I thought I had mentioned this before, but apparently it didn't get spread around, so I felt I needed to mention this now, publicly, so that everyone was aware of it:
Starting over a Month ago, I began removing some books from the Kindle Unlimited program, and they will NOT be going back in.
Right now, it's only the books that have had very poor sales. KU is a numbers game, if a book sells a lot, and people keep buying it, keeping it in KU is fiscally sound. But if sales quickly taper off and they're poor? Then leaving it in KU kills me financially. Going forwards, everything that I write & publish will start off in KU for at least one 3-month term. If it continues to do well, or the series it is in is doing well, that book will stay in KU.
Besides, it's not like the prices on my books are high, when you consider that people who are a lot less popular than me, charge $5.99 to $7.99 for what they're putting out. MOST of my books are priced at $2.99 and $3.99, which in today's market is a steal. Even $4.99 for one of my works is a good deal. Even with the runaway inflation we are having, I have resisted raising any prices (and hope I can continue to do so). But KU has ALSO not raised its payouts. Again - KU is a numbers game - if I'm selling a lot, it's worth being in it. If I'm not, it ain't.
Pulling those poorly performing series out of KU also allows me to try and find a market on another bookseller where they may perform better. One of the terms of KU is that I can ONLY sell those books on Amazon. I've honestly considered (and may eventually) pulling my $2.99 books from KU (because who can't afford $3?) so I can put those out on other booksellers to try and encourage more people to buy my books on Amazon.
There's also another, sadder, reason for pulling some of my series. Every cover on Dan's Inferno was marked as 'Pornographic'. All of the covers. Yes, covers 2 and 3 were a little risqué. Cover 1 wasn't, and cover 2 was as vanilla as it comes. Someone at Amazon obviously took issue with the series and got it banned from advertising. I figured their next step was going to be to claim my having that series in KU was a violation, so they could ban ME.
So yes, sorry, but this is my sole source of income and someone at Amazon has happily been going around attacking my covers on other series as well, which has forced me off of Amazon's Advertising program for a while (and perhaps permanently).
Lastly I want to be clear that I will keep my major series in KU, unless it becomes clear to me that it's no longer safe. There are people at Amazon who use alleged KU violations as a way to remove people they don't like. I put my books in KU as a service to You, the readers, and my Fans, in an attempt to save you money. But there comes a time when I have to put my own well-being and ability to continue to write stories for you, first.
Sincerely,
-John Van Stry / Jan Stryvant
Thank you, hope things workout for you. You are one of the few authors I will follow no matter the platform.
ReplyDeleteYou deserve to get paid for your work - I buy & will continue to buy... Love your writing...
ReplyDeleteYea, The price point isn't outrageous. It would be worth few bucks for the stuff. I did before I found KU. >>
DeleteWow. Such jerks they are. Those covers were not pornographic. They are tasteful like those over lady harem covers on here.
ReplyDeleteThere are two things to keep in mind when dealing with bureaucracies: What they tell you maybe just the rule they're using (for good or ill) rather then what they feel on the matter, and how desensitized one might be.
ReplyDeleteFor example message from you might be dealing with someone so steeped and so bored with the genre anything less then someone being already in the act with a few stains on the bed isn't even a blip! -OR- You might be dealing with someone that see DI 1's cover, looks at it a little funny, but gives it the benefit of the doubt. It could be any number of other things. Goes on from there see has no room to give any of it any benefit of the doubt about what the cover teases is inside and re-evaluates book 1's with all doubt what alternatives it could be removed. Then prosecutes the entire series under that light.
Both people might be in the same department evaluating children's book and harem things under the same standards corporate playbook.
Whoops. That should be 'For example a message for you...' not 'from you'.
Delete