Ever since Amazon introduced Kindle Unlimited, we authors have been at the mercy of the beast. Over the years, Amazon has implemented poorly conceived, and poorly enforced systems, resulting in a significant loss in revenue for authors for every book that is read through Kindle Unlimited rather than being purchased. Scammers play the system, costing us even more in lost revenue, and Amazon does little to prevent it. When they do, they often target honest authors by mistake. Amazon also punishes authors for not being in Kindle Unlimited, by counting a free read (through KU) greater than an actual sale when it comes to calculating sales rankings. Grossly unfair, since a read through KU is most certainly not a sale, since the customer did not have to pay for it.
Every book that is read through Kindle Unlimited rather than being purchased results in the loss of $1.50 of revenue. Considering that half of my revenue now comes from Kindle Unlimited, you can imagine the effect to my business. If I am to continue writing all planned 75 episodes (before I die) something has to change.
In the past, I tried to offset the loss in revenue by writing and releasing more quickly, and by raising prices. But that punishes you, the paying readers. You get less story because I have less time to flesh out each story’s potential. And raising the price just means you’re paying for those who don’t want to pay. Therefore, I’m going to be pulling my books out of Kindle Unlimited (which requires exclusivity to Amazon) and putting them up for sale on other platforms. They will still be for sale on Amazon as usual, just not available through Kindle Unlimited.
Now, the last time I tried to do this (back in 2014), I nearly bankrupt myself by pulling everything out at once. So, this time, I will be pulling the books out a few at a time, starting with the first 3 books of part 1. Over the course of 2 years, they should all be out. Out of respect for those who need Kindle Unlimited, I will continue to put the remaining episodes of part 2 in Kindle Unlimited, but not until 90 days after release, and then for only 90 days, after which they too will be pulled out. However, once I start writing part three, no new titles will go into Kindle Unlimited.
In addition, I will be pulling all of the Netcasts, except for Netcast Zero, completely off of Amazon. They, along with all future Netcasts, will be available for free on our website to anyone who subscribes to our mailing list. In addition to the Netcasts, additional scenes occurring between episodes will also be available through our website to mailing list subscribers, along with future graphics and chart, and, eventually, a full Frontiers Saga wiki. The additional bling is paramount to growing our mailing list, and our mailing list is our safety net against Amazon doing something else that impacts our revenue.
I thank you all for reading my stories, and I hope to continue entertaining you for many years, with all the adventures still dancing around in my crazy brain.
Ryk Brown
