Kindle Unlimited vs. Going Wide - Indie Writer Resources

This post is part of the Publishing Resources Guide.

“KU vs. Wide” refers to the decision to go exclusive with Amazon and enroll in Kindle Unlimited, or to publish widely on multiple retailers. It’s a business choice that each author must make, though it is a choice that can be made differently for individual books in your catalog. But you must understand that marketing and business strategy is going to be different for each of the choices. Don’t apply Kindle Unlimited marketing philosophy to a widely published book and expect it to work! There is a difference, and it’s your job as the publisher to figure out what the correct strategies are for your path. We’ll discuss marketing strategies later, but here are some resources for deciding which path to take:

TheCreativePenn.com Podcast episode and blog post. Joanna Penn personally chooses to publish wide, but this is a detailed breakdown of the pros and cons of each strategy.
6 Figure Author Podcast did a few good episodes on this: Kindle Unlimited vs Wide, and Your Questions Answered on Kindle Unlimited / Amazon KDP Select vs Wide, and Book Launch Checklist (this one has the last few listener questions that weren’t covered in the last episode).
Kristine Kathryn Rusch did a couple of excellent posts on exclusivity and Kindle Unlimited: Exclusivity in 2022 Part One and Part Two.
Nick Stevenson did a few posts around him leaving Kindle Unlimited: Breaking Free – What Happened When I Left KDP Select Part One and Part Two, and Income Report: Why Exclusivity is Bad (Unless You’re Amazon).
Do a search on the podcast pages for TheCreativePenn.com and 6FigureAuthors.com. Search for ‘Wide’ and ‘Kindle’ and listen to those that pertain to the topic.
I suggest joining two different Facebook groups and reading through them to get an idea of how your marketing and business plans will be different with each strategy:
- Wide for the Win – This is obviously a group focused on publishing wide, and helping wide authors succeed. They also have reps from the various retailers in the group and occasionally help an author out who’s having difficulty. Make sure you read through the Tree of Wisdom, which you can find in the “Announcements” tab at the top of the group. Click the picture you want, then find helpful links in the comments.
- 20Books to 50K – This one is open to everyone, but the focus is strongly on KindleUnlimited and rapid releasing. Take all the marketing advice from it with a grain of salt if you aren’t in KU, but they do have some good general info. Click on the Guides tab at the top of the group for welcome info and helpful advice for new authors.