# KU Payout Guesses for Nov



## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

Fund was $3M - 2 things:
1. Will they top it up again?
2. What's your guess on the payout?

I'm thinking:
1. No
2. <$1.00


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

$1.17


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## Elizabeth Ann West (Jul 11, 2011)

I think they will top it up again, because I don't think they are really "topping it up." I think they have a range of money they plan for each month and publicly announce the lower amount and add the rest if they need it to keep the borrow rate a certain level. 

I think the payout will be $1.47. I have no basis for this just guessing.


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## CesarAnthony (Jul 10, 2014)

What was the KU price for November?


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## VEwoodlake (Jul 11, 2014)

$1.14


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

CesarAnthony said:


> What was the KU price for November?


1.33


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## CesarAnthony (Jul 10, 2014)

VEwoodlake said:


> $1.14


Wait, is 1.14 your guess, or was that the price for November?


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## 58907 (Apr 3, 2012)

Where's Joe's guess? He was virtually dead-on last time. I'm going with $1.85. hehehehehehe


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

$1.42


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

CesarAnthony said:


> What was the KU price for November?


We won't find out until December 15.


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## NoahPorter (Sep 15, 2013)

$1.01 - downward slide continues.


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## Daniel Cane (Oct 16, 2014)

-.50
We have to pay them now.


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## D. Zollicoffer (May 14, 2014)

$1, I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm expecting to get a buck for each borrow.


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## CesarAnthony (Jul 10, 2014)

Cherise Kelley said:


> We won't find out until December 15.


Oh, LOl. My bad.

Thanks


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## Chance (Jul 2, 2014)

While I'd hate to be pessimistic during this time of year, I'm expecting a downward trend of KU payouts unless there's any indication of pot adjustment or an adjustment to distribution of those in KU. 

No specific guesses, but if it continues the way it does, I'll expect the range of $1.20-1.30.


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## ketosis (Apr 19, 2013)

I'm going to go with $1.37.


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## Lady Vine (Nov 11, 2012)

$1.26. I think they're seeing the number of titles rising, and are confident that they can continue to reduce the payout without losing content.


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## D-C (Jan 13, 2014)

Urgh, I don't even care anymore.  But it'll be less, again. So maybe 1.05


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## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

Everyone keeps talking about the pot and topping it off. The pot is a distraction, folks. It's meaningless. Amazon calculates how much they're going to pay authors/read based on how well they think KU is being perceived by the customer (not authors). Content providers are only a secondary consideration ("Do we need to add attract quality content/big names?" "Do we need longer/high priced books?" "Is the shorter/lower priced/scamlet model working?").

Based on the grumbling by those writing quality content, I predict an increase in the payout to bring in/retain more authors, but not too high. I'm going with $1.41. We'll see this as an upward trending, then Amazon will lower it again in December to ~$1.30.


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## Nichole (May 1, 2014)

Daniel Cane said:


> -.50
> We have to pay them now.


Ha! That's what I've been thinking. But they'll throw in a free holiday turkey and a nice card.


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## TheWriter (Oct 1, 2014)

$1.17


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## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

I'm calculating my income based on a dollar a borrow so I don't get my income expectation too high. I do hope they continue to pay a decent price. More than anything, I wish it were an amount we could count on from month to month.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2014)

$2.02, wishful thinking. Fingers crossed.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Saul Tanpepper said:


> Everyone keeps talking about the pot and topping it off. The pot is a distraction, folks. It's meaningless. Amazon calculates how much they're going to pay authors/read based on how well they think KU is being perceived by the customer (not authors). Content providers are only a secondary consideration ("Do we need to add attract quality content/big names?" "Do we need longer/high priced books?" "Is the shorter/lower priced/scamlet model working?").
> 
> Based on the grumbling by those writing quality content, I predict an increase in the payout to bring in/retain more authors, but not too high. I'm going with $1.41. We'll see this as an upward trending, then Amazon will lower it again in December to ~$1.30.


Amazon cares not for quality content. They care for the 'Over X Titles' banner being a big number and, well, despite what we see here, there are tons of writers willing to lick the electric fence.

Therefore, 1.28

January's is going to be a bloodbath though. Six months discounted KU on all those Christmas Kindles... It's going to shatter the $1 floor.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Gonna guess 1.22


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## Navigator (Jul 9, 2014)

$1.17


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## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

I'll guess $1.17.

