Going back to Kindle Unlimited (Patreon)

Alright! Some of you who've been around will recognize this post, since I'm copy-pasting it from the last time I made this announcement.

Nothing is changing for current readers, either on Patreon or Royal Road.

Here to update everyone on what I’ve decided regarding taking Beneath the Dragoneye Moons to Kindle Unlimited.

The short version: Beneath the Dragoneye Moons will be going to Kindle Unlimited around when book 9 releases on Amazon, which is going to be this month.

New Stuff here: Okay, I went to KU, went back to RR, and am going back to KU. What gives? Whiplash! WHIPLASH!!!

I went to KU because it made financial sense to. I dipped back to RR when reality didn't quite match projections, and the number 1 spot on RR was up for grabs. I made a calculated bet that the number 1 RR spot would be worth more than KU, and it just felt better to do.

My situation has changed a bit. I'm soon going to be the sole breadwinner in my family, which means income gambles are out of the question. I didn't manage to snag the number 1 RR spot, and I learned quite a few things I did wrong last time, that I'm going to do better this time.

I am extremely unlikely to go back to RR from KU.

Once again:

Nothing is changing for current readers, either on Patreon or Royal Road.

Those of you who are current on the story and are still reading it? Nothing's going to change from your POV, except reading old chapters might be a hair more difficult. Right, onto the details!

First, I’m going to start with some information. 

The amount of money involved: It’s a bit hard to calculate. There’s a range on stuff, and my numbers might not be that reliable. The last time I was on KU I was making about $1k/month/book... and now I'll have 7 books on KU... at 12 months a year...

I hope you can see why I'm going "wait, hang on..."

Now, I know this looks and sounds like I’m being greedy, and in some ways, yes, I am. In others? I have no idea how long BTDEM is going to last, and once it’s over, I either need to write another massive hit (who knows what the market’s done by then), or try to go back to my old career with a “yeah, I stopped doing development work for 5 years because I was writing a book”, which translates to a massive gap in my employment history, AND this is all with my entire family relying on me to make money. 

Naturally, I’d need to do right by all of you, my readers and patrons.

Kindle Unlimited demands exclusivity of the books on the site. NOT the series. Which means that everyone reading on Royal Road, everyone reading on Patreon, will have a more-or-less uninterrupted reading experience.

Also, it’d be unfair to have things be “too close” so to speak. It’s easy to always have a full book and most of the next one always on Royal Road, which means significantly more for Patrons. In other words, a current reader can only get “locked out” of BTDEM if they stop reading for roughly six months.

Six months!

This assumes someone current on patreon stops reading. It’s less for a Royal Road reader.

For anyone even halfway staying current with the series, that’s totally manageable. It doesn’t lock people in.

For re-reading older content, the epubs are currently all on patreon and properly flagged. They’re also in the Bonus Material Table of Contents. Download them today, and never lose access!

It’s also easy to constantly release the newest story as an epub, which again gives months for current readers to grab a copy before it hits Kindle Unlimited. The epub table of contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/48141157 . Book 7 is in the fancy epub link.

From a current reader’s point of view, nothing changes. I just want to be totally clear on that.

Nothing changes for current readers on Royal Road and Patreon. Chapters will continue to be delivered on schedule. Epubs, artwork, etc., all keep getting delivered. The only change is that very old content gets removed.

I’m unsure on Scribblehub’s policies, and I’ll need to go digging. If possible, nothing will change for them either!

What about new readers?

I’m a little tapped out on new Royal Road readers, to be perfectly frank. I’ve been on and off the front page for about a year now, and most readers have gotten a crack at the story. Right now, I get about 200 people a day giving BTDEM a shot, and only about 60 readers a day actually reading through the story.

Those are acceptable numbers, but there’s literally hundreds of thousands of people on Kindle Unlimited that have never had a chance to read Beneath the Dragoneye Moons. I lose one tapped-out source of readers on Royal Road (Scribblehub’s discovery is bad enough I’m surprised anyone ever finds my story on it…), and gain one of the largest sources of readers on the internet.

