Is “going wide” with only one book worth it?

After a full year on Kindle Unlimited, I’ve decided to “go wide” and distribute Rooted to more booksellers than just Amazon. It’s a big change and a little bit of a risk, but there are many reasons why this is the right choice to make as Rooted celebrates its first birthday.

Many readers know that Kindle Unlimited tosses a few pennies at authors for the amount of pages read, but Kindle Direct Publishing’s (KDP) exclusivity clause is less well known. It’s the reason you’ll never find your favorite KU book anywhere else. Not renewing my enrollment in KDP Select means Rooted won’t appear in the KU catalogue, so I won’t be collecting those pennies anymore.

To be honest, KU page reads were the bulk of my revenue this year, so going wide isn’t exactly the smartest business decision from a revenue standpoint. Some authors rely on their books to pay their rent. I’m just a small-time hobbyist. It’s possible I’ll lose future revenue on this choice, but it isn’t about the money.

Like many of you, I’m repeatedly disheartened and disgusted by what I see in the news in regards to American politics and the chipping away at fundamental rights and life-saving support programs. When a capitalist government operates a country like a business, it’s impossible not to lump together policy makers and corporation heads as the source of the problem. The wealthy hold too much power.

I certainly feel powerless these days, and I’m told repeatedly that I can’t make a difference all by myself. But when there’s little hope that my actions can promote good, all I can do is try to reduce harm.

Amazon is the largest retailer, but it isn’t the only place to find books. Barnes & Noble is still fighting valiantly, and both independent bookstores and libraries have an important place in our communities. Since I’m only divesting partially from Amazon (my books will still be available for Kindle, just not Kindle Unlimited), I expect to meet with some confusion and incredulity. That’s how it happened in my interior monologue, anyway!

So for your entertainment (and as a sort of FAQ), here’s a little interview I conducted with my anxious thoughts.

Anxiety: You’re not hurting Amazon. You’re just throwing money away.

Emma: You’re right.

I’ve made an average of $23 per month from KU since January, which was when I broke even and started profiting. That’s the amount I have to be comfortable “throwing away” by going wide, setting aside the fact that it’s potential income—basically fake money.

And no, I’m not hurting Amazon. It’s not like all my many followers will start a KU boycott. I would guess less than 10 people will even read this blog post, and one of them will be my dad (hey, pops).

But I am entering tons of markets I wasn’t in before, many international, and I’m gaining full control over my own ebook, which I couldn’t disseminate while I was bound by KDP Select. Amazon is not the “be all, end all” of booksellers, and if it “costs” me $25 a month to support other retailers, get my ebook in library catalogues, and allow direct purchase from the website I worked so hard on, then it’s Monopoly money well spent.

A: OMG, what do you have against KU subscribers??

E: Nothing, I swear! In fact, this was the point I wrestled with the most when I chose not to re-enroll in KDP Select. My KENP reads accounted for over half of my total revenue this year, and when you compare approximate number of Amazon readers (page reads divided by 671, which is the number of normalized pages for Rooted), two-thirds of my readers were KU subscribers.

It’s a hit to my wallet, but also my readership, and it’s a bummer. I’m hopeful those who enjoyed Rooted will continue to recommend it to their friends, and now everyone can buy it from their preferred store or request it from their local library.

A: This is so complicated. Now no one will know where to look for your book.

E: Seriously, what? My book is everywhere now. It’s gonna have tons of hits on Google now. You can open up whatever ebook app is on your phone and search for my book. So GTFO with that nonsense. Plus, there’s one place you could always go to find my book: right here.

Listen: social media is still a thing, and I can shout into that void when I need to, but having everything in one place on my own website is so freeing. I don’t need to figure out what platforms people use or optimize posts a billion different ways. I only need to remember one link: emmagoldingwrites.com. I’ve got a mailing list, a blog, a direct buy link, and the ability to continue to customize to my heart’s content. So I reject the premise that my book will be harder to find, because actually, it’s everywhere, and I’ve got all the links listed in one place to prove it.

A: Okay, but if you were a real anti-consumer social justice activist, you’d boycott Amazon entirely.

E: Actually, if I were a real anti-consumer social justice activist, I wouldn’t be selling a book at all. Since I’ve chosen to make my writing available for purchase, I’ve also chosen by default to work within a capitalist frame, and there’s no denying Amazon’s popularity. Removing my book from their store means ostracizing all the potential readers who shop for their ebooks there.

I do have anti-consumer tendencies: I really hate marketing, and I struggle to justify the (low) price I set for my ebook. On the positive side, being an independent author means I have full control over where I sell my books, and if a time ever comes when readers leave Amazon, I can pull out without regret.

There’s no way to be the “perfect” ethical seller or consumer, and I’m not even trying for a spot in the top 20. Just doing my best out here, so get off my back.

I’d like to think I won that argument against my anxiety, but I probably never will. Nothing so dramatic as “this choice will haunt me forever,” but as a self-taught, self-published author, I’m going to second guess myself every step of the way. It just comes with the territory.

But another mean little thought that often floats to the surface is “no one cares,” so if you do stumble upon this post—fellow author, fellow reader, whoever you are—please leave a comment, send me an email, or find me on my socials and let me know there’s someone else here in the void with me, so we can scream together.