Authors making a bundle through Kindle Direct Publishing

Amazon seems intent upon further disrupting the already roiling publishing industry and is apparently succeeding.

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is off to a strong start: customers borrowed 295,000 Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select titles in December alone, and KDP Select has helped grow total library selection to over 75,000 books.
KDP lets authors publish their works directly through Amazon rather than first going through traditional print publishers and a number of them are making much better money than likely via traditional means.
We’re about to finish the first book we borrowed from the Kindle Lending Library. Amazon Prime members can borrow a book a month. A word of warning – many of the KDP select titles suffer from relatively amateurish writing and poor editing, judging from the samples we’ve read and comments we see online. Some, however, are entertaining reads, if not exactly great literature.

In any event, it is providing authors with another route to publication and profits.
With the $500,000 December fund, KDP authors have earned $1.70 per borrow.
In response to strong customer adoption of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (as well as seasonal, post-holiday use of new Kindles), Amazon.com, Inc. has added a $200,000 bonus to the January KDP Select fund, raising the total pool from $500,000 to $700,000.
“KDP Select appears to be earning authors more money in two ways. We knew customers would love having KDP Select titles in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. But we’ve been surprised by how much paid sales of those same titles increased, even relative to the rest of KDP”

Paid sales grew rapidly
Paid KDP sales grew rapidly in December — and results show that paid sales of titles participating in KDP Select are growing even faster than other KDP titles. On top of this growth in paid sales, KDP Select authors and publishers on average are receiving an incremental 26% in December as a result of their participation in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

“KDP Select appears to be earning authors more money in two ways. We knew customers would love having KDP Select titles in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. But we’ve been surprised by how much paid sales of those same titles increased, even relative to the rest of KDP,” said Russ Grandinetti, VP of Kindle Content.

“Due to this early success and a seasonally strong January, we’re adding a $200,000 bonus to January’s KDP Select fund, growing this month’s total pool to $700,000.”
The top ten KDP Select authors earned over $70,000 in the month of December from their participation in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, a 30% increase on top of the royalties they earned from their paid sales on the same titles in the same period.

Writer earned $8K plus in December
In total (paid sales plus their share of the loan fund), these authors saw their royalties grow an astonishing 449% month-over-month from November to December. The list of top 10 KDP Select authors includes Carolyn McCray, Rachel Yu, the Grabarchuk family and Amber Scott.

Carolyn McCray, a writer of paranormal romance novels, historical thrillers and mysteries, earned $8,250 from the KDP Select fund in December. “KDP Select truly is a career altering program,” said McCray.
“I couldn’t be happier with the tools, support and exposure it has given me. To say the trade-off of exclusivity on Amazon for the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has been a profitable one would be a gross understatement. Participating in KDP Select has quadrupled my royalties.”
Rachel Yu is a 16-year-old author of children’s books, and she earned $6,200 from the KDP Select fund in the month of December. “It’s so cool to be part of the success of KDP Select,” said Yu. “It’s just like a library but with easier access. There’s truly no other opportunity like Amazon for self-publishing.”
The Grabarchuk family earned $6,300 from the KDP Select fund in December from their puzzle books.
“After only a month KDP Select has dramatically changed things — finally indie publishers are playing as equals with the big publishing houses in the world’s biggest eBook marketplace,” said Serhiy Grabarchuk, Co-Founder of the Grabarchuk Puzzles company.
Amber Scott is a romance writer and earned $7,650 from the KDP Select fund in December.
“Enrolling in KDP Select utterly transformed my career,” said Scott. “I’ve experienced not only a surge in royalties but a surge in readership thanks to the increased exposure. I love the chance to earn new readers through the innovation of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. What an exciting time to be an author.”

Source : TechJournalSouth

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