Kindle unlimited-If you're thinking of getting it

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TrisNook
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Kindle unlimited-If you're thinking of getting it

Post by TrisNook »

If you’ve been on Amazon, then you most likely have seen the Kindle Unlimited that they offer. But the question is, is this worth it? I wasn’t about to jump up and spend the money on this, especially since they do not inform you (at least in my opinion) well enough of the books that they have on unlimited.

I decided to give the 30 day free trial a go, to see what this was all about and if it was worth it. I have about 15 (maybe less) days left on the free trial and I am not too pleased with this. Don’t get me wrong, I have found some books that I like on the unlimited. They do have some good selections. Really good books in fact like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings etc. But the problem is, I already own hard copies of those. And I am sure that most of my avid readers out there will say the same thing. I did find The Giver quartet series, so I can not complain to much about the poor selection because at least I found one thing that I wanted to read.

The selection of Unlimited though, is slightly abysmal at best. For 10 dollars a month you can borrow books that are 5 dollars and under and also FREE. Yes, that’s right. I was mad when I found this out.kindle1 Free books are included in the kindle unlimited. Now to me, it’s a free book. You can download it for free why would you even need to borrow it? It’s free! If you don’t like it just delete the book, seeing as it’s free this is no loss on your part. Now, paying 10 dollars to get a free book to borrow (not even keep, you just get to borrow) that seems like a loss to me.

I was also doing some research on kindle unlimited, seeing if I was going to pay for it after my trial. I read a post somewhere that most of the books are 2-3 dollar books. Most of them are .99 cent books as well. To be able to get your full money’s worth out of unlimited you would have to read 10 books a month (.99 cent ones) or 5 of the 2-3 dollar ones. This only benefits you if you read over that amount each month. If you don’t read that much then it’s not even worth the money because then you are getting ripped off.

Compared to other sites as well, I read, Amazon has a lower selection of books. And compared to the selection that Amazon alone offers, they barely offer you what they are selling on their site. So, you are paying 10 dollars a month to borrow cheap books; most of which haven’t been heard of or aren’t that popular.

From what I read on the Amazon site for unlimited this was a way to get introduced to new books. To find new reads without having to pay for them. This is great if, like I said before, you can exceed reading 10 books a month. But the books that Amazon is offering hardly cost anything. And of course there are the free books that they felt the need to throw in as well. Because why would you just download the free book instead of paying to borrow it? Makes sense? Not really…

Another thing is how they advertise the unlimited books. They have these tiny words over it saying it’s a part of unlimited. They are easily missed. Amazon also advertises for unlimited audio books but when you click on an unlimited book it costs extra to add on the audio. I have yet to find an actual free audio book with unlimited. This was disappointing to me actually, why advertise that with the unlimited and then have it cost even more. I thought the point of this was to have unlimited borrowing? Not pay extra for it.

One of the things that upset me the most is they advertise it to be this really great thing, saying you can get all these books on unlimited but the reality of it is they do not offer a great selection. A lot of the major publishers aren’t even in partner with them and therefore their books aren’t offered. You can’t find most of the new or popular books. You are basically taking chance by paying the money and then searching through what they have to offer in hopes of finding something. I have found better luck and selections in browsing the free books that they have to offer instead.

My suggestion for Unlimited is to not even bother. If there is a book or two you see on there that you do want to read then get the trial and get the books. But I wouldn’t spend the money on this, unless you read more than 10 books a month and are trying to find a new book to read that isn’t that popular. I still recommend just checking out the free selections they have. If you really want the book then spend the 3 or so dollars on it to get the book. It’s better than spending the 10 a month and then trying to make it worth the money.

If you are big int borrowing books than maybe try and eLibrary app, like Overdrive, that works with your library. I can tell you the selection will be a whole lot greater.

So kindle-paperwhite-in-coverreally, this is a cool idea to have but just the way Amazon set it up andadvertised and made people think there was a whole lot more to offer kind of takes the appeal out of this and makes in not such a great deal. If they could add more of a selection, and more popular and in demand books then this would be worth it. But for now, with them trying to push free books off on kindle unlimited it’s just a waste of money entirely.
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Post by gali »

Thank you for the review and the warning. I thought about getting it, but won't now. 8)
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Post by Wist »