Even if I only got half the readers to follow the story from KU to RR then Patreon, every single read is money. As BTDEM gets longer and longer, the early chapters get “worse” for me, since I have a chance at losing a reader with every chapter, and only if someone makes it all the way through do I have a shot at converting them. In contrast, KU means that I get paid for all those old chapters.

With nothing changing for my current loyal patrons, with my Royal Road fans able to keep reading it, the large influx of a potential new audience, and the sheer amount of money on the line - Beneath the Dragoneye Moons will be moving to Kindle Unlimited around the same time book 7 is released on Amazon, which is currently scheduled to be around early May.

I didn’t make this decision lightly. I struggled to keep BTDEM on RR for as long as I could, making excuse after excuse to keep it on. The numbers keep rubbing themself in my face though, and I can no longer ignore them.

Now, I’m not going to forget my roots, or where I came from. I talked with Wing (Owner of RR), and I’m going to be sending a modest percent of every single sale and KU read to Royal Road, as an eternal thanks and gratitude for making the platform that made my success possible. None of us would be here without the tireless and thankless work of Wing and Kana, and it’s only right that they get to share in what I make. Because I didn’t do it alone. My success is almost entirely thanks to their website, and my gratitude is eternal. It was part of why I struggled so hard to keep BTDEM fully on RR - it’s better for RR to have the full series, than the partial series.

But everyone has a price, and mine looks to be about $100k/year for keeping a single story on RR. Which, given my earlier statement, also seems to be the price of my eternal gratitude.

Now, if Kindle Unlimited doesn’t pan out? If the numbers and payments are only a fraction of what I projected? It’s relatively simple to pull out of Kindle Unlimited, and restore my story back to RR. If - rather, when - the KU numbers get bad, it’ll be time to flip the story back onto RR.

If I’m not getting paid for exclusivity, you better bet I’m going to make it as free as possible!!

Now, I know a number of you supported me on Patreon simply because you liked how I did things. You liked that I was keeping BTDEM free.

It’s why I’m trying to tell you far enough in advance where you don’t feel like I’ve pulled a fast one. Everyone should have at least two patreon cycles to decide if they want to keep supporting me or not, and that’s fine! If your ethics demand that you unsubscribe, I can list a dozen other authors that are totally cool and worth supporting instead! Jiwa, author of Journey of Black and Red and Bob the Calamity, Rhaegar writing Azarinth Healer, Ravensdagger and his gigantic band of cuteness, Thundamoo with Vigor Mortis, Melas with Salvos, and dozens and dozens of other authors, all who’ve kept their story on RR so far!

Regarding “I’d like to read things later on!” - I’m going to continue to make sure that I release the epubs of the books as I make them, and ensure that they’re all available to you. I’ll announce them a few more times than I currently do, and I encourage everyone to grab copies for themselves, just in case.

Artwork will continue to be delivered as usual, and I’ve got some exciting things coming down the line regarding that! I’m waiting for it to be a little closer and readier before hitting the button on that.

I am also doing a minor rewrite and polishing of the first arc. I will make sure it’s available to all of you before I go to KU.

Questions that came up when I posted the poll! I answered most of them above, but I believe in boatloads of communication! Here goes!

Q: Does ku mean you remove it from Patreon?

A: Only the old, old content. Books 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to start. Books 6 and 7 remain on Patreon and Royal Road for now. Book 6 will be added to KU once all of book 7 and some of book 8 hits Royal Road.

Q:How would that affect your Patreon?

A: Practically speaking, not at all! Your chapters and content continue as normal.

Q:I like being able to reread stories I love from the beginning to experience the same things in a new context, or just to enjoy it the same way again, and I don’t have an Amazon account or a kindle to use the service for free.

A: That’s why I’m making 100% sure you’ve got a chance to grab all the epubs! Make sure you download them now, and you’ll always be able to reread them in the future!

Q:What does going to KU mean for how BtDEM already works on RR and here? Would you need to take it down?