I have a number of novellas on sale for 99c so even at $1.17, I'm ahead for each borrow. For my longer novels priced $2.99 - $4.99, I have to have 2 - 3 borrows to equal one sale. I am crunching numbers now for my first full month all-in to KDPS/KU to see borrows:sales and revenues, but I had more lends than sales this month on Amazon. Have yet to determine if my revenues via borrows made up for lost revenues on B&N, iBooks and Kobo.

I know some folks here are like "Cry me a river." about bigger sellers lamenting their drop in revenues due to KU so I won't cry very loudly.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

I would speculate it will be a bit higher than last month in order to encourage content for all those new Kindle owners with their complimentary (cheap) subscriptions. Perhaps $1.49? Then we'll see the downward slide again.


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## Randall Wood (Mar 31, 2014)

Vaalingrade said:


> Amazon cares not for quality content. They care for the 'Over X Titles' banner being a big number and, well, despite what we see here, there are tons of writers willing to lick the electric fence.
> 
> Therefore, 1.28
> 
> January's is going to be a bloodbath though. Six months discounted KU on all those Christmas Kindles... It's going to shatter the $1 floor.


Agree.

As for a number? I'll just say less than $1.33 and leave it at that.

(And Vaal, everone knows you don't lick the electric fence, you pee on it!)


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## Error404 (Sep 6, 2012)

I'll throw out a number (pulled from an unmentionable source) that the November will be 1.1854545454


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Randall Wood said:


> Agree.
> 
> As for a number? I'll just say less than $1.33 and leave it at that.
> 
> (And Vaal, everone knows you don't lick the electric fence, you pee on it!)


As per Mythbusters, peeing won't work unless you are... _spectacular_.


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## o.gasim (Oct 5, 2014)

I have 2 thoughts on this:

1) Optimistic: To see a rise in overall # of titles available for all those new KU subscribers on December, the pot will rise back to 1.50.

2) Pessimistic: Because of the projected rise in KU subscribers for December, Amazon will continue to decrease KU payout to 1.16 until they see the conversion rate on all the 6-month free trials


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2014)

KVictoriaChase said:


> Where's Joe's guess? He was virtually dead-on last time. I'm going with $1.85. hehehehehehe


I was actually thinking about this the other day, and my gut feeling was $1.17. No idea why. Apparently, a lot of other people's guts are saying the same thing, so I'll be optimistic (perhaps excessively so) and say $1.18.

Merry Christmas!


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## books_mb (Oct 29, 2013)

Considering the crazy number of borrows some are reporting and the increase in KU subscribers, I expect another decrease. My guess: $ 1.10.


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## Randall Wood (Mar 31, 2014)

Vaalingrade said:


> As per Mythbusters, peeing won't work unless you are... _spectacular_.


I've seen it done. It won't kill you, but you'll know what you did was wrong. 

Sure you arn't talking about the Subway/third rail episode? Either way, I want their job.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...


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## books_mb (Oct 29, 2013)

Sapphire said:


> I would speculate it will be a bit higher than last month in order to encourage content for all those new Kindle owners with their complimentary (cheap) subscriptions. Perhaps $1.49? Then we'll see the downward slide again.


That thought crossed my mind as well, but I think in that case they would've set up a bigger pot to begin with. Of course they are going to add something to it, but they would need to double the pot that to reach $ 1.50. That seems unlikely, though not impossible.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2014)

$1.04


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## Wired (Jan 10, 2014)

Another decrease.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

We should seriously start a pool. Whoever gets it right splits the winnings.


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## Mark Tyson (Sep 22, 2014)

I say about 1.20


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

delly_xo said:


> We should seriously start a pool. Whoever gets it right splits the winnings.


We could call the winners Kindle Unlimited No-Stars!


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2014)

delly_xo said:


> We should seriously start a pool. Whoever gets it right splits the winnings.


And then we start another thread guessing what the payout for the pool will be. It's KU Unlimited No-Star All-Stars!


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## podixon (Sep 15, 2014)

$1.41


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I heard they were just gonna give gift cards of 15 cents.
Oh wait that was a facebook page I bought.
So $1.25 or 75 cents with a lifetime supply of Haribo Sugarless Gummi Bears to make up the difference.


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## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

Mizuki said:


> $2.02, wishful thinking. Fingers crossed.


I like your style. 

My guess is that the number will go up, because Uncle Bezos loves us, and he will make the dollar decision while wearing a Santa suit and high on rum and eggnog.


