Leaving KDP Select to go Wide

As Rock Star 2 – Rock Hard is nearly finished and booked into the editor at the end of this month (deadlines!) that meant I had to think long and hard about whether to stay in KDP Select and launch on Amazon only, or if leaving KDP Select to go wide with the new book was a better choice.

I figured it was time to start testing out more marketplaces such as Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo & Google Play. Especially as I’ve had lovely readers ask why they can’t find my books at these retail platforms.

Leaving KDP Select

For the last two years I’ve been exclusive to Amazon so that I can participate in their Select program. This allows you extra exposure by being in the KU lending library. You also get exclusive promotional tools, and a few other perks. It’s been a great ride, but over the past few months I’ve been thinking a lot about going wide again. Especially now that my catalog is expanding and I’m writing more novels rather than shorter works.

It’s been a good ride being in Select. I’ve made some good money there. There is no doubt that going wide will mean I’ll take a hit on my income since my exposure on Amazon will be diminished. Who knows how long that income will take to improve on the other sites? I’ve heard it can take a while.

But the decision is made. As my books start to cycle out of their Select contract over the next few weeks/months, I’ll be putting them up at the other retailers as well as Amazon.

Rock Star is the first. It’s up everywhere now except Kobo (it’s stuck in publishing there, but should be up in the next few days), and I’ve set a preorder for Rock Hard up at Apple iBooks for 21 November (more deadlines!).

Pre-orders

I’ve never used a preorder before, so it’ll be interesting whether or not anything comes of it. We’ll see. At the very least it’ll force me to get the book finished on time so I don’t incur any penalties.

The Apple iBooks preorder for Rock Hard is up now for 21 November release. I’ll be putting the pre-orders for the other stores up, including Amazon, once the book is final. It’ll be a short pre-order period, but enough to test it out and see whether I continue to use it in the future. So far I like it.

It remains to be seen whether leaving KDP select will be a smart financial decision or not, but I’m sure I’ve done the right thing long term, even if that means the short term might be shaky.

I plan to be around for the next few years and longer after all. 🙂