KDP Select and book returns

[markobeezy]

Alright, this hasn't happened to me, but has anyone ever had a book refunded? Did it discourage you from writing, or did it serve as motivation? Also, what kind of success has anyone see with KDP select? Is it effective?

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Hey Mark,

There is a mega thread on KDP select.  Mixed results. There is a LOT that goes into guessing if a book will be successful with KDP Select or not. And even then, it's just a guess.

As far as returns, I have more borrows than returns and I just signed up with KDP Select. Usually, as soon as I get a return, I get a borrow, so it might be people who buy the book when they meant to borrow it, etc. You can also see a higher rate of returns if you just lowered your price as people who bought within the last 7 days can return the ebook for the lower price point (fair, I think).

Always Smiling,
Elizabeth Ann West

[Wren Emerson]

If I can just hijack the thread for a minute... does anyone know if your sales rank is determined by sales before or after returns? Borrows are counted as sales I believe, right?

As far as having returns, I'm racking up quite a collection. People returned my book when it was free, which I totally don't get. Why even bother with a free book? And now it feels like every 3rd sale is a return. It's a little disheartening, honestly. I can't remember a single return I've had on this title before now and now I have a bunch. Why not try the sample first and see if you're going to hate it before you pony up cash?

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Wren,

Sales rank is determined AFTER you go free. I was #12 in Free fiction overall, and my happy butt was dumped right back at #249,000 overall in paid kindle when the ride was over. As other books came off being free, my sales skyrocketed to #1200 in paid Kindle, #74 on Women's Fiction. But I know that doesn't happen to every book that goes free.

Returns. When free, anyone who bought your book recently can return it to get it free. Amazon will give you the lower price of a book in the last 7 days. Also, people who meant to borrow it, but bought it, will return it and fix it. I have 14 returns making my sales 165 for the month so far, and 21 borrows.

HTH.

[ETS PRESS]

Mega Thread on KDP-Select:  http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,98775.0.html

People return books for a variety of reasons: they meant to borrow it, they meant to download the sample, they didn't realize it was a paid book because of the Prime 0.00, they were uncomfortable with the content (turned out to be erotica, lots of cursing, etc.), the formatting was a nightmare, they really hated the book, or they were just trying to get a free book.

Returns happen. It really stinks when you see them, but they've been more prevalent since KDP-Select started up, so don't take them personally.

[S.A. Mulraney]

I didn't get returns until I had my first free day through Select (which meant I'd gone six and a half months without a return). Now, I'm up over 20 between US, UK, and DE, though I blame a good portion of them on folks clicking "buy" when my book had returned to paid.  Given the number I gave away and sold afterwards (combined 7000+), I'm still at a return rate of ~0.4%.  Considering I only had ~150 sales prior to going free, I might have been quite discouraged by returns.