Amazon's decision to remove Kindle downloads has sparked discussion about Amazon's role in publishing. The good news is, you don't need to make a deal with the devil.
I went wide 11 months after I started publishing - and got out of the KU stranglehold. I love being able to offer my books on Kobo Plus because as a reader, it's less expensive and there's a huge catalog to choose from - and as an author, I get paid for EVERY read of my books. So if someone really likes it and wants to re-read it? I get paid both times!
I also like Kobo Plus -as a reader - because there is no limit to how many books I can download at one time, and I can keep them as long as I pay for the subscription. Kobo Plus is in more countries than Kindle Unlimited, and authors are doing more promotions for Kobo Plus books.
From a business standpoint - putting all of your books into just one vendor is not wise. When that one vendor decides (or their AI bots decide) that you can't sell there anymore - they keep two months worth of your income and your career is done.
I sell direct on my own shop, I sell via D2D, Kobo direct, and Google Books. I'm also on Bookshop.org and Curios. I don't sell direct via Amazon - I go to Amazon via D2D because I got tired of dealing with the Zon bullshit and threats when someone would pirate one of my books. Now I let D2D handle it for me. Much less stress means more time to write more books.
I went wide 11 months after I started publishing - and got out of the KU stranglehold. I love being able to offer my books on Kobo Plus because as a reader, it's less expensive and there's a huge catalog to choose from - and as an author, I get paid for EVERY read of my books. So if someone really likes it and wants to re-read it? I get paid both times!
I also like Kobo Plus -as a reader - because there is no limit to how many books I can download at one time, and I can keep them as long as I pay for the subscription. Kobo Plus is in more countries than Kindle Unlimited, and authors are doing more promotions for Kobo Plus books.
From a business standpoint - putting all of your books into just one vendor is not wise. When that one vendor decides (or their AI bots decide) that you can't sell there anymore - they keep two months worth of your income and your career is done.
I sell direct on my own shop, I sell via D2D, Kobo direct, and Google Books. I'm also on Bookshop.org and Curios. I don't sell direct via Amazon - I go to Amazon via D2D because I got tired of dealing with the Zon bullshit and threats when someone would pirate one of my books. Now I let D2D handle it for me. Much less stress means more time to write more books.