Playlist: Kindle Unlimited Books from the Vocal Author Community

TLDR: There’s a bunch of creators on Vocal who have put their books in the Kindle Unlimited library, which allows you to read these books for free with a 30-day trial (all while the author is compensated for every page). Skip to the section aptly titled The Playlist to see links to every participating author’s work if you read this and said “say less.”

Background

Last month, I started a free trial of Kindle Unlimited to help give some of my fellow independent author friends some extra royalties. Also, I was curious how the system worked as someone looking from the outside in. I could see that readers were accessing my e-books through KU, but what was the experience actually like?

As a quick refresher, Kindle Unlimited is Kindle’s answer to Netflix. With Netflix (or any other streaming service), you pay a monthly fee and have access to their entire library. Kindle now offers the same service for e-books. And like Netflix, not every book ever written is available to download. Authors can opt in to KU as part of publishing their book through Amazon.

Amazon wins because you grant them exclusive distribution of your book as part of the deal. Authors win because they are gaining readers who, assuming they stick to their free unlimited book service for the majority of their reading, they might not otherwise reach. And they are given a token payment per page read which usually comes out to a handful of dollars if the reader makes it to the end of the book (exact amount depends on the length).

Whether that’s worth forsaking distribution on other platforms is a matter of debate. And, so as not to appear tone deaf, I will also acknowledge recent events coupled with long-growing concerns about Amazon’s dominance are likely pushing some authors to reconsider how much they rely on Amazon. Me included, but not the focus of this post.

To return to the main point:

I had a free 30-day trial.

As many e-books as I wanted.

And Amazon footed the bill for all those royalties.

Now, there are some larger authors on Kindle Unlimited, but that’s not who I was interested in helping. No, I wanted to stick up for the little guy, the independent author hungry for every sale and every cent they can find to feed their content creation engine. Like me.

Which got me thinking: beyond my immediate circle of writing peers and independent authors, I knew another great source for self-published kings and queens.

The ranks of Vocal.

So, I asked all Vocal authors out there with one or more e-books in the Kindle Unlimited library to send me the link.

1. So I could read them and dish out those sweet royalties.
2. So I could compile this “playlist” (credit to Mackenzie Davis for the format inspiration).

Playlist Organization

I’ve gone back and forth on how best to organize the playlist. In a true playlist, every single song is available on the list. So, shouldn’t every book be available on this list?

Ideally, yes. However, there are a couple pitfalls in this argument.

If every author only had one book on Kindle Unlimited, it would be a straightforward exercise. But some, like the great Mike Singleton, have many on KU. With more on the way.

I don’t want to pay for V+ every month to keep the list updated constantly nor do I want to keep adding books as more come out*. So, instead, I opted for a middle of the road approach:

One book from every author who opted in** is listed below. Followed by their Amazon author page (if you don’t have one, I highly encourage you to claim it and I will happily add it here), so that you can quickly find any additional books by said author that are also on Kindle Unlimited, now or in the future. Simply check the handy-dandy filter:

*I am making one exception to this rule. For the next month (until 3/26), I will add the links for anyone who didn’t see the original announcement and opt in then. I have purchased a month of V+ for this specific purpose and even paid for another month of Kindle Unlimited to support any newcomers. I know my reach isn’t the largest, and despite the heroic efforts of Mackenzie and Paul Stewart, Vocal Curation did not help boost the call for KU books. Two different nominations in Raise Your Thread and a nomination in the Discord met with silence.

**I also debated whether I should simply add any other Vocal authors I knew of on KU regardless of whether they shared their links in a comment. I know of several not accounted for here. However, 1) I wanted them to know I was doing this, 2) they may not want to join for whatever reason, and 3) I think an author should have a say in which book they prefer readers go to first. That said, I did go and reach out to these authors to let them know this was going on and invite them to join. And for the most part, more silence, so I don’t know what to do with that.

The Playlist

Much like you’d need to download Spotify to listen to a Spotify playlist, here’s the link to sign up for Kindle Unlimited. Not that you need KU to access the links below, but you would need it if you wish to use this playlist as intended. Not that any author here would complain if you simply bought the e-book/print book 😉

In the order they were submitted to me:

The Wailings: A Horror Novella (B.G. Craig)

• B.G. Craig’s Amazon Author page

GLASS DOLLS: Short Story Collection (L.C. Schäfer)

• L.C. Schäfer’s Amazon Author page

Accidental Poet: Poetry Collection (Paul Stewart)

• Paul Stewart’s Amazon Author page

Thoughtpieces: A Short Book Of Words To Soothe Your Soul (Mike Singleton)

• Mike Singleton’s Amazon Author page

instead of therapy: poems and lyrics about struggling and healing (Alexandria Stanwyck)

• Alexandria Stanwyck’s Amazon Author page

The Origins of Darkness: A Schatten Novel (KA Stefana)

• KA Stefana’s Amazon Author page

QUIRKY FABLES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: Stories for children and adults to be read aloud and shared (Eugenette Morin)

• PENDING CREATION: Eugenette Morin’s Amazon Author page

The Opening Salvo: Dick Winchester Book 1 (Stephen A. Roddewig)

• Stephen A. Roddewig’s Amazon Author page

Yes, I included myself. Why wouldn’t I?

Bonus Playlist

They are not Vocalites, but they are fellow independent authors who I admire greatly:

Echoes: Echoes Trilogy Book 1 (Marissa Lete)

• Marissa Lete’s Amazon Author page

They Stay: A Paranormal Ghost Thriller (Claire Fraise)

• Claire Fraise’s Amazon Author page

Butter Bar: Miles to Vietnam Book 1 (William Peter Grasso)

• William Peter Grasso’s Amazon Author page

Logistics

Now, you might look at this list and say “Wow, that’s a lot to read in 30 days.”

And you’d be right.

However, as verified with real-time checks of royalty statements between me and an author friend, I can say that there does not appear to be a threshold time for what is considered a read on a page.

Interpret that as you will.

And finally, pour one out for how painful this was to format. Anyone who’s tried to make a bulleted list of links in Vocal knows what I just went through.