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## Lia Cooper (Jan 28, 2014)

downward slide...maybe 1.15-1.20 for November, but my gut is telling me the payout is headed towards something just under $1 before it "stabilizes"


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

SevenDays said:


> We could call the winners Kindle Unlimited No-Stars!


NICE!


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## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

Lia Cooper said:


> downward slide...maybe 1.15-1.20 for November, but my gut is telling me the payout is headed towards something just under $1 before it "stabilizes"


This.


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

Daniel Cane said:


> -.50
> We have to pay them now.


For the exposure.


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## Gator (Sep 28, 2012)

$1.23


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## ccasey (Feb 7, 2013)

David S. said:


> $0.00.
> 
> All your eBook are belong to us.


Nice, LOL


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2014)

Bump.


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## Capella (Jan 16, 2014)

$1.11


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

$1.57


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## ruecole (Jun 13, 2012)

Cupcakes!

Rue


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## wtvr (Jun 18, 2014)

$1.61


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

ruecole said:


> Cupcakes!


If they're delivered by Amazon drones, then where do I sign?


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

NoahPorter said:


> $1.01 - downward slide continues.


That's my guess too--just enough to keep it above the dollar level. If it goes that low, I'm going to have to pull my books. I don't want to, but that would just be ridiculous.


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2014)

I'm going to guess 1.95 - being that they have seen major backlash and actually attempt to fix it. Also because i just pulled everything out.


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2014)

they may also reward you with unlimited reading to Ace McCloud and Archie Fraser titles...


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## funthebear (Sep 26, 2014)

$1.14

Below $1 by Jan. $0.30 by summer.


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

T. M. Bilderback said:


> A print copy of Douglas Preston's latest...


HAHA you are evil!


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## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

.


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## Wired (Jan 10, 2014)

ʧ said:


> $1.14. Below $1 by Jan. $0.30 by summer.


I fear you'll be proved correct.


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## legion (Mar 1, 2013)

I don't know why, but as soon as I saw the 1.17 guess, it felt right.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Long term, I don't see it going sub $1 before February. The key to gaslighting someone is to change things gradually after all.

After October's shocker though, all bets are kind of off.


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## wtvr (Jun 18, 2014)

I think people who aren't actively publishing into KU should abstain from guessing.


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## Felix R. Savage (Mar 3, 2011)

David S. said:


> $0.00.
> 
> All your eBook are belong to us.


ROFLMAO. My crystal ball says the same thing as yours! Wish it didn't.


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## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

wtvr said:


> I think people who aren't actively publishing into KU should abstain from guessing.


Why?


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2014)

wtvr said:


> I think people who aren't actively publishing into KU should abstain from guessing.


Including people who aren't in KU but have seen their incomes drop sharply ever since the program came out? KU hasn't just affected those who have books enrolled in it--it's a game changer for everyone who does significant business with Amazon.


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## a_g (Aug 9, 2013)

Bluehorseshoe said:


> I'm going to guess 1.95 - being that they have seen major backlash and actually attempt to fix it. Also because i just pulled everything out.


Yep. I'm holding fervently to my $1.96 prediction.


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## CassieL (Aug 29, 2013)

$1.23

I wish it were going up, but can't see why they'd do that.  They're going to have to add to the pot again this month, so why arbitrarily set a number higher than they need to?


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## Elizabeth Ann West (Jul 11, 2011)

cinisajoy said:


> I heard they were just gonna give gift cards of 15 cents.
> Oh wait that was a facebook page I bought.
> So $1.25 or 75 cents with a lifetime supply of Haribo Sugarless Gummi Bears to make up the difference.


Hey, I LOVE those Gummi Bears .... soaked in vodka overnight!  that's my favorite way to drink.


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

I'm gonna be optimistic and say 2 dolla'


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

Elizabeth Ann West said:


> Hey, I LOVE those Gummi Bears .... soaked in vodka overnight!  that's my favorite way to drink.


OMG, a friend introduced me to this delicious recipe during the summer! Fabulous


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## GP Hudson (Sep 16, 2013)

$1.29


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## darkline (Mar 30, 2014)

$1.46


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Cassie Leigh said:


> $1.23
> 
> I wish it were going up, but can't see why they'd do that. They're going to have to add to the pot again this month, so why arbitrarily set a number higher than they need to?