A: It means that the early books get taken down, but the current content - and a few books back - stay up. I need to take a small amount down, but not tons. Only the smallest % of readers get impacted, mostly those looking for a re-read but who missed the “here are the epubs” train.

Q: Does Kindle Unlimited mean it will be exclusive to KU?

A: The old books only, yes.

Q:Personally I'm really hoping you don't, because it's literally not available to people from my country. So for me it'd be an all around loss honestly. It's up to you in the end though, but I'm hoping not.

A: Oooof! I’m sorry to hear that. As I said, I tried hard to keep BTDEM free for as long as possible, and if the numbers don’t pan out, it’ll return to RR.

Q:I have moral issues with giving that company any money. I would be sad that I couldn't read your work any more.

A: Then don’t give Amazon a single bent penny! Keep reading on Patreon, and if you dislike that I’m making money on Amazon (Which I already do when selling my ebooks on the platform…) then read the story on RR! As long as you don’t drop multiple books behind, you’ll be able to keep up with Elaine’s journey until the end!

Q:Basically if old chapters have to be removed that's fine but I’ll be bummed if we don't get advanced chapters anymore

A: I’m not breaking my advanced chapter promise. You will continue to get your 5/20 advanced chapters! Nothing changes for my devoted fans who’ve stuck with me all this time - the only people really impacted are the new readers.

Q:I prefer serials over books

A: This is why BTDEM remains a web serial!

Q:I think KU is a good deal overall, and a number of authors I support on Patreon use it.

Before it goes up on KU, if you release the chapters in a downloadable epub or pdf for a period, your patrons could get a copy to keep before the exclusivity kicks in.

A: And that’s exactly what I’m doing! I might actually get annoying with how often I remind you to get the epub.

Q:It would probably be worth talking to another author that is on KU to see how the experience is.

A: I’ve done that a lot, yeah

Q:Does that mean the patreon / discord chapters must be removed?

A: only the very old ones! Anything vaguely newish will remain on patreon. Additionally, you’ll continue to be sent the epubs regularly

Q:Going to KU means not posting advanced chapters here anymore, right? In that case I'd say no, because I don’t have access to KU

A: This is incorrect. You will continue to get advanced chapters.

Q:Personally the reason I use Patreon is so that authors can make stuff available to everyone for free and still make a living out of it. If publishing on KU means paywalling the novel forever then I'm against it (and will stop being a patron), but if it doesn't affect what's on RR or only temporarily then go for it

A: My goal is to be only temporary. Heck, I’ll even look into the logistics of having it entirely off of KU for one month a year just to get it back on RR, to give everyone a chance at it!

This is actually a pretty good idea…

Q:I pay on Patreon to keep novels free and open. If you move over to kindle unlimited, you can kiss my viewership goodbye as well as much of the viewership your novel currently has.

Like signing up with Webnovel, many see the dollar signs you *could* make and ignore how much most novels on paywalled platforms make in actuality.

A: I’ll be sad to see you go! However, I can point to a half dozen authors off the top of my head that have not only seen insane Kindle Unlimited numbers, but also have seen their patreon significantly grow as a result of the added audience. The historical numbers and stats don’t bear out your assumption, unless I’m a WILD outlier.

However, I can respect not wanting to support an author who’s gone to KU, and I wish you the best! See the novels I recommended above for some good stories!

Q:will KU give you a larger audience going forwards than just RR/Patreon?

A: I believe yes. Looking at a number of other authors who’ve done the same thing, nearly all of them have seen a significant increase in viewership.

Q:will existing followers be annoyed that their platform of choice no longer has the full story available?

A: Some will be, yes. However, most fans are fully caught up, or almost fully caught up. The reading experience won’t change for them, however, there’s clearly a number of people who will get upset and leave or drop the story. I believe, from watching other authors perform the same move, that I will gain an order of magnitude more readers than will leave due to the decision.

Q:Doesn’t KU force you to take off your work on Royal road? You would lose a large chunk of fan base.

