KINDLE UNLIMITED PER PAGE RATE

The per-page rate for Kindle Unlimited dropped down to $0.004034 per page for July, 2017.

This downward trend has now continued for several months.

But it’s common for the rate to drop in January for the holiday season, and return upward starting in February.

On the other hand, the KDP Select Global Fund for July, 2017 was $19M, which is a clear million dollars above the $18M payout for June, 2017.

This is part of an upward trend. 

So while the per-page rate has dropped recently, overall Amazon KDP is paying even more in combined Kindle Unlimited royalties.

"However, there is another big factor involved. Amazon KDP just introduced KENPC v3.0. If you haven’t already done so, you should check the current KENPC’s of your books. You can check your current KENPC from your KDP bookshelf. Click the Promote and Advertise button next your title (or click the … button to find this option, if necessary), and scroll down.

If your KENPC happens to be longer than it had been, that will help compensate for the lower per-page rate. If your KENPC happens to be shorter now, the lower rate will hurt even more if it continues."

Chris McMullen runs a very good blog for those who can handle more detail on this sort of topic. Here is the link:
https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/

Local news

Tim doesn't like the pool

While I was saying the haymaking has not yet begun yesterday, the local farmer must have been studying the sky and maybe the calendar, because just around the time Federer faced 770 ranked Willis across the net, we heard the roar of the tractor. That would be about five thirty in the UK, but around six thirty here. (I have to keep reminding myself that I’m an hour ahead of my friends in the UK. Plays havoc with tv programmes!) Anyway, he spent the evening cutting the hay in two of the three fields and I am not suffering the effects of hayfever!

This is pay-out time for Amazon authors and I’m happy to say the electronic transfer of funds seems to be working very well indeed. Once again there is a small payment via Indian rupees, which makes me very curious as to who in that vast sub-continent is reading my books. Though several people in Australia have bought The Gybford Affair, no one has read it yet. It is amazing the way independent authors can keep track of their business.

We are keeping track of the Brexit fall out via the tv, too. As I’m typing this I’m hearing that Michael Gove has just stuck a knife into his pal Boris, metaphorically speaking, by saying he doesn’t think he can do the job. 

Amazon and payments

More changes from Amazon for self-published authors. I have always opted to receive a cheque when more than $100 or £100 has accumulated but recently Amazon informed me that they were no longer sending out cheques and would I please fill in my details to receive payments directly into my bank. I'm not happy with the decision, but there doesn't seem to be any get out clause. Authors in America who receive US dollar payments won't worry, but every cheque I cashed at my bank had a conversion charge on it. Admittedly it was not a huge sum, but now I wonder if every paltry amount sent to me is going to incur a conversion charge.

Here's what Amazon say:
"As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program, we're changing the default payment method in your country to Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) in September of this year. Checks will no longer be offered as a payment method.

EFT payments are paperless, secure, and fast. This environmentally friendly method deposits royalties directly into your bank account, with no minimum payment threshold. This means you will be paid electronically in full 60 days after the end of every month for sales within that month. Instead of waiting up to three weeks for your check to arrive, EFT payments should appear in your bank account within five days after the end of the month."

This could turn out horrendously for me - last month Amazon told me I had earned 54 rupees in India. That intrigued me, fascinated me that someone in India was actually reading my books. But wait - I had no idea what an Indian rupee was worth, though I have always known it's a very small amount. I checked this morning. A rupee is worth 0.01016 of a pound sterling. I think I earned 50 of them, so that means £0.50. The bank will charge more than that to convert the rupees into sterling. 

Unless  EFT payments don't require conversion, I think I am going to be annoyed.