Sounds about right to me.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Elizabeth Ann West said:


> Hey, I LOVE those Gummi Bears .... soaked in vodka overnight!  that's my favorite way to drink.


OMG ... I need to do this!

*Cough* I mean drinking is bad, mmkay?


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## wtvr (Jun 18, 2014)

Joe Vasicek said:


> Including people who aren't in KU but have seen their incomes drop sharply ever since the program came out? KU hasn't just affected those who have books enrolled in it--it's a game changer for everyone who does significant business with Amazon.


There's nothing to be gained from sour grapes posting, and generally trolling a topic you're not participating in. This isn't fantasy football.


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## HappyToHelp (Sep 27, 2014)

I currently have all of my books in KU.  The reason being, is that I'm a new author with four people on my mailing list.  My sales hover around $30/month total for eight titles.  My KU borrows come closer to $200.  I can't afford to try anything different, so I'm kinda stuck, and I just focus on writing and publishing. 

Anyhoo, the fact that we all live and die by the price that Amazon sets for the borrow rate is a problem--as we aren't in control of a very major factor: price.  For this reason, it makes sense to me to view KU as a short-term strategy, and not as a long-term plan.  Odds are I will leave all my existing books in KU and as I finish others, as well as build up my patience and self-esteem for yet another learning curve, I will put them onto other sites.  My guess is that Amazon will play with the borrow rate, having it go up some months and then back down.  I think their adding funds is more of a red herring than anything.  I think they are trying to keep the masses calm by introducing change slowly.  Authors freak out, and then the lower rate becomes their new normal, or they leave.  My rationale is that it seems that with the growing popularity of ebooks, as well as the ever-growing inventory on Amazon, that people expect to pay less than $2.99--especially for unknown/new-ish authors.  I hate to admit it, but I feel the same way.  I'd almost bet that the most common price for ebooks on amazon falls between 99 cents and $1.99, which nets the author max, 70 cents--my money (pun sadly not intended) is that the rate will end up being close to $1 when all is said and done.  If Amazon is getting new people enrolling in the program, then it seems like they are trying to figure out the least the need to pay in order to keep the mazimum inventory in the program.


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## D-C (Jan 13, 2014)

LolaWilder said:


> I currently have all of my books in KU. The reason being, is that I'm a new author with four people on my mailing list. My sales hover around $30/month total for eight titles. My KU borrows come closer to $200. I can't afford to try anything different, so I'm kinda stuck, and I just focus on writing and publishing.
> 
> Anyhoo, the fact that we all live and die by the price that Amazon sets for the borrow rate is a problem--as we aren't in control of a very major factor: price. For this reason, it makes sense to me to view KU as a short-term strategy, and not as a long-term plan. Odds are I will leave all my existing books in KU and as I finish others, as well as build up my patience and self-esteem for yet another learning curve, I will put them onto other sites. My guess is that Amazon will play with the borrow rate, having it go up some months and then back down. I think their adding funds is more of a red herring than anything. I think they are trying to keep the masses calm by introducing change slowly. Authors freak out, and then the lower rate becomes their new normal, or they leave. My rationale is that it seems that with the growing popularity of ebooks, as well as the ever-growing inventory on Amazon, that people expect to pay less than $2.99--especially for unknown/new-ish authors. I hate to admit it, but I feel the same way. I'd almost bet that the most common price for ebooks on amazon falls between 99 cents and $1.99, which nets the author max, 70 cents--my money (pun sadly not intended) is that the rate will end up being close to $1 when all is said and done. If Amazon is getting new people enrolling in the program, then it seems like they are trying to figure out the least the need to pay in order to keep the mazimum inventory in the program.


That's the most sensible post on KU that I've read all day.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

wtvr said:


> There's nothing to be gained from sour grapes posting, and generally trolling a topic you're not participating in. This isn't fantasy football.


Wait.

You're taking the thread about fake bets on what the random payout will be seriously? Like 'this warrents analysis' seriously?

Because The Global Fund has proven to completely defy analysis. They do what they want for whatever obscure Amazon reasoning they pull out of their butts this month. This thread is like one of those 'guess how many jelly beans are in the jar' deals.

In fact, considering actual money changes hands in some fantasy football leagues, I would argue that this thread is actually less serious than fantasy football.


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## wtvr (Jun 18, 2014)

Vaalingrade said:


> Wait.
> 
> You're taking the thread about fake bets on what the random payout will be seriously? Like 'this warrents analysis' seriously?
> 
> ...


