As a runner, I was always taught to never look back at the competition. Keep moving forward, never slow down. With its introduction of the KDP Select program for self-publishers, Amazon clearly intends to add to its already commanding lead in the eBook market.
KDP Select adds a number of new features that self-publishers on the Kindle have been asking for for some time. These include the option to offer books for free, and to participate in the Kindle Owners Lending Program, with an attractive cash incentive in the form of a $500000 fund for participants. KDP Select adds a terrific toolset for promoting your eBooks, but there is just one little catch. Books enrolled in the program must be Kindle exclusives for at least 90 days.
That last little catch won’t be much of a stumbling block for most authors who already publish on the Kindle. But it’s virtually a nuclear strike against Amazon’s eBook publishing competitors such as Barnes & Noble’s PubIt!, Smashwords, and Apple’s iBookstore. The marketing and cash incentives are simply too good to pass up. While Learncrest has no plans to pull our current eBooks from other stores, new titles will very little be enrolled in the program.
So for it looks like Christmas has come a little early for many eBook self-publishers. But Amazon’s eBook rivals may be getting lumps of coal this holiday season.