Amazon listens to authors; changes KU pay to per-page model

[fjtorres]

https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A156OS90J7RDN

Beginning July 1, 2015, we'll switch from paying Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners' Lending Library (KOLL) royalties based on qualified borrows, to paying based on the number of pages read. We're making this switch in response to great feedback we received from authors who asked us to better align payout with the length of books and how much customers read. Under the new payment method, you'll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it.

No real impact to readers except now it no longer favors shorts and serials over novels quite as much.

They are also introducing a new metric:

Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC v1.0)

To determine a book's page count in a way that works across genres and devices, we've developed the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC). We calculate KENPC based on standard settings (e.g. font, line height, line spacing, etc.), and we'll use KENPC to measure the number of pages customers read in your book, starting with the Start Reading Location (SRL) to the end of your book. Amazon typically sets SRL at chapter 1 so readers can start reading the core content of your book as soon as they open it.

This standardized approach allows us to identify pages in a way that works across genres and devices. Non-text elements within books including images, charts and graphs will count toward a book’s KENPC.

[FizzyWater]

Hmmm, wonder what this does if the reader is the type who reads the last few pages of the book first before deciding to start. (Not my thing, but I know people who do this all the time). Will the author get credit for the entire book? And if so, will authors of novels try to game the system by asking their fanbase to borrow the books and just turn to the last pages?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Hmmm, wonder what this does if the reader is the type who reads the last few pages of the book first before deciding to start. (Not my thing, but I know people who do this all the time). Will the author get credit for the entire book? And if so, will authors of novels try to game the system by asking their fanbase to borrow the books and just turn to the last pages?

No, that's not how kindles work.
Remember, Kindles track your reading speed page by page, not just the last page seen.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Remember, Kindles track your reading speed page by page, not just the last page seen.

This is new to me...I didn't realize kindle tracked how much I read in each book....I always assumed they tracked how many books, and what kinds....but page-by-page!! Intrusive much?!?!?

[DuckieTigger]

That is a nice change. Sounds interesting. Wonder if that motivates bigger publishers to put some of their backlist into KU. Obviously not the BPH.

[eschwartz]

cf. the Time Left to Read feature. No one has ever confirmed that that is either uploaded to Amazon servers or confined to the Kindle.

[disconnected]

"Amazon typically sets SRL at chapter 1 so readers can start reading the core content of your book as soon as they open it."

That's interesting. I always assumed it was the publisher that decided that. I don't like it, personally; I'd rather start at the cover.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by disconnected

"Amazon typically sets SRL at chapter 1 so readers can start reading the core content of your book as soon as they open it."

That's interesting. I always assumed it was the publisher that decided that. I don't like it, personally; I'd rather start at the cover.

It is the publisher who sets it. Perhaps the article means that Amazon set a "default start reading" position if the book creator hasn't included one?

[drofgnal]

Another reason, my Kindle stays 'off the grid' with wireless off. I cut it off long enough to download the book, then it goes right back to airplane mode.

[kennyc]

Being a short story, essay, and poetry writer I prefer the old method. Not that any of my books are at this point on KU etc. but it also seems this method is flawed in that it requires page tracking which is not going to work any better than counting 'book' sales.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Being a short story, essay, and poetry writer I prefer the old method. Not that any of my books are at this point on KU etc. but it also seems this method is flawed in that it requires page tracking which is not going to work any better than counting 'book' sales.

Why not?
How so?
Why isn't page tracking going to work?

Publishing has long paid by length and since Amazon is paying by a standard page metric they are in effect paying by the word. Only it is by words *read* rather than words published. Which makes sense because the only real constraint on KU consumption is "eyeball-hours", the amount of time the subscriber can spend reading in a given month. Payment is fixed, number of subscribers is fixed, and over the total subscriber base the average reading speed and time is going to be fixed. Amazon will thus be able to set the monthly payment pool at a satusfactory (for them) per word rate. And payout will be the same if the subscriber reads 30 10,000 word shorts or 4 75,000 word novels.

A lot of authors have been lobbying for this. Very publicly.
For example:
http://www.hughhowey.com/new-ku-payout-structure/

So Amazon took a new look at their system and changed it.

One notable change is that the old 10% threshold goes away. Now authors get paid even if the reader fails to reach the threshold. Conversely, the author only gets full pay for books that are read fully.

Which means books like THE GOLDFINCH are now poor candidates for KU.

[HarryT]

Hopefully this'll mean the end of the "serial novels" that authors have been using purely as a mechanism for making more money on KU. As a reader, I loath them.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hopefully this'll mean the end of the "serial novels" that authors have been using purely as a mechanism for making more money on KU. As a reader, I loath them.

If they are doing it solely to game the system.

However, if the story itself is episodic there are good reasons to stick with the serial format, chief among them visibility. There is (marketing) value in having a longer list of titles in the catalog.

Serials have been around pretty much forever (I doubt Homer performed THE ODYSSEY in one loonnngggg session. ) and will be with us for a long time.

Proper serials are a narrative form unto themselves, just as TV series are distinct from movies. There's room aplenty in the ebook world.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

Another reason, my Kindle stays 'off the grid' with wireless off. I cut it off long enough to download the book, then it goes right back to airplane mode.

You'll just update the stats the next time you connect to download a book. At most what you'll achieve is delay the time the author gets paid.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

You'll just update the stats the next time you connect to download a book. At most what you'll achieve is delay the time the author gets paid.

I don't think that is completely true, particularly if you download, de-drm, and transfer to your reader(s).