I published under Kindle Unlimited, but have noticed a lot of the LitRPG books out there are not exclusive to Amazon. I've never heard any LitRPG author mention whether or not they get many sales on B&N, Apple, Kobo, or Smashwords. Is the audience big enough wide to forgo KU? I think we all want to reach as many readers as possible.
I've got to say that KU more than feeds my LitRPG habit, I have great difficulty keeping up with the new books it runs let alone finding them anywhere else.
It might be after Ready Player One hits the theaters in March. Something to consider. I also think if you are an author looking to get into the genre, that would be like, the BEST time to publish and ride a presumed popularity spike.
Also, noooooooooooo. I just realized my KU expires next month. 'sup @Dust9zero, you gonna get me a sub renew? Ehhh, ehhhhh? ; )
Generally speaking, Amazon is largely the way to go at the moment. LitRPG is a comparatively small and new niche. Most of your readers are people who know what they're looking for, and at the moment, the place they know to look for it is Amazon. In the future that might change, but I'd never suggest a new author deal with the nonsense of going wide over going into KU.
I agree, Adam, but I've noticed a lot of LitRPG books are not in KU (so I assume they are wide) and they are priced exctremely high. That's another thing about LitRPG I've noticed. Books can be very long, but also very expensive. I don't see much complaint about the high prices, but I see lots of complaints about length (ie - too short). I wouldn't think length would be an issue in KU at all, since the reader can read as much as he or she wants for a set price.
With KU comes exclusivity, so you can't post for free on RRL or WattPad or even your own website if it's in KU. This is the reason some aren't in KU. Another reason I've heard (for the Russian LitRPG authors) is the currency exchange. Last but not least, some people choose not-KU because going wide is the only way to get NY Times or USA Today Best Seller lists. As a writer still learning my craft, I like KU because it allows me to make money while improving - and reach a lot wider audience. Once you have your fan base built, most people drop KU and go wide, trying to hit all the markets for one of the reasons listed above or even just to not have all their eggs in one basket.
Perfect summary of everything relevant about KU! SERVER WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT: Paul has earned the title achievement 'The Knowledge Merchant'
I think Knowledge Slut is better, as he just gives it away for free to everyone. A merchant sells things.
I dunno if you're quite right there, DJ me old mucker, when you think about it, merchants of doom are pretty free with their handouts too.
Back from the hospital (complete with new baby boy) and I thought I'd make up for my absence by throwing a couple of numbers out. Book 1 of Headshot is doing much better than I'd hoped (considering it's my first outing in litRPG) and 75% of my earnings are going to be through KU. Sure, I could make SOME of that up if I had gone wide instead, but after factoring in that A) Amazon rewards those in KU with a boost in ranking/visibility by borrows counting toward the algorithim (I'm not saying a borrow counts as a full sale. I don't think anyone has EVER worked that out definitively...) and B) multiple storefronts is a PAIN IN THE ASS and just because you do well one (if you do) does NOT mean you'll do well in another. Imagine setting the world on fire in a smaller online retailer while the sales on Amazon and Nook stagnate, for whatever reason. No thanks. Not right now. I'll let KU pay me for a while, then I'll add audiobooks as an income stream. If I'm not doing well after all of that I'm always open to rethinking strategy, but my time is best spent writing. And playing Diablo III. Oh yeah, and hanging out with my new son.
I concur with all of this. I used to do mutliple store fronts when I was a younger, bright eyed writer. I remember it used to take me forever to upload all of my books. Most of my income comes from page reads and all of it comes from amazon (which is scary). Congratulations on your new son! Also I love the diablo series! Congrats on the success of your first novel BTW.