You're so right. Not just this particular thread. I think you should abstain from posting on all the threads about KU. All you do is throw shade and/or gloat.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

wtvr said:


> You're so right. Not just this particular thread. I think you should abstain from posting on all the threads about KU. All you do is throw shade and/or gloat.


I don't agree or disagree, but I highly recommend judicious use of the Ignore feature. It's not a perfect system, but it's helpful!


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## MikeDavidson (Oct 5, 2013)

Closer to $1.50ish. Why? Because they don't want to completely repulse their authors. they want to slowly ease them into paying closer to a dollar.

So if it's 1.50, they have a sinister plan. }


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Please tell me you are putting sugar Gummi bears in vodka, not the sugarless.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

wtvr said:


> You're so right. Not just this particular thread. I think you should abstain from posting on all the threads about KU. All you do is throw shade and/or gloat.


Hahahaha


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Folks,

let's keep the thread on topic--discuss KU payouts, not each other.

Thanks,

Betsy
KB Mod

EDIT: As a reminder, here's the OP:



delly_xo said:


> Fund was $3M - 2 things:
> 1. Will they top it up again?
> 2. What's your guess on the payout?
> 
> ...


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2014)

wtvr said:


> There's nothing to be gained from sour grapes posting, and generally trolling a topic you're not participating in. This isn't fantasy football.


When life gives you sour grapes, turn it into vodka and soak some gummi bears. That's kind of the whole point of this thread. 

$1.18 might be a tad bit optimistic, but that's my guess and I'm sticking with it!


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## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

I think we'll be more or less the same as last month. So, in the spirit of the thread, I'll guess 1.38.

I guess I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to KU. My sales have remained steady or improved slightly since the launch. My borrows, on the other hand, have gone skyward. I'm not a KU All Star, but they have improved dramatically. In June, I had 36 borrows. In November, I had a little over 600. I'm on pace for around 800 in December. About half of the borrows are on a series of four short stories/novellas that range in length from 9,000 words to 18,000 words. By the way, I'm not smart enough to create this series to take advantage of KU. I published the first in December a year ago, the second in February, the third in June. It was just the way I wanted to write these stories.


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## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

T. M. Bilderback said:


> Personally, I like Vaalingrade's comments. Even when I disagree, I still enjoy reading them.
> 
> This topic is strictly for fun. I would suggest that if it bothers you, don't click on the topic. No one is forcing you to read this, and many people enjoy it.


Heck, yeah! The only reason I'm reading this one is because I knew he'd be sneaking around keeping it real and making me laugh. Because I'm not in KU and have no right being here


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## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

Enough to pay my bills.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

SevenDays said:


> OMG ... I need to do this!
> 
> *Cough* I mean drinking is bad, mmkay?


Drinking is absolutely horrible! Kids don't do it! Leave it all for me.

Anyway, when we were in college, we used to take pomegranate seeds and put them in a cup and then pour Boone's Farm (yes, I feel old) over them. By the time you got to the bottom of the glass, the seeds were saturated and you got a huge buzz from eating them. Ah, to be young and have no money to drink with.


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## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

YodaRead said:


> Drinking is absolutely horrible! Kids don't do it! Leave it all for me.
> 
> Anyway, when we were in college, we used to take pomegranate seeds and put them in a cup and then pour Boone's Farm (yes, I feel old) over them. By the time you got to the bottom of the glass, the seeds were saturated and you got a huge buzz from eating them. Ah, to be young and have no money to drink with.


Strawberry Hill and Seagram's golden wine coolers. Good times. *sigh*


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

KelliWolfe said:


> Strawberry Hill and Seagram's golden wine coolers. Good times. *sigh*


Black Raspberry Wine Coolers are evil. They are not a viable food source.


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## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

cinisajoy said:


> Black Raspberry Wine Coolers are evil. They are not a viable food source.


Blech. No, but the original black cherry ones were awesomesauce. Berry ones were pretty nasty too, I think.

Oh, and *mumble mumble mumble* KU *hand-wave* on topic *mumble mumble mumble*.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

Yoda, I NEED to try this pomegranate seed/Boone's farm thing. Seriously.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Back in my younger days I would go through a case a day of those evil things.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

In my younger days, I was pouring everclear into maraschino cherry bottles (cherries still inside) to make cherry bombs. Also poured it into a watermelon.
Surprised it didn't blind me and that my liver is still intact. 
*goes back to sipping crystal light, vodka, and soda*


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

Joe Vasicek said:


> When life gives you sour grapes, turn it into vodka and soak some gummi bears.


