I’m not sure why it has taken this long, but Amazon has finally launched Kindle Scout–a platform to utilize the masses as free labor to locate the handful of money making needles in the indie manuscript haystack. TRANSLATION: the crowd can now help Amazon narrow down the selection process for the best books to publish via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
It’s a genius scheme because everyone wins.
Readers Get Freebies
Readers get to skim through the first 20 pages or so of pre-release fiction for free. They are allowed to nominate up to 3 books at a time. If one of their nominations is published by Amazon, the reader gets a free advanced copy of the whole ebook.
Writers Get Some Scratch
If a manuscript is accepted for publishing (still through KDP, not any of Amazon’s publishing labels) the writer gets a $1,500 advance and some vague promises that Amazon will perhaps, maybe provide addition consideration for internal marketing. I interpret this to mean, “Your book will have already caught our eye. If it proves to make us money, we’ll give you more exposure so we can make even more money.” Of course, Amazon takes an additional 20% of royalties for their efforts. But this is for ebooks only, and rights can revert back to the author if sales go stagnant.
Amazon Gets Free Help in Curating the Indie Haystack
If Kindle Scout works properly, Amazon will benefit from reader assistance in sorting through the multitudinous KDP submissions that come from Indies continuously.
Sign Up and Nominate my Book THE GREEN ONES
The more nominations I get, the more likely it is that Amazon kickstarts my book and sends me $1500.
So, if you guys can take a few minutes to sign up as a kindle scout and then go “nominate” The Green Ones, I would be grateful! This is seriously one of the best books I’ve written, and I’ve been stashing it for over a year for just the right means to launch it. Kindle Scout fits the bill.
Here is the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1O4DVB865UZW4
On an earth rampant with telekinesis, Calli Bluehair’s only hope of escaping a violent death in the self indulgent underground of New Teotihuacan’s Worker City is the government run Masa academy. Choosing to ignore the rumors that the Academy is an option worse than death, Calli determines to claw her and her little brother’s way onto the registry, no matter the personal cost.