Episode 198 - Fifty Percent KDP Royalties, Sales Page Heat Maps, and Facebook Algorithm Changes

Is the 50% KDP royalty rate a goof or a hint at something coming? Bryan and Jim take a moment to thank their wonderful patrons: The Author’s Guide to Ebook Bundling, More than Monsters, and A Band Director’s Guide to Everything Tuba. They’ve got some great tips this week including how authors can make their “Look Inside” shine, hooking more readers with tips from BookFunnel, improving chances with Kindle Scout, and a new publishing platform which combines crowdfunding and author services reports. The latest news items include how retailers are expanding reach into Arabic language ebook markets, how Sarah A. Denzil’s thriller Silent Child received the most 5-star reviews of any released in 2017, optimizing Amazon book pages with insights from an eye-tracking study from LookTracker Research Laboratory, an error in KDP’s royalty rate options is causing many authors to wonder what Amazon has coming up next, and some big changes in Facebook’s News Feed that will affect authors and other publishers on the platform. Question of the Week: Do you think Amazon's inclusion of a 50% KDP royalty rate was a mistake or an indication of some future plan? If Amazon does have plans for the royalty rate, what do you think they are and why? And what do you think we should do special for Episode 200?