I believe vodka is actually made from potatoes.

When life gives you potatoes...

Doesn't work.

Anyway, whatever the payout is, if it's under $1.50 it isn't enough. I can maybe live with $1.50 on a $2.99 book, but not on a $3.99 book, and definitely not anything less. I'm pulling my two books that are in KU out when their current terms are up, and not putting any more in. I'm a professional, goldurnit, and if I'm going to give my stuff away "for the exposure" it's going to be on my terms, not someone else's. Not that I'm getting much exposure anyway. I can only hope that the 6 months free KU will maybe pick me up a few more readers before I pull out.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2014)

Kyra Halland said:


> I believe vodka is actually made from potatoes.
> 
> When life gives you potatoes...
> 
> Doesn't work.


When I was living on the farm in Georgia (the country, not the state), we made wine and vodka as a household chore. Wine, of course, comes from the grapes, and for vodka we would throw the remnants from the grape-crushing process into a big clay pot, along with rotten fruits and vegetables and all sorts of other crap, let it ferment for a few weeks, and then boil it in an enclosed system where the exhaust pipe ran through a vat of cool water. The steam would condense on the pipe and drip out the end, along with the alcohol. Afterward, we fed the boiled-out refuse to the pigs, but even they wouldn't eat that crap. It was pretty nasty.

I'm sure you can make vodka from potatoes, but you can also make vodka from a number of other things, at least according to my Georgian friends. Some people in Georgia make vodka from honeycomb.

And when life gives you potatoes, heck, you can make just about anything! Hash browns, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato bread, potato salad, stamppot, latkes ... man, I wish life would give me potatoes more often!


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

Joe Vasicek said:


> When I was living on the farm in Georgia (the country, not the state), we made wine and vodka as a household chore. Wine, of course, comes from the grapes, and for vodka we would throw the remnants from the grape-crushing process into a big clay pot, along with rotten fruits and vegetables and all sorts of other crap, let it ferment for a few weeks, and then boil it in an enclosed system where the exhaust pipe ran through a vat of cool water. The steam would condense on the pipe and drip out the end, along with the alcohol. Afterward, we fed the boiled-out refuse to the pigs, but even they wouldn't eat that crap. It was pretty nasty.
> 
> I'm sure you can make vodka from potatoes, but you can also make vodka from a number of other things, at least according to my Georgian friends. Some people in Georgia make vodka from honeycomb.
> 
> And when life gives you potatoes, heck, you can make just about anything! Hash browns, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato bread, potato salad, stamppot, latkes ... man, I wish life would give me potatoes more often!


I honestly did not know that. I've learned something new! 

When life gives you potatoes, that's a good thing!


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

delly_xo said:


> In my younger days, I was pouring everclear into maraschino cherry bottles (cherries still inside) to make cherry bombs. Also poured it into a watermelon.
> Surprised it didn't blind me and that my liver is still intact.
> *goes back to sipping crystal light, vodka, and soda*


Oh, Everclear! We had to drive to Ohio for it when I was a teenager. Such great memories. We'd save up and buy cases of it, lol.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Kyra Halland said:


> I believe vodka is actually made from potatoes.


Well sure, if you want you fancy-schmancy 'actual' vodka that doesn't make you blind or your liver explode, then sure, go ahead with your potatoes.


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

Vaalingrade said:


> Well sure, if you want you fancy-schmancy 'actual' vodka that doesn't make you blind or your liver explode, then sure, go ahead with your potatoes.


Functioning livers are for wusses.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Kyra Halland said:


> Functioning livers are for wusses.


Cirrhosis is the new black. If your eyeballs are still white, you're just not one of the cool kids.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm going to guess $1.34 - a cent up from last month for the psychological "the payment is going up, folks!" factor to reduce drop-outs & keep people thinking that they could earn more while only paying the absolute minimum it takes to qualify for 'more'.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2014)

Zelah Meyer said:


> I'm going to guess $1.34 - a cent up from last month for the psychological "the payment is going up, folks!" factor to reduce drop-outs & keep people thinking that they could earn more while only paying the absolute minimum it takes to qualify for 'more'.


Last month was such a steep drop. There's only one way the KU payout is headed. They'll try to bribe the big time authors who are on the fence. Everyone else in it collects the crumbs.