I gave Kindle Unlimited a run for the trial last month and I wasn't too disappointed. It's useful to scope out new indie authors and I did find a few that were quite enjoyable (and I don't say this because I'm an indie myself--I've been reading indie titles since before 2010). That and there are some titles like the Hunger Games that I don't have a copy of and can read. Overall, if you're the type to dig through your bookstore's clearance bargain bin (throwing books about as you contemplate for an hour which to take, driving the owner mad in the process), KU may be for you. No store owners to drive crazy, and the authors get paid for every page you turn. This helps them improve, as they can see if their book kept the reader's interest to the end, along with some spare change for their coffees so they can continue their work. Once I finish catching up with my work I will likely go back on KU for another month for my downtime.
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Post by beemiegirl »

I have kindle unlimited. I thoroughly enjoy having it. I have had it for many months. As long as I continue to read at the rate that I do, then it will continue to pay for itself. One of the other things that I do with the kindle unlimited is download the audible books. I listen to these while I am in my car, mowing my lawn or simply while I am cleaning. It truly is fantastic. It may take a few trial and errors to choose a book, but that is with any book selection for me. Once I find one, I usually finish it within a matter of days. I love it.
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Post by Yooperco »

Thank you for the review. I see the unlimited sales pitch come up every other day and was curious. When it first came out I looked into it and discovered the same thing you did.

Thanks again!
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Post by Maryann »

I Like the Kindle Unlimited. Yeah most of the books they offer are on the cheap side but I read about 5 or 6 books a week. For $10.00 a month I more than get my moneys worth. I also love the fact that they offer box sets. I have found sites that offer the first book of a series free or almost free, then after they hook you they jack up the prices on the rest of the series. Also I'm a fan of McCray, Kilborn, Konrath, and Crouch, among many others, and Unlimited offers all of their books.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

Thank you for writing that review of KU. As an Indie Author, if I make my books available for KU, then I don't see a dime from the readers. So (obviously) I second your decision of not using it. Amazon talks a big talk about having a KU fund for us authors, but we never see a dime of it. It's just pure corporate greed. Unfortunately, the only way I can make my books unavailable is to take a 35% royalty instead of a 70% one. In some ways, Amazon disgusts me. Money, money, money.
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Post by Scott »

Hmm... that's a shame. Thanks for the review!

It seems like it might be worth it if you could just get 10 books a month instead of merely borrowing them. Then you wouldn't need to actually read 10 books a month, as you could kind of stock up. Before ereaders, I think many of us did that too. You might go to the bookstore and buy 5 books in a single day, not knowing when you'd read all of them.

Amazon would actually profit from that too because as I understand it they only pay royalties when the KindleUnlimited books are actually read, so they have no cost when they let someone 'buy' a book through KindleUnlimited if the person never reads it.

I guess one workaround could be for multiple people to share a single KindleUnlmited account just like many people do with Netflix.
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Post by TrishaAnn92 »

I tried kindle unlimited for two months a while back and while it was useful it wasn't right for me. For 10.00 a month I would rather go and pick out a traditional book to add to my growing collection that pay to borrow a few books here and there that I may or may not read. Kindle unlimited might be good for some people but not for others.
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Post by naperez »

I agree, it's not worth the cost for the selection, and I'm surprised they even offer it because there are much better alternatives.

I pay for the student Amazon Prime once a year, which includes KU selections, along with a ton of other benefits, so I was bothered when I saw they were trying to charge $10 a month for just the low profile selection of e-books. Not to mention, many local libraries offer OverDrive or other programs where you can check e-books out for free.
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Post by susan1 »

I was considering a Kindle Unlimited. Thank you for the information. I will look into other options. Can anyone tell me about the Nook offered by Barnes and Nobles?
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Post by kasi1215 »

Do you keep the books or is it more like a library where you borrow the books?

I've researched and can't determine this myself.
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Post by jdy »

I use kindle unlimited frequently. It is like borrowing the books for a fee each month. You can get up to ten books at a time and read as many as you want each month. depending on the number of pages in the book I can read 10-20 each month.
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Post by ChrisKauf »

I had looked at this also but hadn't tried it. Now I won't thanks to the review and comments here. It seems a waste to pay money to borrow a book when you can get it free to keep or borrow for free at a library. I thought I must be missing something in the information for KU. Guess not.
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Post by CatGitane »

Wow, I was considering getting KU, but I had noticed how major publishers weren't there... Now don't get me wrong, I like indie publishers (heck, I'm in the process of publication with one), but I prefer to read big series such as The Hunger Games and all most of the time. With what you said, it really helps me decide: I won't get it. I don't want to ''waste'' my money like this on cheap books I could get without it. Thank you for this information!
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