[Nova_Implosion]

I still have a few questions about KDP Select. Maybe some of you can help me figure this out.

Can you earn a portion of the monthly pot when a free copy of your ebook is loaned to another reader, or is that only available when a purchased book is loaned? Also, will I get paid if the loaner is not a member of Amazon Prime?

What is everybody's experience with Select in regards to borrows?

One more thing: What's the best way to go about encouraging readers to loan your book?


Thanks!

 

[60169]

I'll try to help.

Yes, every time someone "borrows" your book through the KOLL program, you get paid. That amount varies from month to month. Last month, it was $1.88 I believe.

When people purchase your book and then use that one time loan, you don't get paid. "Loans" usually refers to when an Amazon Prime member borrows a book (which they can do once per month) from the Kindle Owners Lending Library. The only way to get your book into KOLL is to be exclusive to Amazon and be in the KDP Select program.

Because I price my book toward the higher end of the indie scale ($4.99) I tend to get a higher percentage of borrows. Most months, my borrows run about 35% of my sales.

There is no real way I know of to encourage people to borrow your book, aside from maybe social media. I will occasionally post something on my FB page that says "Don't forget, if you're an Amazon Prime Member, you can borrow Feels Like the First Time for free!" or some such.

 

[AndreSanThomas]

You're actually mixing up 3 things.

1.  Free promo days.  There's no payment for these, but also no fees either.

2.  Loaning a book.  You can load a copy of a book that you have in your account, to someone else's account.  You can only do it one time per book and you cannot read it while the other person has it.  They have (I believe) 14 days to finish with it and then it disappears from their account and goes back to yours.  There's no payment or fee in this either.

3.  Prime Member borrows.  Prime members can borrow 1 book a month from those books available.  Everytime someone borrows your book, you get paid.  The amount you get paid varies each month based on total pot and total borrows of all books, but it runs about $2 each.  Typically, you don't have a lot of borrows until you start having a lot of sales.  There are also variations based on genre and price point.  There really doesn't seem to be anything you can do to promote borrows, except to do whatever you're doing to promote sales.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Don't confuse borrows with loans.

LOANING is when a reader who BUYS your book gives it to someone else.

BORROWING is when a Prime member checks your specific book out for their freebie, once a month.

 

[LarryWilmot]

I like to think of it like this. - Think of the old fashioned paperback book.

Loans - Fred lends his book to Mary. Mary has it for two weeks and gives it back. The author doesn't get a payment.

Borrows - Fred goes to his local library and borrows a paperback book.  The author eventually gets a small royalty for having his book borrowed.

Hope this helps.

Cheers Larry.

 

[David Thayer]

I haven't had much luck with borrows after four months on Select.

 

[Nova_Implosion]

Thanks, everybody.

I get it now. My short story is in Select, so Amazon Prime members can get it for free. That means they download it (a.k.a "borrow") and I get paid a portion of the monthly pot ($1.88 or whatever it is).

I thought that they had to "loan" it to somebody before I got that $1.88.

 

[AshMP]

Thanks, everybody.

I get it now. My short story is in Select, so Amazon Prime members can get it for free. That means they download it (a.k.a "borrow") and I get paid a portion of the monthly pot ($1.88 or whatever it is).

I thought that they had to "loan" it to somebody before I got that $1.88.

You have it correct now. Under your KDP you'll be able to track official vs. borrows.