Authors are always looking for outlets for their books.  This has never been more true than in the new digital age.

For the last few months, I have been part of Kindle Direct Publishing Select (KDP Select).  For those who don’t know, KDP Select is Amazon’s direct portal that allows authors and publishers to sell their books on Amazon.  The “Select” program is a subgroup within KDP that requires the author to give Amazon exclusive rights to sell the book.  The exclusive requirement lasts for ninety days at a time and renews automatically unless the author opts out of the automatic renewal.

KDP Select has two benefits not available to an author who simply uses KDP basic. These two add-ons are: 1. five “free” days per book per ninety-day increment and 2. the opportunity for Kindle Prime members to “borrow” the book for free. The ‘borrow” is free to the Kindle Prime member, but the author receives a payment of approximately $2.40 each time someone “borrows” his book.

The common wisdom is that “free” days have lost most of their effectiveness because of the glut of free ebooks now on the market. So, the only remaining carrot to entice an author to be exclusive with Amazon is the “borrows.”  This is not an insubstantial issue, because “borrows” represent probably 20% or so of the money the average author may make through sales on the Kindle.

The business decision then becomes a matter of whether an author is more likely to sell enough books on other retail sites to make up for the lost revenue from “borrows.”

When my ninety days ran on LAST ONE CHOSEN, I decided to test the waters. I didn’t renew for KDP Select and listed the book through pubit on Barnes & Noble.  

“How might one market a book on BN?” I asked.

Pubit had already anticipated my question and provided a neat little series of canned answers.  Here they are:

How to get started marketing my book

1. Join us on Facebook
Become active on our Facebook page to make connections and learn how other authors are promoting their work, plus get PubIt! updates.

2. Craft your online presence
Get the word out about your writing by utilizing free and effective social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter. If you create a website or blog for your writing career, be sure to post the PubIt! badge. It’s easy and takes readers right to the product page.

3. Let your fans know about your book
Provide friends, family and fellow writers with your cover and a short 1 – 2 sentence book description and a link to your product page that they can pass along to their circle of readers. When you connect with the PubIt! community you get feedback and find more readers, too.