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## ricola (Mar 3, 2014)

$1.17

I think it would be insanely stupid of Amazon to lower the payout.  But given I thought that last month and didn't think we'd hit $1.30s until Xmas, I'll go ahead and estimate even lower.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

Vaalingrade said:


> Well sure, if you want you fancy-schmancy 'actual' vodka that doesn't make you blind or your liver explode, then sure, go ahead with your potatoes.


This alcohol discussion has me more interested than anything else at the current moment. I live in NYC and one morning, I was waiting to cross the street and there were two young homeless folks sitting on the corner having an animated discussion. It was a guy and girl. \

All I heard was the guy say "I think it's better to be a functioning alcoholic than a paraplegic lap dancer."

It's stuck with me for life. I can not get that conversation out of my head nor do I want to. Odd, I know, yet priceless at the same time.


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## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

delly_xo said:


> All I heard was the guy say "I think it's better to be a functioning alcoholic than a paraplegic lap dancer."


How can you not use that line of dialogue in a story? Now it's stuck in my head like the chorus from"Sugar, Sugar."


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

Shawn Inmon said:


> How can you not use that line of dialogue in a story? Now it's stuck in my head like the chorus from"Sugar, Sugar."


Oh, I am TOTALLY using it  
He used to be on one particular corner and now I can't find him anymore. I need to give him a twenty. He'll definitely be on the acknowledgement page.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I guess a $2 Christmas gift from uncle Jeff  .


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## AgnesWebb (Jan 13, 2013)

I'm loving the idea of a $2 Christmas gift! That's what I'm putting out into the universe


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

AgnesWebb said:


> I'm loving the idea of a $2 Christmas gift! That's what I'm putting out into the universe


I'll mention it in my note to Father Christmas


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## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

I present to you, the Everclear song. Merry Christmas.


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## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I guess a $2 Christmas gift from uncle Jeff .


In total?


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Joe Vasicek said:


> And when life gives you potatoes, heck, you can make just about anything! Hash browns, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato bread, potato salad, stamppot, latkes ... man, I wish life would give me potatoes more often!


Ack! Thank you for reminding me that I bought potatoes a few days ago! Mom taught me to put them in a cupboard so they don't root quite so quickly, and I often forget about them down there. 

I'm not changing my KU payout amount bet, but I forget what it was...


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## Charmaine (Jul 20, 2012)

ʬ said:


> $1.17
> 
> I think it would be insanely stupid of Amazon to lower the payout. But given I thought that last month and didn't think we'd hit $1.30s until Xmas, I'll go ahead and estimate even lower.


I had guessed $1.16


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## egcamby (Aug 20, 2014)

Can anyone see theirs yet?  Doesn't look like it's in my report yet...


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## SB James (May 21, 2014)

egcamby said:


> Can anyone see theirs yet? Doesn't look like it's in my report yet...


Nope, I still see the most recent is October's. Let's see if it drops about 10 am EST...


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## GS Jennsen (Mar 27, 2014)

November report's on my dashboard. I'm seeing $1.39. Up a sliver....


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

GS Jennsen said:


> November report's on my dashboard. I'm seeing $1.39. Up a sliver....


Yeah, merry Christmas from, the zon


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## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

My guess up thread was 1.38. Anyone closer?


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## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

So they send the November payout up just a smidge to get peoples' hopes up so they don't yank everything in December/January, then *after* all the holiday sales are locked in they screw everyone with a lower December payout that isn't announced until January 15th.


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## britnidanielle (Oct 13, 2013)

KelliWolfe said:


> So they send the November payout up just a smidge to get peoples' hopes up so they don't yank everything in December/January, then *after* all the holiday sales are locked in they screw everyone with a lower December payout that isn't announced until January 15th.


ooooor it could fluctuate because that's how these things go?


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## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

britnidanielle said:


> ooooor it could fluctuate because that's how these things go?


I'm choosing to see it this way.


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## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

KelliWolfe said:


> So they send the November payout up just a smidge to get peoples' hopes up so they don't yank everything in December/January, then *after* all the holiday sales are locked in they screw everyone with a lower December payout that isn't announced until January 15th.


This was my thinking:



Saul Tanpepper said:


> I predict an increase in the payout to bring in/retain more authors, but not too high. I'm going with $1.41. We'll see this as an upward trending, then Amazon will lower it again in December to ~$1.30.


