Hi, I'm Mr. Chhuye, and in this video we're going to talk about...what? KDP Select? Seriously? Why are we talking about KDP Select? [Michael B]: You have to create good content for your channel, remember Michael? Michael A: But this topic has been done to death.
[Michael B]: But you have to tell them whether KDP Select is worth it, plus the 1 thing that most authors don't consider when they're thinking about exclusivity. [WINK] Michael A: [Sigh] OK. Stay tuned. [BUMPER] I'm sure you sensed the sarcasm in the beginning of this video.
Well, it's because this topic has been done to death, but I'd like to offer a different perspective. I talk to a lot of authors who 1.) are either enrolled in KDP Select or 2.) ask me if they should. And I usually tell them it's a bad idea. Now, don't get me wrong---sometimes, for some authors, KDP Select makes sense. But I am not a fan. And no, it's not because I have Amazon Derangement Syndrome, Amazon Dysfunctional Syndrome or whatever you call it.
I actually used to suffer from a far worse syndrome that almost killed my author business. It was called Not Thinking Far Enough Ahead Syndrome. According to the American Medical Association, authors who suffer from not thinking far enough ahead syndrome experience smaller royalty checks, increased anxiety, make decisions based on fear, and...OK, the AMA actually has nothing to say about this disorder. [STARE] But guys, it's real. Does enrolling in KDP Select mean you're short-sighted? Not necessarily.
Like I said, it makes sense for some authors sometimes especially when there's a lot of money at stake. But for most authors, at least the ones who have to ask the question in the first place, it should have no place in their business strategy. I want to show you exactly why going exclusive with Amazon, let alone ANY retailer will damage your career long-term in ways that aren't immediately obvious. [roll up sleeves] Let's get visual. We're going to talk about a tale of two authors.
Author A is all-in on KDP Select. For the sake of easy numbers, let's say he has 1 book. That book is available only as an ebook on Amazon. To be generous, we'll also say this author also has a print version and an audio book available. That's three separate revenue streams. This author is making about $2500 per month on the book and enjoys increased visibility from KDP Select. He nailed his genre, had a good story, a good book cover, good book description, and all the other minimum requirements that an author should have to be successful. Author B also has 1 book. She writes in the same genre and has all the same attributes that made Author A successful, so they're both on equal playing ground.
She has published her ebook on Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Smashwords and its various channels, Draft2Digital and its various channels, and she has built relationships with the staff at these retailers so her book is featured in promotions and sell regularly. She also sells the book on her website using Gumroad. The book is available in paperback through CreateSpace, but this author has also done the extra legwork to get her book into bookstore and library catalogues. It's available as an audiobook via Audible, too. Let's say she has 15 revenue streams minimum for the same book. She also makes $2500 a month---about 60% of that comes from Amazon (about $1500), and the remaining 40% comes from the other channels. This took her a couple of years to do by the way.
Now let's be fear-mongers for a moment and pretend that Amazon, in its infinite wisdom, for unknown reasons, makes changes to its algorithms, and BOTH authors see their sales drop as a result. Author A's monthly income drops from $2500 to $1000, which is a 60% decrease. Author B also sees her income drop from $1500 per month to $1000 per month, a 20% decrease. She and Author A are now making the same amount of money. But Author B's sales on the other platforms are unaffected, so in all actuality, her income only drops $500 per month. With a few new books, some well-timed ads and a mailing list promotion, she can probably make up the remaining income she lost.
Author A on the other hand, is screwed. Sure, he can release a few more books, but they're not going to launch him to the same rankings on Amazon he used to enjoy due to the algorithm changes. And he can buy some ads and use his mailing list, but it still doesn't get him around the problem of Amazon's algorithms, which put him in this position to begin with. He's probably not going to make much money. [Author A falls off screen and yells. I look down and look concerned.] At this point, Author A is also going to be trapped: he'll end his exclusivity and jump onto the other retailers, but at this point it's going to be harder for him to build a relationship because this is EXACTLY what the rest of the multitude of KDP Select authors will be doing. The relationships that Author B spent two years building will have borne their fruit right about now, and she'll be very glad she did not invest in KDP Select. As she releases more books, the number of revenue streams will increase exponentially. After two books, she'll have 30 revenue streams, three books, 45, four books, 60, and so on.
[BACK to WHITE] Most people talking about KDP Select will usually just leave it at that. But let's take this a step further and ask the million dollar question: is Author A finished? Is his career over? Probably not. Author A can and probably will bounce back. But it will take him a heck of a lot longer because he ignored the law of compounding numbers. Think about a 401K (at least for you United States viewers) and compounding interest. A person who mismanages their money and starts saving at age 50 will never have as much money for retirement as a young person who started saving when they were in high school. It's the same idea with exclusivity. The more money you make in the short-term while being exclusive, the less money you will make everywhere else in the long-term.
But here's the real thing about exclusivity that almost no one thinks about: the real question you should be asking is not whether you will make more money. The question you should be asking is "which relationships will I be building and which ones will I be ignoring?" Revenue streams depend on relationships. It's about how strong your retail channels are and how vibrant your relationships with those retailers are. So when you choose exclusivity, you're really choosing relationships. Remember, publishing is a business. And the way to grow a successful business is to ensure that losing a key relationship or two won't destroy it. When you only have 1 key channel, you're asking for trouble.
It takes time to build relationships and grow revenue streams. It's painful in the beginning, but when an industry-altering event happens, you'll be glad you did. And best of all, you won't suffer from Not Thinking Far Enough Ahead Syndrome ever again. Side effects of going wide with your work may include making more money, increasing your revenue streams, increased libido, higher self-esteem, feelings of euphoria every time you get paid by multiple retailers each month, and in some rare cases, an unexplainable urge to laugh all the way to the bank. Thanks for watching this video.
As a thank you for watching, I've put together a gift for you---it's a checklist of revenue streams that you can use to make sure you're getting the most possible income from your books. If you make your work available on even half of the channels on my checklist, you'll position yourself for long-term growth and success. Click the link in the description or in the YouTube card above my head, depending on where you're watching this. Take care.
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