Amazon Adds Self-Publishers to Kindle Lending Library
When Amazon launched its Kindle Owners' Lending Library last month, it only involved selections from larger publishing houses, but the company today extended its program to self-published authors.
When its Kindle Owners' Lending Library last month, it only involved selections from larger publishing houses, but the company today extended its program to self-published authors.
Under a new program known as Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select, authors who agree to make their e-books exclusive to Amazon's Kindle Store for 90 days will be eligible to have their work added to the lending library program. They will also have a shot at nabbing a piece of a $6 million fund set aside for self-publishers, Amazon said.
With the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, customers with a $79 per year Amazon Prime membership and a Kindle device can borrow e-books for free. Users can only borrow one e-book per month, and one at a time. At launch there were . Any notes or bookmarks will be saved if the reader re-borrows the book down the road.
Self-published authors can submit anything from a single book to an entire catalogue, Amazon said.
For December 2011, Amazon will contribute $500,000 to the royalty fund; 31 of the top KDP authors have already enrolled 129 titles, the company said, including Blake Crouch and C.J. Lyons. The amount an author earns depends on their share of the total number of KDP books borrowed in the lending library.
"For example, if total borrows of all participating KDP Select books are 100,000 in December and an author's book was borrowed 1,500 times, they will earn $7,500 in additional royalties from KDP Select in December," Amazon said.
Books in the lending library will also still be available for sale, so authors can continue to earn regular royalty payments on top of KDP Select earnings.
Amazon also promised new promotional tools with KDP Select. Every 90 days, for example, authors will have the opportunity to promote their books for free in order to get their name out there.
"By choosing KDP Select, independent authors and publishers have an opportunity to make money in a whole new way and reach the growing audience of Amazon Prime members," said Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content. "A short 90-day commitment allows authors and publishers to experiment at very low risk. In addition, free promotions are a new tool for KDP Select authors, and we hope to add more such tools over time."
More details are available on Amazon's Web site.
For more on Amazon's Kindle devices, see PCMag's full reviews of the (slideshow below), , and the original , now available for $79.