There has been a lot of excitement in the self-published community over the Kindle Select program, but my question is - is it worth it?
In order to participate in it you get the following benefits:
1) Able to promote your book as free for 5 days per 90 days. 2) Able to get money from the "select fund" based on how many prime users "borrow" your book for free.
But you give up the following:
Ability to publish your story elsewhere. Ergo you forgo any sales you would have made through smashwords, nook, itunes, etc.
After participating in the program for about a month I found that I did get significantly more donwloads when the book was free, but those downloads didn't really translate into reviews (like I'd wanted) nor did they promote the momentum I was hoping for. Once the book switched back to paid it vanished right off the charts again. As for money from the lending library fund, I don't expect to see more than maybe a dollar. Since my book has hardly been borrowed at all.
That said, it might have had no more success on other devices either. So I'm unsure what my ultimate ruling is on Kindle Select, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. In particular any of you who've had great (or poor) results.