What does it mean to be “Amazon Exclusive”?

 

Being “Amazon exclusive” — it’s a phrase that drips with an allure, a hint of intrigue. Picture yourself as a sought-after author, entwined in an exclusive partnership with Amazon, the colossal titan of e-commerce. It’s a heady feeling, isn’t it? But what does this mean for your self-publishing journey? Let’s pull back the velvet curtain and investigate.

When you, as an author, commit to being Amazon exclusive, you’re essentially choosing to waltz with only one partner at the self-publishing ball — Amazon. This commitment is epitomized by enrolling in Amazon’s KDP Select, a program that opens doors to participation in Kindle Unlimited (KU) and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL). In exchange, you pledge to sell your digital book only through Amazon for a period of 90 days. It’s a profession of fidelity, a vow that your eBook will serenade only Amazon’s Kindle ecosystem during this period.

Kindle Unlimited, that grand library in the digital cloud, offers a smorgasbord of literary delights to its subscribers. With your books nestled in this program, readers gain unlimited access to them for a fixed monthly fee. It’s like handing an ‘all-you-can-read’ pass to voracious bibliophiles, who can binge-read to their heart’s content.

Embarking on this exclusive relationship comes with its unique set of pros and cons. 

The Pros:

Monumental Visibility and Reach Amazon is akin to the Everest of online marketplaces. Your book has the opportunity to pirouette on a global stage, spotlighted to millions of readers worldwide.

Potential Revenue Stream from Kindle Unlimited and KOLL: Every flipped page in your book by a KU or KOLL subscriber can make your cash register ring with royalties. 

The Cons:

Restriction to One Platform: By pledging your loyalty to Amazon, you’re confining your book to a single platform, which means you might miss reaching potential readers on other platforms.

Dependency on Amazon’s Policies: Since you’ve linked your fortunes to Amazon, any changes in their policies, payment structure, or algorithms could impact your sales, like a boat swaying with the ebb and flow of Amazon’s tide.

Vulnerability to running afoul of Amazon’s policies (intentionally or unintentionally) and having one’s account frozen. This doesn’t often happen to non-shady authors, but more than once, I’ve heard horror stories from credible sources where authors either had their books abruptly pulled from the Kindle store because the Amazon bots found boot-legged copies uploaded elsewhere or had their accounts frozen altogether in the absence of intentional wrong-doing on their parts. Generally, these situations have been resolved, but it is truly nerve-wracking if something goes wrong and all one’s literary eggs are in Amazon’s basket.    

The grand conundrum: to tie the knot with Amazon or explore the wide, vibrant landscape of other platforms? Your answer is as unique as the plot twists in your book. It hinges on various factors – your goals, your target audience, and your promotional prowess.