this because I hadn't done much advertising and thus not many know about my book.
Once my teaching job went on vacation, I tried to get some websites to review my book, so I could get word out. I guess my book is a little different from your typically fantasy book and the sites have many books to review, which might be the reasons I didn't get replies.
So, I tried a site where I offered my book free in exchange for honest reviews. I got some nice reviews from the site, but I also started recieving intimidating emails trying to get me to pay for a service. When I chose not to respond, a negative review followed.
Still, sales remained above zero, but the intimidation was a motivational killer and I was in the middle of writing my second book, so motivation was important. Thus, I decided to put my book on KDP Select. I had planned to do this after three months, but had held off an extra one while I tried to advertise.
When my book went on KDP Select, I was happy to find that I could see the amount of pages people read. It started off with 0 then 112 then 352 then 905. 905! That's my whole book and then some. That means that someone picked up my book and liked it so much that they finished it in a couple of days (or 905 people read one page). I've read many books in my time but I only read a few in one or two days. The fact that someone could pick up my book and read it so quickly was highly motivational. And they wrote a review afterwords!
The pages read kept going up (trend of dropping on thu., wed. and fri.) but I didn't recieve anymore reviews. Even so, the fact that someone enjoyed my book and read it so fast was motivation enough. Yes, every writer wants to earn money so they can make it a full time career, but the fact that people enjoy the book enough to read it in one or two days is something a writer loves to know. Now I'm almost done with book two, maybe twenty pages left. So, if you're waiting, expect it to come out in the early days of winter.
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