A: I’d only lose people who’ve only gotten partway through the story. I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that there’s going to be roughly 200ish people who are in the middle of a BTDEM binge who’ll get rudely cut off in the middle. To them, whoever they are, I’d like to offer a preemptive apology.

However, that’s it. Those are the only active readers who’ll get significantly inconvenienced by the move.

Primarily, I only lose theoretical future readers, but gain significantly more future readers on KU.

Q:Be aware that amazon has suspended authors in the past for pirated work posted elsewhere, taking weeks sometimes to get reinstated. (Due to KU exclusivity requirements)

A: This would absolutely, massively suck, and I’m trying to get BTDEM off of pirate websites. I think you all know how difficult that can be…

Q:Amazon exclusivity means I cannot reread old chapters of serials - or purchase books from authors who choose that route for initial publication. Too bad for me, right? Yep. I like to review serials since I forget names/events. The inability to do so is frustrating. Why keep up when I can't... well... keep up, right?

Thus, the embrace of exclusivity has led me in the past - and would lead me in this instance, too - to end my Patreon support and any further reading of the serial in question.

A:This is why I’m going to do my damnest to make sure you get the epub before I take it down! This will give you the chance to reread the story as often as you’d like, without giving Amazon a single penny!

Q:Tbh, if I hadn't become a patron I would say go for it without hesitation. As it is now, I would still say to go to kindle but leave a window of time for people to reread, make sure they have everything they wanted to keep, etc...

A: That’s why I’m giving everyone a one month notice!! I’ll also be posting a few more times, just to make absolutely sure that everyone’s had a chance at the story.

Q:genuine question, how are you going to bring in new people to the fandom?

A: Advertising like hell.

Q:Talk with other authors about their experience

A:I have! They basically universally say “DO IT!!”

Q:I refuse to read on a kindle. You do you, though.

A: Then don’t! You’ll be able to keep reading on Patreon and Royal Road! You’ll only have an issue if you drop off too hard.

Q:My own experience with books that have gone this route is I typically see no initial chapters in Royal Road, and they *never* have any explanation at all as to what is going on or why there are no initial chapters, so I just skip those series.  So if you do go the KU route, I think you should have a description of what's going on, and exactly how to get access to the missing chapters.

A: I’ll make sure I communicate clearly in the synopsis what’s going on

Q:To me, Patreon is a way to sponsor people that create things I enjoy, but that could be difficult to pay the bills with. Like writing a high quality book that is freely available. But if the RR version, and even Patreon version has all old chapters removed because of KU, the reason why I joined the Patreon is removed. At that point I'll start considering my own money a bit more, and probably just buy the books of amazon when they get released for a fraction of the price Patreon costs me.

A:You do you! I appreciate all the support you’ve given me, and I hope I’ve given you enough of a heads up.

Q:Is worth staying on RoyalRoad and other such platforms, and have samples of your books on Kindle?

A: My personal analysis says no - it’s worth moving to KU.

Q:Up to you Selkie. But KU is not available in my country. Not sure what it entails but if it restricts patreon bennefits I might have to reconsider since I am rather poor lol

A:There will be no real restrictions on patreon benefits.

Q:You can do what you want, of course, but it takes me 5-6 months to earn what you earn in a single month here on Patreon, and a large part of the reason I support you here is because you give it away for free, and so that it will be available for others to read who can't afford to buy it from Amazon. Probably if you choose to go with KU, I will stop my support.

A: Hey, that’s totally cool! Look after yourself first. As you can see, I’m doing comfortably well thanks to all of your generous support on Patreon. Make sure to grab the epubs before you go though!!!

Q:uhh would patreon stay?

A: Yes.

Q:Lastly, wtf are you doing? Shouldn't you be writing me my next Elaine fix?

A: This is already 3000 words… you have no idea how much I regret writing this VS writing a full damn chapter >:(

Tl;dr: It makes financial sense for me to go to KU, since this is my full time job. More new readers are on KU than RR.