Sept 2023 Publishing Update: Why I’m Leaving KU (Sort Of)

So, first of all, as of the time of this writing, the majority of my books are still in Kindle Unlimited, so there’s no need to panic. (Yet.)

But, yes, I’m been making some moves behind the scenes and exploring the world outside of the Kindle Unlimited universe.

Before I get into that, I want to say a couple of things about Amazon, the first being I’m extremely grateful for Amazon. With the advent of the kindle, Amazon upended the book publishing industry, and because of that, I’m able to be in this position where I can publish and sell my books without needing a traditional book publisher.

And for that, I will forever be grateful.

And I’ve also gotten a lot out of being a part of KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited program, and I’m glad I chose to add my books to Kindle Unlimited when I first started publishing years ago. There’s a lot of benefits to being a part of Kindle Unlimited.

But, there’s also some negatives.

When you’re in KU, you agree to make your ebooks exclusive to Amazon. (Not paperback or audio or any other format, just ebook.) That means you can’t sell your ebooks on any other online store, such as Apple or Barnes and Noble, nor can you sell them on your website or put them in libraries.

In return, you get some additional marketing benefits, plus you’re paid per page read, and that amount fluctuates from one month to the next. (In most cases, however, you’ll still make less than what you would if a reader bought the book for full price).

The problem is, in the last five months, the per page read has dropped to its lowest level ever. Not only has it ever been this low, it’s never been this low for so many months in a row.

Needless to say, my income has definitely taken a hit, which has led me to wanting to explore life outside of Kindle Unlimited.

Bottom line, here’s what happening:

1. Most of my books are still in Kindle Unlimited and will remain there for the rest of the year and probably through the first quarter of 2024 and maybe even longer.
2. The books that are remaining in Kindle Unlimited are the Secrets of Redemption series and The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries.
3. If and when I remove those from Kindle Unlimited, I will give you a heads up so you can still go in and download them before I pull them out. (If you download them while they’re in Kindle Unlimited, even if I remove them you can still read them as part of your membership–you just need to make sure to download them first).
4. The books that are no longer in Kindle Unlimited is The Stolen Twin, Mirror Image, The Taking and The Third Nanny. They are, however, still available for purchase on Amazon.

Not having my books in Kindle Unlimited opens a lot of possibilities that weren’t there before. I can now have my books in libraries (which I love, some of my favorite memories growing up were spending time at the library) and I’ll also be able to sell my ebooks from my store.

In addition, there’s a new “Kindle Unlimited” type program that’s now available on Kobo. It’s called Kobo Plus, and for one low fee, it includes both audiobooks and ebooks. All my books on Kobo are in that program because it doesn’t require me to be exclusive to Kobo.

All that aside, I understand it may be disappointing for you as well, so my plan is to make the transition as smoothly and effortlessly for you as possible.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or comment on this post. I’ll continue to keep you updated on my plans as soon as I know that they are.