Amazon Launches Subscription Service in U.S. for Books

ByPhyllis Zimbler Miller

Given that there are already monthly subscription services for reading ebooks (similar to Netflix, etc. for movies and TV shows), it is not surprising that Amazon has just announced Kindle Unlimited with unlimited access to a library of over 600,000 titles for readers in the U.S. (Audio books are also available in this subscription service.)

I first learned of this from an email to authors explaining that all books enrolled in KDP Select with U.S. rights are automatically included in Kindle Unlimited. Then I went to the home page of Amazon.com to watch the very brief video about this new service being offered for $9.99 a month with a free 30-day trial.

Watching the video and checking out the Kindle Unlimited page on Amazon, I was confused. Many very popular books are being offered, and these books cannot be on KDP Select. This is because an author who has a book on KDP Select for a 90-day period is committed to that ebook only being sold on Amazon for that period.

In other words, although all KDP Select books are automatically enrolled, more than just KDP Select books appear to be available on this subscription service. Thus I’m assuming Amazon made deals with major book publishers to include their books.

For KDP Select authors there is an interesting caveat to being included and earning money each time someone downloads their books: There is no fund payment unless the person reads more than 10% of the book. (If a reader gets 10% into a book a second time, there is no additional payment.)

This is different from a payout that KDP Select authors get when their books are downloaded as part of the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library (KOLL) with over 500,000 titles — available in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France and Japan for Amazon Prime customers.

In the case of a book being borrowed, the author gets paid simply for the download regardless of whether the book is read. (Note that Amazon Prime members only get one free ebook download a month. For big ebook readers, an unlimited monthly subscription may be a much better deal.)

Another difference is that books borrowed from KOLL can only be read on Kindle devices, while books read via Kindle Unlimited can supposedly be read on any device.

Read more now at amazon.com/kindleunlimited

P.S. Besides an increased revenue stream, Kindle Unlimited offers authors’ books a way to find new fans. And new fans are very important. This week I was given a kick in the pants by two fans of my work-in-progress dystopian thriller THE MOTHER SIEGE, which is on Wattpad. The fans asked when I was going to add new chapters, and I obliged by writing more and posting on Wattpad at http://budurl.com/MSintro

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

3 Comments

    1. Below is the first paragraph of the email I got today from Amazon. I suspect the U.S. is just the first Amazon country site and that other Amazon country sites will have the option at a later time.

      “Today we are excited to introduce Kindle Unlimited-–a new subscription service for readers in the U.S. and a new revenue opportunity for authors enrolled in KDP Select. Customers will be able to read as many books as they want from a library of over 600,000 titles while subscribed to Kindle Unlimited. All books enrolled in KDP Select with U.S. rights will be automatically included in Kindle Unlimited. “

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