Last week I talked about definitions and differences between “wide vs. KDP”. It’s a big choice in an author career, and one people feel strongly about. I’ll explore aspects of the decision as I see it throughout this month. Today’s aspect: safety.

First of all, you may recall that I am a “wide” author–my books are not exclusive to Amazon, and they don’t get the benefit of being free on Kindle Unlimited. Setting out to be any kind of indie author is essentially starting your own business, but when you’re wide, the business part is especially clear. Lots of wide indie authors set up their own publishing company, for example, and register to pay sales taxes, and on and on. I bring this up because starting your own business often comes with risk.

Risk and business go together; inherently, we understand that. Usually with a new business, what we’re afraid of is failure, or really, not making enough money. That’s a fear any author might have (or mitigate by ‘keeping their day job’!). And while I do absolutely deal with that fear, and with the instability of trends and markets, I actually feel safer as being wide vs. KDP.

Why? If you’re part of the indie author community, you might already know. Fear of insufficient profits is one thing; there are things you can do to mitigate that. Fear of losing the ability to make profit is something else. The contract with Amazon for KDP authors is cut and dry, and Amazon has gained a reputation for taking action first and asking questions never. If they find an author’s book anywhere else online–even if it’s been pirated and uploaded without the author’s consent–they will cancel that author’s KDP account.

Now, how likely is it that your book will be pirated and that you’ll get into trouble with Amazon? Not very, I think, though I’ve watched author friends on social media go through the excruciating process of trying to get themselves reinstated. This is one area I take on principle: I simply don’t agree with the idea that one company can decide if I sell my books or not. That’s part of why I’m indie in the first place.

In terms of broader philosophy, I also feel safer having my books on many platforms simply because all my eggs aren’t in one basket. The ebook market is a changeable place, very susceptible to trends and publisher decisions. Ten years ago, Kindle Unlimited was an unknown quantity. Now it dominates the market, but that could change. Perhaps not quickly, but that’s the point about the future: we don’t know what will happen!

Rather than break out predictions and divination tools, I personally try to do my best in the present moment. Right now, I’m comfortable as a wide author. Part of that is because I like to explore new options–and that is what we’ll talk about next week. 😉

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