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## ricola (Mar 3, 2014)

britnidanielle said:


> ooooor it could fluctuate because that's how these things go?


No. Amazon determines the pot based on the payout they want to make.

Why do people keep thinking it's magic?

Maybe the powers-that-be aren't QUITE as stupid and arrogant as I'd thought. But they've already tipped their hands.

Bezos basically said in an interview recently that books should compete with Candy Crush on PRICE. Since Candy Crush is free, guess what he values our work at? There IS no freemium model for books that's functional. And authors have no concerts. Believing that people will READ more if books are made cheaper, given the hundreds of thousands of free books out there already, is completely insane to me.


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## JamesDHorton (Sep 2, 2014)

I've just removed all my works from being auto-renewed.

Maybe if enough authors do that Amazon will take notice and up the pot.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

Shawn Inmon said:


> I think we'll be more or less the same as last month. So, in the spirit of the thread, I'll guess 1.38.
> 
> I guess I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to KU. My sales have remained steady or improved slightly since the launch. My borrows, on the other hand, have gone skyward. I'm not a KU All Star, but they have improved dramatically. In June, I had 36 borrows. In November, I had a little over 600. I'm on pace for around 800 in December. About half of the borrows are on a series of four short stories/novellas that range in length from 9,000 words to 18,000 words. By the way, I'm not smart enough to create this series to take advantage of KU. I published the first in December a year ago, the second in February, the third in June. It was just the way I wanted to write these stories.


And the WINNER is Shawn Inmon with his guess of $1.38.
Close 2nd with LoganByrne @ $1.37.

Fun!!!


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## AisFor (Jul 24, 2014)

Phew...not as bad as I was dreading for my first payout!


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## egcamby (Aug 20, 2014)

I removed mine after last month's payout was revealed.  October was my first month being published and I decided to give select a shot, what did I have to lose?  I think it did help a bit with visibility but since reviews have been good and sales have been steady, I'm out.  Plus, friends and family have been bugging me to get on the other networks, since a lot of them have Nooks and what not.

As many have said, this is a business, not a lottery.


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2014)

ʬ said:


> No. Amazon determines the pot based on the payout they want to make.
> 
> Why do people keep thinking it's magic?
> 
> ...


Link to interview please? 

Does not make sense that a vendor for ebooks would want to give ebooks away for free. If the vendor doesn't wish to pay publishers for their work, publishers will move to a new vendor that does pay.

There must be more to the story than what you're saying here.


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## 58907 (Apr 3, 2012)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Link to interview please?


http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-jeff-bezos-on-profits-failure-succession-big-bets-2014-12

I was curious so I looked it up...


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## killianmcrae (Dec 10, 2014)

Well, if they let us put flash board advertising bars in our books to create a revenue stream, then we cab talk about "free" products. The readers would love that too. Then again, if we offer the ads free version of our books for 2.99 or hell, 4.99, they have options, right?

I hope y'all picked up on the sarcasm. I can't find my glib font on this browser.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Sounds like he's saying that he thinks books should be cheaper. That's fine for authors who do get those advances, but for indie authors, not so much. I also think that $30 for a hardcover is expensive, but we aren't publishing hardcovers here. Not for the Kindle, at least.


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2014)

KVictoriaChase said:


> http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-jeff-bezos-on-profits-failure-succession-big-bets-2014-12
> 
> I was curious so I looked it up...


Thanks.

I read the candy crush part - not the whole article.

Did not get vibe ww was pushing. Perhaps I would need to delve further. If so, that needs to be indicated someone.

Otherwise, It seems that he is discussing the hattche dispute and why ebooks shouldn't be 30 dollars. He makes a relevant argument that ebooks compete with all mediums, including the candy crush medium. Yes he is discussing price discussion, but I think the bigger picture points to time as the true currency. I didn't see a strong bias that price should be the main competitive factor when concerning indie books. In this context it was discussing overpriced 30 dollar ebooks.

That's what he was arguing against.

Really, if I'm not correct on this, I should be pointed to why that is.

And if I am correct..

This article has no relevance to this thread.


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## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

By competing with Candy Crush, Bezos is referring to time and attention, not necessarily on price (though aggressive pricing strategies is implied). He certainly doesn't mean authors should be giving everything away, and since we can't do in-app purchases like games can, we look at alternative ways of attracting eyes: first-free and limited time free and discounted promos.


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