C.J. Lyons Discusses Whether Amazon KDP Select Is Worth The Price Of Exclusivity

Amazon KDP Select

C.J. Lyons, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, describes the Amazon Select program:

In exchange for giving Amazon exclusive use of a piece of digital content for 90 days, you receive five days (any five you choose) to make your digital content available for free, and you also get paid for any of your e-books that are lent through the Amazon Prime library.

But is the price of exclusivity worth it?

Here is C.J.'s conclusion based on her experience in the program: For the two 90-day periods I was in Select, it was a virtual wash financially.

Should You Try Amazon KDP Select?

Although C.J. Lyons didn't make any money through Select, you might be able to. Here are three questions C.J. suggests you ask yourself before enrolling a book in the program:

1. Can I obtain the level of engagement I’m looking for via Select? For a standalone book with lagging sales or to bring new readers to an established series by giving away the first book, the answer might be yes.

2. Will enrolling in Select anger my readers? Know your audience and have a plan in place to gift them a version if they shop at a different venue.

3. Will this help me increase sales/make a bestseller list/grow my audience? Don’t try to do all three at once, but instead choose one goal for this particular title at this particular time.

C.J. Lyons concludes: "Keep your options open and don't be afraid to experiment."

Great advice!

All quotations are from C.J. Lyon's guest post on Jane Friedman's blog: Amazon KDP Select: Is It Worthwhile for Authors?

Have you ever used Amazon KDP Select? Would you recommend it?

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Photo credit: "I want to play a game.....me dijo el gato." by Rodrigo Basaure under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.