[Jim Johnson]

Heard in a couple places that Kindle Worlds is closing down. If true, it's too bad, but not surprising. I've had an eye on it for a while but it never seemed to be well-managed. And the lack of metrics available to authors seemed problematic.

 

[David R. Larson]

Kind of a bummer if so, I have a Silo Saga trilogy in the works...

I wonder if the authors will have the option to keep their books available in the regular Kindle store?

 

[Jenni]

I have a ton of books in the program and it totally sucks. I make good money there... It's a bit of a shock, but there will be options for many of us.

 

[Amyshojai]

That sucketh. Many of us have been successful in the Worlds.

 

[75814]

That sucks. I've always liked the idea and have been toying with doing something for it. Though the lack of support for some of the worlds in terms of covers is ridiculous. If you're going to force us to use cover creator, then at least provide licensed images for all properties instead of only just a few.

 

[Amyshojai]

Toby Neal and her Lei Crime K-World offered extraordinary support to her authors. We've become good friends, and that will continue. But the only REAL thing one can count on in publishing is that nothing stays the same for long. *sigh*

 

[David R. Larson]

That sucks. I've always liked the idea and have been toying with doing something for it. Though the lack of support for some of the worlds in terms of covers is ridiculous. If you're going to force us to use cover creator, then at least provide licensed images for all properties instead of only just a few.

I created my own cover for mine and it worked fine. You don't have to use their images.

 

[Donna White Glaser]

So, first Kindle Scout and now the Worlds. I wonder what's shaking up at Amazon?

 

[Jena H]

I would have liked to do something in a Kindle World.  But most of them are 'worlds' I've never heard of, and the rest are either worlds/genres I'm not interested in, or couldn't bring myself to write.  Or both.

Overall, though, I think KW is a very good concept.  I imagine some of the worlds are very specialized and niche-y, though.

 

[My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too]

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.

 

[CABarrett]

How do you know it's closing down? Is there some announcement?

The world owners have been told that it's shutting down, and many of them have given their authors the news in advance of Amazon's official email. From what I've heard I am expecting that email this week, with the books coming out of Kindle Unlimited at that time and pulled entirely from the site in July.

I agree with Donna White Glaser above - together with the end of Kindle Scout, it seems to indicate a new editorial direction behind the scenes (that wants to be literary and serious? There's been a notable dearth of genre fiction in Amazon First Reads compared to early 2017). I feel surprised that they're wiping the program out completely instead of just ending their paid/promoted launches. Fanfiction with permission sounds like a good niche for a self-publishing product, given the popularity of fanfiction and the difficulty of navigating the legal stuff and royalty division alone. It also seemed to (somewhat awkwardly) serve a need for indie romance authors seeking a cooperative platform to create multi-author branded lines. I hope one of the self-publishing platforms steps up with a similar concept. Maybe Amazon itself has a follow-up.

I do feel strongly that it is insulting to give the world owners so little notice, and to put so much of the work of shuttering worlds on them. Many of these authors were very involved in mentoring others and promoting their protegees, and every one of them had generously allowed others to share their imagination. As an author in a Kindle World, it is far more discouraging to see Amazon treat them so poorly than it is to lose my work, and to get further confirmation that authors will be left for dead on the side of the road the instant that the algorithms discard them, and that a relationship with an editor is a relic of the twentieth century.

 

[Carol Davis]

This is VERY disappointing to hear. Amazon's support for KW has always been sketchy at best, but I've had some decent success with my Silo Saga books.

 

[Going Incognito]

Kindle Unlimited...

And

... July.

Scarier words are rarely spoken together...

 

[Taking my troll a$$ outta here]

Yes, it sucks. Apparently there will be an email tomorrow and KW shuts down July 16th.
Not surprised too much. It seemed like they lost interest in the program at least a year ago.
At least I will have a handul of stuff to re-work and make my guinea pigs for going wide.

 

[Becca Mills]

So, first Kindle Scout and now the Worlds. I wonder what's shaking up at Amazon?

Add to that the crusade against illegitimate page-reads, and perhaps an increase in customer service automation (thinking of Julie's recent experience). I wonder if KDP is being forced to tighten the belt and is beginning with what they see as low-hanging fruit.

 

[Ava Glass]

Yes, it sucks. Apparently there will be an email tomorrow and KW shuts down July 16th.

July 16th sounds about right for this kind of change (see: history of KU). Have to wonder if Amazon has anything else planned.

Maybe Amazon needs to save money to deal with KU scammers. Amazon created a "Netflix for books" without understanding that Netflix is not YouTube.

 

[Taking my troll a$$ outta here]

Add to that the crusade against illegitimate page-reads, and perhaps an increase in customer service automation (thinking of Julie's recent experience). I wonder if KDP is being forced to tighten the belt and is beginning with what they see as low-hanging fruit.

I was thinking the same thing. When they decided to include the KW books in KU, I thought it was a good thing. However, using the royalty terms from KU 1.0 (10% read= author gets paid 70% of ASP) was bound to muck things up. It was not a surprise when a glut of super short books started trickling in like the pamphlet nonsense of yesteryear. In one of the worlds I wrote in, I noticed an author took a KU book that was first published in 2016 and split it up into a dozen "chapter" books, right after all the KW books went to KU.

I understand the business sense behind eliminating programs that are not pulling their weight. I don't think this was unexpected, though. They pretty much abandoned the KW blog a year ago and the Twitter feed has been dead for a couple months. Sadly, it looks like they were pulling resources and giving up for a while.

Kindle unlimited

And

July

Scarier words are rarely spoken together...

I know, right KU + July sends shivers down my spine, just as badly as every July back in my ER nurse days when all the new resident doctors flooded the ER wanting to touch patients and stuff.

PS - old ER RN tip: don't have a medical emergency in July. Not. Ever.

 

[Linn]

July is one of those not good months for anyone.

July has consistently been my best month for sales. I wish every month could be July.

 

[Gentleman Zombie]

Add to that the crusade against illegitimate page-reads, and perhaps an increase in customer service automation (thinking of Julie's recent experience). I wonder if KDP is being forced to tighten the belt and is beginning with what they see as low-hanging fruit.

That was the first thing I thought. Right now Amazon is supporting an entire industry virtually by themselves - maybe they want to reign things in.

 

[Lisa5]

Heard in a couple places that Kindle Worlds is closing down. If true, it's too bad, but not surprising. I've had an eye on it for a while but it never seemed to be well-managed. And the lack of metrics available to authors seemed problematic.

And pity they kept saying they'd open up to authors outside the USA but never did and let them read the whole speil about writing for Kindle Worlds only tacking down the very bottom that outside US authors are excluded wasting people's time.