Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited

I've seen tons of questions regarding Kindle Unlimited. So I figured I would try to help clear up some of the confusion and clarify what exactly KU is and the benefits of having it.

What is Kindle Unlimited?(This is copied exactly from Amazon)
"Kindle Unlimited is a subscription($9.99 a month) that offers you unlimited access to hundreds of thousands of Kindle books and thousands of audiobooks with Whispersync for Voice. You can keep up to ten books at a time and there are no due dates. Read your Kindle Unlimited books on any Kindle device or free Kindle reading apps."

To use Kindle Unlimited, you must have an Amazon account with a current, valid credit card and you must have 1-Click payments enabled. Titles in the Kindle Unlimited catalog may change at any time.

Kindle Unlimited also includes a free Audible membership for up to three months. To redeem your Audible benefit click on the link in your welcome email or sign in to your Amazon account and visit the Audible page.

How does this affect authors?

KU is a program that authors can use to get their book into readers hands who might not feel comfortable buying if it's not from an author they have read before. The author gets paid a commission if the reader makes it past 10% of the book.(I scroll past 10% right after purchase so the author gets paid right away) The author can choose what book to include and can remove that book whenever they choose to. It's totally up to the author. It may work for one author, and totally bomb for another.





K.A. Linde had this to say about KU: So the way Kindle Unlimited works is every time a reader borrows the book through the program and reads through 10% the author gets paid out of a pool of money Amazon has set aside. Generally that amounts to about $2 a borrow. We don't get anything if you borrow it and never open that bad boy up. Since I'm published through Montlake the division of Amazon PUblishing, the Record series is auto enrolled in KU. (You can click the book covers to go Amazon to check out her Record series)

K.A. also looked at her sales for me and noticed that last month she didn't have many "borrows" through KU but this month her sales and KU borrows were almost the same. Which led her to believe a bunch of people are borrowing those titles who might not otherwise had read it, which is the advantage. She also said, "I think its a decision that each author has to make for themselves. We are our business. It might work for someone and tank for another."

All 4 of us at Book Babes Unite pay for Kindle Unlimited. Each one of us read a lot of books, and that $9.99 a month actually helps us out. You also get 3 free months subscription to Audible....and that's enough of a selling point for me. 

 I spoke to Holly from Hollys Red Hot Reviews and she this is what she had to say.

"I like KU, it's allowed me to read new authors I may not have read otherwise. I love the option to borrow, and best part is if I loved the book I can always one-click it to own it.When I borrow a book I automatically scroll past 10% so it counts. I think KU is better than just letting a book not sell at all."

So we can see it's a useful tool for authors to get their books into readers hands who are leery of reading an author they don't know. For those readers who read a bunch and want another option of getting those books, this is the perfect way to do that. 

Now, I'm sure you all are asking if it's worth paying for based on the books available to borrow. Well my answer to that(IMO) it is definitely worth the $9.99. Here are a list of books that are a part of Kindle Unlimited.

Jessica Park has most of her books on KU and Left Drowning was a top read for Christy and I(Reanell) for 2013. Want to know what makes this even sweeter? Her books have the narration, so when you borrow the book you also get the narration if you have an audible account.

A few more titles in KU

Scoring Wilder by R.S. Grey

Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittainy Cherry

Therapy  by Kathryn Perez

God Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo(this costs $9.99 if you buy it)

Here are a few more with narration:

Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day

Reason to Breathe  by Rebecca Donovan(the whole series is on KU)

Not Quite Dating  by Catherine Bybee

I know some authors are afraid that readers who pay for KU won't purchase other books. That is not the case for me at all. If a book sounds appealing or is from an author I know and love I will still 1-click. And we are NOT one of the bloggers who won't promote authors because of it either. We don't blog to make money, we blog for our love of books. Yes we use Affiliate links but all money made from that is used for giveaways. Which helps us and the authors we love because we can offer more giveaways. I hope this post is helpful in answering your questions and if I missed anything feel free to ask me and I'll see what I can do to answer it.