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Post by davidvandyke on Oct 16, 2018 17:29:58 GMT
KDP periodically sends out survey notices on how it's doing and asking for feedback. It looks like the survey has no individual identifiers or controls (I may be wrong, but I was able to finish it and immediately start another survey), so anyone should be able to use this link: books.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Y6DNURBufmPopvI suggest that all interested authors take the survey and express your concerns about KDP, whatever they may be. For me, I highlighted the problems with KU and suggested lowering the cap. If hundreds of survey respondents highlight the same concerns, it might nudge KDP to tweak the program to reduce the abuse. |
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Oct 16, 2018 20:19:38 GMT
Thanks for the link, davidvandyke. I tried taking it but am not in a patient enough mood right now. Very jittery and anxious instead. But I'll try again later when I'm feeling better. Not sure how much good it will do, but it can't hurt to try.  |
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Post by writeway on Oct 18, 2018 4:52:05 GMT
I took it yesterday. I mentioned a whole lot of stuff in the feedback section. Not sure they care though. There are many things I'd like KDP to change but the main one is not allowing indies to have pre-orders more than 90 days. I am wide and other stores let you put books on pre-orders a year or more in advance. I always have to put my books on pre-order at the other places and wait on Amazon. It's so annoying and it's not fair that we can't put pre-orders up as long as the trade publishers do. They have books on pre-order for two years or more. I've seen them. I see some on pre-order for 2021.
I will try to be positive. I guess we can say they wouldn't be asking us if not curious about our opinions. I think they see more authors getting tired of their crap and going wide and they want to see what's going on. Just my hunch.
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Post by beaker on Oct 19, 2018 0:37:18 GMT
I took it yesterday. I mentioned a whole lot of stuff in the feedback section. Not sure they care though. There are many things I'd like KDP to change but the main one is not allowing indies to have pre-orders more than 90 days. I am wide and other stores let you put books on pre-orders a year or more in advance. I always have to put my books on pre-order at the other places and wait on Amazon. It's so annoying and it's not fair that we can't put pre-orders up as long as the trade publishers do. They have books on pre-order for two years or more. I've seen them. I see some on pre-order for 2021. I will try to be positive. I guess we can say they wouldn't be asking us if not curious about our opinions. I think they see more authors getting tired of their crap and going wide and they want to see what's going on. Just my hunch. I don't understand how someone could put a book on pre-order two years ahead. I thought you have to upload an actual draft of the book. Do people really have a complete draft done and then wait two years to publish? Or do they just upload 80,000 words of "TBD, TBD, TBD..."? |
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Post by writeway on Oct 19, 2018 2:56:00 GMT
I took it yesterday. I mentioned a whole lot of stuff in the feedback section. Not sure they care though. There are many things I'd like KDP to change but the main one is not allowing indies to have pre-orders more than 90 days. I am wide and other stores let you put books on pre-orders a year or more in advance. I always have to put my books on pre-order at the other places and wait on Amazon. It's so annoying and it's not fair that we can't put pre-orders up as long as the trade publishers do. They have books on pre-order for two years or more. I've seen them. I see some on pre-order for 2021. I will try to be positive. I guess we can say they wouldn't be asking us if not curious about our opinions. I think they see more authors getting tired of their crap and going wide and they want to see what's going on. Just my hunch. I don't understand how someone could put a book on pre-order two years ahead. I thought you have to upload an actual draft of the book. Do people really have a complete draft done and then wait two years to publish? Or do they just upload 80,000 words of "TBD, TBD, TBD..."? No you only have to have a placement file until you do the final manuscript. It doesn't even have to be the same story or the same length, nothing. It can be anything you want until you do the final. Trade publishers and even some small presses like when Samhain was around used to have books up two years or more before release date. I have seen titles from some big pubs that's even longer than that. I don't do placement files. I wait until I am done and upload my final copy because for me the placement thing is too much of a risk. Many authors do the placement thing but I know of all the things that can go wrong so no thanks. Below are upcoming books from Simon and Schuster. One is for 2045! I believe it's a Zane book from the description. And it has a rank already! But, hey it is Zane after all. www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_date-desc-rank?keywords=strebor+books&fst=p90x%3A1&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Astrebor+books&qid=1539918030&sort=date-desc-rank |
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Oct 19, 2018 3:05:29 GMT
Wow! That is a ridiculously large cushion. The world could have ended by 2045. Planning anything for such a long time in the future is extremely optimistic.
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Post by writeway on Oct 19, 2018 3:10:05 GMT
Wow! That is a ridiculously large cushion. The world could have ended by 2045. Planning anything for such a long time in the future is extremely optimistic. Yep. But I guess from a marketing prospective when an author is as big as Zane the publisher feels it makes sense. I don't care who the author is, I can't see how having a pre-order almost 30 years away makes sense. And Zane isn't a spring chicken. God forbid something happens to her before she gets the book out! Too much of a risk in my opinion. |
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Post by beaker on Oct 20, 2018 0:47:42 GMT
No you only have to have a placement file until you do the final manuscript. It doesn't even have to be the same story or the same length, nothing. It can be anything you want until you do the final. Trade publishers and even some small presses like when Samhain was around used to have books up two years or more before release date. I have seen titles from some big pubs that's even longer than that. I don't do placement files. I wait until I am done and upload my final copy because for me the placement thing is too much of a risk. Many authors do the placement thing but I know of all the things that can go wrong so no thanks. Below are upcoming books from Simon and Schuster. One is for 2045! I believe it's a Zane book from the description. And it has a rank already! But, hey it is Zane after all. www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_date-desc-rank?keywords=strebor+books&fst=p90x%3A1&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Astrebor+books&qid=1539918030&sort=date-desc-rankThanks for the info writeway. I'm interested because I'm looking for ways to force myself to get the writing done on my latest WIP. It's harder than my last books because it's a new genre for me, and my day job is mentally draining, but it's taking way too long. Having the book only partly done on pre-order would be a good motivator. I have some discarded chapters and unfinished books that I could add as padding that would be embarrassing if they got published.
But I'm going to give myself a chance before I do that. If I write at least 1000 words a day/6 days a week, I won't put it on pre-order. Today I wrote 940, so I won't do it yet.
I agree a 2045 pre-order is crazy. Even crazier to buy that book and wait 30 years to read it.
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