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Kindle Unlimited for Beginners
Ok! So yes, Amazon is The Enemy but! Kindle Unlimited is one area where they seem to give a benefit to readers without simultaneously fucking over authors and so it has become a staple of my reading life. As in, I get most of my books from there.
A subscription is $9.99/month and there are lots of "3 months for $4.99" or "6 months for $30" deals available, as well as free trials that seem to reset about once a year. A subscription allows you to "check out" up to 10 books at a time, and you can return/check out books as many times as you like. Some of the books also come with free audiobook copies. All books are available for download to transfer via USB and yes, that means what you think it means. Syncing to Amazon deletes all books not currently checked out.
Most authors get paid based on the percentage of their book(s) you've read, as determined by Amazon sync. Some authors have purportedly gotten different contracts whereby they get payed by the straight download instead but they seem a statistically insignificant minority. Massage files as seems fair before syncing.
Kindle Unlimited is, primarily, selfpub trash. Don't get me wrong, I love me some indulgent trash romance or filthy trash porn! But there is probably a reason these authors went KU instead of a traditional publisher that would give them, like, ANY marketing support, so, uh, set expectations accordingly.
Oh! Relevant point I forgot! To be KU-available, a book MUST be KU-exclusive. So that cuts out a whole bunch of your midlisters as well as your big names - though some names/publishers have cut deals to release on KU without that pesky exclusivity.
Anyway! KU is fantastic for porn, m/m romance, reverse harem novels, novella serials, nontraditional doorstopper fantasy...if it will Never Be Licensed for Television, it has a place on KU.
Amazon's search is only getting more garbage as time passes, so some on finding the good stuff on your own:
1) a good way to narrow things down is to find an author you like and check out the "people also liked these authors" sidebar on their profile
2) you can look at the rankings of a specific book, pick the most niche list, and scan that for ku titles; a book might be #987 in romance but #10 in 30-minute LGBT reads or whatever, and the latter is MUCH easier to browse
3) start at the kindle unlimited catalog and narrow the categories down until you're ready to start browsing
The key benefit, though, is trying some fucking garbage that you'd never risk if you were straight up paying for it. It's free! The author gets paid something even if you DNF two chapters in and, crucially, they are paid via Amazon's dollars, not yours. You're just paying for the weird access card. Make the most of it!
I have read thirteen books by Erin R Flynn and I don't even particularly like her! I would never pay for her overdramatic cliches! But with KU, all I'm wasting is my time, so yeah, tell me more about how hard it is being a Very Special Magic Princess with six boyfriends.
You will try so many more authors you've never heard of, genres you've never touched. It's amazing. Highly recommended.
A subscription is $9.99/month and there are lots of "3 months for $4.99" or "6 months for $30" deals available, as well as free trials that seem to reset about once a year. A subscription allows you to "check out" up to 10 books at a time, and you can return/check out books as many times as you like. Some of the books also come with free audiobook copies. All books are available for download to transfer via USB and yes, that means what you think it means. Syncing to Amazon deletes all books not currently checked out.
Most authors get paid based on the percentage of their book(s) you've read, as determined by Amazon sync. Some authors have purportedly gotten different contracts whereby they get payed by the straight download instead but they seem a statistically insignificant minority. Massage files as seems fair before syncing.
Kindle Unlimited is, primarily, selfpub trash. Don't get me wrong, I love me some indulgent trash romance or filthy trash porn! But there is probably a reason these authors went KU instead of a traditional publisher that would give them, like, ANY marketing support, so, uh, set expectations accordingly.
Oh! Relevant point I forgot! To be KU-available, a book MUST be KU-exclusive. So that cuts out a whole bunch of your midlisters as well as your big names - though some names/publishers have cut deals to release on KU without that pesky exclusivity.
Anyway! KU is fantastic for porn, m/m romance, reverse harem novels, novella serials, nontraditional doorstopper fantasy...if it will Never Be Licensed for Television, it has a place on KU.
Amazon's search is only getting more garbage as time passes, so some on finding the good stuff on your own:
1) a good way to narrow things down is to find an author you like and check out the "people also liked these authors" sidebar on their profile
2) you can look at the rankings of a specific book, pick the most niche list, and scan that for ku titles; a book might be #987 in romance but #10 in 30-minute LGBT reads or whatever, and the latter is MUCH easier to browse
3) start at the kindle unlimited catalog and narrow the categories down until you're ready to start browsing
The key benefit, though, is trying some fucking garbage that you'd never risk if you were straight up paying for it. It's free! The author gets paid something even if you DNF two chapters in and, crucially, they are paid via Amazon's dollars, not yours. You're just paying for the weird access card. Make the most of it!
I have read thirteen books by Erin R Flynn and I don't even particularly like her! I would never pay for her overdramatic cliches! But with KU, all I'm wasting is my time, so yeah, tell me more about how hard it is being a Very Special Magic Princess with six boyfriends.
You will try so many more authors you've never heard of, genres you've never touched. It's amazing. Highly recommended.