I am almost done with my trial FREE Month membership of
Kindle Unlimited. I had been fighting the urge to try it for a long time. It only amounts to pennies a day, and Amazon
claims you can read all you want for free. That
is truly not correct. You can read all you want for $9.99 a month. To an
avid reader like me, this could turn out to be a great deal.
Before trying the service, I took inventory of my reading
expenditures. In the last six months, I spent $150.69 in paid books. That
averages out to $25.12 a month (the amount does not include taxes). Compare
that to $9.99 for KU, and KU seems like a great deal. However, a little
analysis is necessary.
Of my total expenditure, $131.79 was for books by authors
who are not offering their books on KU. Most of those authors are published by
traditional publishing houses, but some are self-published authors too.
My entire collection of Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody
Mysteries is not available on KU. I paid for Game of Thrones, J.R. Ward’s Black
Dagger books, etc. In fact, only $18.90 of the $150.69 would have been covered
in KU. That’s less than $3.15 a month.
This month I have borrowed ten of J.R. Rain’s Vampire for Hire (at 4.99 each), four of
Mark Dawson’s John Milton series (at 3.99 each), three of Alex Lidell’s Power
of Five series (4.99 each), and five of Auryn Hadley’s Rise of the Iliri books (3.99
each).
Total read is $100.87. Subtract $9.99 monthly charge, and
I had a savings of $90.88. The savings is slightly more because I did not
include sales tax. I think I like the savings very much! Keep in mind that I
can read a book in a day, depending on its length and how much time I can spare
for reading.
If your favorite authors are self-published, you may be
getting a very good deal from Kindle Unlimited. Do keep in mind that many
self-published authors are not offering their books on KU. KU requires us to
keep our books exclusive to Amazon. Many authors are unwilling to miss out on
Apple and other online sales outlets. My own books are not available on KU at
the present time. That may change from time to time.
An interesting point to mention is that because of the
cost advantage of KU, I discovered two new authors I am really enjoying. Auryn Hadley
and Alex Lidell are authors I’d never read before, but because I could read
them without buying the books outright, I gave them a try. I loved both of them.
On March 7, I examined Amazon’s paid best-selling fifty
books. (I took the top fifty from the best-selling one hundred).
--- Only four appear on the USA Today Bestsellers list.
These four are published
by traditional
publishing houses.
--- Of the four above, none is available on Kindle
Unlimited.
--- 34 of the 50 are offered on KU. They are exclusive to
Amazon and cannot be found at
B & N,
iBooks, Kobo, etc.
--- Of the 34, eight are regularly priced at $0.99 cents.
So, is Kindle Unlimited a good deal? A better question
would be, “Is it worth it for you?” Consider the following questions.
--- Who are your favorite authors?
--- Are they on Kindle Unlimited?
--- Are you willing to explore and try new,
self-published authors?
--- How many books do you read a month?
I realize there are numbers of readers out there who are
highly critical of self-published books. They refuse to accept that there are
many authors worth reading who are self-publishing. They refuse to try those
authors. The rhetoric is often fueled by some traditional authors and
publishers who obviously fear the new competition and the way self-publishing
has changed how readers buy.
If you are willing to begin exploring on KU, then you
might find a great deal. It will depend on your expectations and your
discoveries. My advice is that you try the One-Month Trial Membership. It costs
nothing and you can quit at any time with a click. At the least, you’ll really
get to read for “FREE” for one month! Every month after that, you will pay $9.99 per month, no matter how many books you read.
I will be keeping my Kindle Unlimited membership. For me, it's a very good deal. Some of my favorite self-published authors such as Rick Mofina and J.R. Rain have multiple-book series which are available on KU.
I've placed the link below in case you want to try the trial membership.
I will be keeping my Kindle Unlimited membership. For me, it's a very good deal. Some of my favorite self-published authors such as Rick Mofina and J.R. Rain have multiple-book series which are available on KU.
I've placed the link below in case you want to try the trial membership.