Understanding Fiscal Trends in eBook Publishing

I’ve been in this business for more than eight years now. I’ve studied it and watched my own ups and downs. January is coming, and if you are exclusive to Amazon, then your page-read payout is most likely going to drop rather significantly.

The biggest names in the publishing world, both traditional and indie, sell vast numbers of books through the holidays. I know I do because those months have the highest payout rates, and I plan my publications and promotions that way. Those who can’t buy will read in Kindle Unlimited because Amazon has shaped their product page to encourage Kindle Unlimited reading. “Read for Free” is the biggest button. A reader has to click underneath that button on a text link to become a buyer.

The rewards are clear for those who write compelling stories. The reader might not realize they borrowed a book instead of bought it, but when they start reading it and keep reading it, you as the author will see your page reads increase—especially during the fall publishing and promotions window.

I run sales on my omnibus editions and the first in most of my series during the October to December sales extravaganza. I am competing with traditional publishing houses who are also flooding the market with sales and new titles. You know what? With the best covers and great blurbs, my books do just fine. The stories within stand on their own, too, because I build up huge numbers of page reads during the fall promotion period.

It’s a nice payday come the new year, but that winds down in January. Don’t fight it. It is a fact of this business, but it’s also a fact that your ad campaigns will become a whole lot cheaper in cost per click when the deep-pocket advertisers close their seasonal doors.

So I’ll increase my advertising in January, and when my revenue bottoms out, it won’t be bad at all. I expect it, but the good news is the windfall from the end of the previous year dampens the anguish of the January slump.

I also write new books during that time because I live in Alaska, where it’s dark and cold in January and February. I mean really cold. Best to stay inside and set myself up to win in the spring when the rates climb once more—usually starting in February.

For reference, here are the KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited) payout rates since the program’s inception: https://tinyurl.com/yv4maf2a.