Here We Go Again, Amazon Change

Kindle Unlimited Pages Read

Just about the time that you think that you have things figured out, they change right before your eyes. The month of July has seen a big change for authors of Kindle books. The Kindle Unlimited program is paying by the page read now. Here are the details of the program as Amazon reports it. (Taken from: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A156OS90J7RDN)

kindle-unlimited-pages-read

Kindle Unlimited Pages Read

Beginning July 1, 2015, we switched from paying Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) royalties based on qualified borrows, to paying based on the number of pages read. We made this switch in response to great feedback we received from authors who asked us to better align payout with the length of books and how much customers read. Under the new payment method, you’ll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it.Royalty payments under the new program

As with our current approach, we’ll continue to set a KDP Select Global Fund each month. Under the new payment method, the amount an author earns will be determined by their share of total pages read instead of their share of total qualified borrows.

Here are some examples of how it would work if the fund was $10M and 100,000,000 total pages were read in the month:

  • The author of a 100 page book that was borrowed and read completely 100 times would earn $1,000 ($10 million multiplied by 10,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).
  • The author of a 200 page book that was borrowed and read completely 100 times would earn $2,000 ($10 million multiplied by 20,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).
  • The author of a 200 page book that was borrowed 100 times but only read halfway through on average would earn $1,000 ($10 million multiplied by 10,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).

We will similarly change the way we pay KDP Select All-Star bonuses which will be awarded to authors and titles based on total KU and KOLL pages read.

You can enroll in KDP Select at any time by visiting your Bookshelf. If you no longer want your book(s) to be included in KDP Select you may unenroll from the program by contacting us with the ASIN of the book you would like to remove.

Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC v1.0)

To determine a book’s page count in a way that works across genres and devices, we’ve developed the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC). We calculate KENPC based on standard settings (e.g. font, line height, line spacing, etc.), and we use KENPC to measure the number of pages customers read in your book, starting with the Start Reading Location (SRL) to the end of your book. Amazon typically sets SRL at chapter 1 so readers can start reading the core content of your book as soon as they open it.

This standardized approach allows us to identify pages in a way that works across genres and devices. Non-text elements within books including images, charts and graphs will count toward a book’s KENPC.

You can see your book’s KENPC listed on the “Promote and Advertise” page in your Bookshelf, and you can also see total pages read on your Sales Dashboard report. Because it’s based on default settings, KENPC may vary from page counts listed on your Amazon detail page, which are derived from other sources.

Reporting

You can view your Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) Pages Read in your Sales Dashboard report by marketplace and title.

We always support our authors’ efforts to promote their books all over the world, but at the same time we work to prevent any manipulation of the Kindle platform. Because we’re always looking to improve our authors’ experience, we’ll have systems in place to monitor for potential manipulation.

What I like about the changes
The changes reflect that users have to remain interested in the book and the topic long enough to finish. I have always felt that I deliver enough value that readers stay on to the end of the book. However, I have picked up books that have lost my interest within the first 20 pages. Those books get less of the divided up profits.
What I don’t like about the changes

The pages read are lumped together in one statistic. I can’t see which books are being borrowed the most, and which subjects I should write more about due to the lending.

What to do about it

I think the most important thing to do about the changes is to write more books that are more compelling. I think that the aim of the program is to reward authors that have more than just an attractive cover and good keywords in the title, they are rewarding authors that grab a readers attention and don’t let it go until they get to the end of the book.

What do you think about the changes? Please leave a comment and let us know.

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2 thoughts on “Here We Go Again, Amazon Change”

  1. Ugh! what about short works like children’s books and poetry? This is really going to affect those. Just another reason not to do KDP and be exclusive to amazon but to publish to other platforms

    1. Without a doubt, this may impact short works much more than longer works. I have both, so I will be interested in what it really looks like in the long run.

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