Episode 198 – Fifty Percent KDP Royalties, Sales Page Heat Maps, and Facebook Algorithm Changes

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Question of the Week: Do you think Amazon’s inclusion of a 50% KDP royalty rate was a mistake or an indication of some future plan? If Amazon does have plans for the royalty rate, what do you think they are and why? And what do you think we should do special for Episode 200?

Is the 50% KDP royalty rate a goof or hint at something coming? Bryan and Jim take a moment to thank their wonderful patrons: The Author’s Guide to Ebook Bundling, More than Monsters, and A Band Director’s Guide to Everything Tuba. They’ve got some great tips this week including how authors can make their “Look Inside” shine, hooking more readers with tips from BookFunnel, improving chances with Kindle Scout, and a new publishing platform which combines crowdfunding and author services reports. The latest news items include how retailers are expanding reach into Arabic language ebook markets, how Sarah A. Denzil’s thriller Silent Child received the most 5-star reviews of any released in 2017, optimizing Amazon book pages with insights from an eye-tracking study from LookTracker Research Laboratory, an error in KDP’s royalty rate options is causing many authors to wonder what Amazon has coming up next, and some big changes in Facebook’s News Feed that will affect authors and other publishers on the platform. Question of the Week: Do you think Amazon’s inclusion of a 50% KDP royalty rate was a mistake or an indication of some future plan? If Amazon does have plans for the royalty rate, what do you think they are and why? And what do you think we should do special for Episode 200?

What You’ll Learn:
  • How authors can optimize their first pages to hook readers
  • How authors can reward fans with Book Funnel direct sales
  • How authors can improve their chances on Kindle Scout
  • What crowdfunding startup is trying to attract new authors
  • Which retailers are expanding into the Arabic language ebook market
  • How one indie book became the highest-ranked thriller on GoodReads
  • Where readers spend the most time looking on Amazon book pages
  • Why an Amazon royalty rate error has authors speculating
  • What Facebook News Feed changes mean for authors
Links:

The Author’s Guide to Ebook Bundling by Chuck Heintzelman
More than Monsters by JM Riou
A Band Director’s Guide to Everything Tuba by Andrew Hitz
Tip #2: Funnel Vision
Tip #3: Scouting for Nominations
Honorable Mention: Post-Slush Fund
News #5: Arabic Ambitions (1)
News #5: Arabic Ambitions (2)
News #5: Arabic Ambitions (3)
News #4: Not-So-Silent Child
News #3: The Eye of the Beholder (1)
News #3: The Eye of the Beholder (2)
News #2: Anybody’s Guess (1)
News #2: Anybody’s Guess (2)
News #1: Things Just Got Personal (1)
News #1: Things Just Got Personal (2)
News #1: Things Just Got Personal (3)

Question of the Week: Do you think Amazon’s inclusion of a 50% KDP royalty rate was a mistake or an indication of some future plan? If Amazon does have plans for the royalty rate, what do you think they are and why? And what do you think we should do special for Episode 200?

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