Welcome to 2022 and MORE Reading with Kindle Unlimited!

Image by Ri Ya via Pixabay

And here we are, already sighting the end of January in a brand new year. How did that happen?  

Well, there have been issues: health (meh…), slothfulness (definitely). I’ve written a couple of articles for the Medium digital platform since the New Year, but the current Mystery novel, so close to its ending, is still tapping its foot in frustration. Then I was distracted.

Yes, I know, shiny things… tiny minds… But this one I thought I’d share.

I’m an author, which means, by default, I am a reader. Over the years my purchased reads have fallen into two distinct categories: paper for non-fiction – it’s much easier to add Post-It notes to numbered pages than attempt to do the same digitally – and ebooks for fiction, which I can carry around with me and read in bed without my hands cramping or my arms falling off due to the weight. But I’m a slow reader, and I’ve never subscribed to Kindle Unlimited because I don’t read enough to warrant the subscription. Except, today I just did.

The UK Amazon store is offering two trials: two months for free, or three months for 99p. I’ve plumped for the three months. Will I cancel on the subscription date in April? Probably not. Even if I run the paid subscription for a further three months (£7.99 per month) that means I’ll get six months of KU reading for just over £4 a month. I’m from Yorkshire; we think about these things. Besides, I pay more than that a month for the ebooks I purchase.

Will I now splurge on a mass read? Probably not. There are time, concentration, and thinking considerations. What I will do is look at the more expensive novels – on principle I do not buy an ebook with a price tag equating to its hardback. As I’ve said, I’m from Yorkshire. But I don’t mind borrowing them. So why don’t I borrow them free from the local library? Because I only own a Kindle and not a tablet, and municipal libraries in the UK offer ebooks only in ePub format. I am not reading a novel on my laptop sitting at a desk I’ve sat at for most of the day.

I also intend trying out books which come with audio narration. Yes, I’ll need my laptop, but I can lie comfortably on the bed or even do housework jobs. We shall see.

Doubtless many readers will be rolling their eyes at my finally climbing another digital rung, though if you are like me and have been thinking about a KU subscription but not bothered to act, you have until the 31st of January to grab the extended trials, otherwise the usual one-month free kicks in.

Enjoy your reading, no matter how you do it.

Ebooks, Rankings and Cheques - sorry... Checks.

After digging in their heels for a couple of years, their arms crossed against anything electronic, major print publishers in the UK are beginning to change their collective tune. I heard that Robert Hale, which barely offers paperbacks of its mainly hardback canon, could be about to start offering ebooks. Avon, the Harper Collins imprint, is starting a new, multi-genre romance line 'Impulse' - as long as writers don't mind uploading their typescripts via the submission site and waiting three months to see if it's lucky enough to be drawn from the slushpile. I'm sure there are more. Once upon a time I would have known because I'd have been scouring the forums for such news, devouring the small print with bright-eyed rapacity. Now it hardly warrants a raised eyebrow. I'm an indie author - and I prefer it. It's less stress, less frustration, more money, and instant sales advisement.

Tonight Beneath The Shining Mountains is sitting at #10 US Kindle Store > Native American; #18,360 in US Kindle Store Paid Bestsellers. It's my biggest selling novel, much to my surprise, and the fact that I've cracked the #20,000 sales rank is a cause for some celebration at Acaster Towers. Glass of wine all round time.

The ranking will dive, of course, because it doesn't just rely on my sales, but on everyone else's as well. And I'm British, so my glass is perpetually half-empty, not half-full. But the trend is up, so I'm quietly confident. Especially as today my first Amazon cheque arrived, and one is now likely to arrive each and every month. Why would I possibly want to return to the old days of working in the dark? With no money.