As an indie author, you have a choice between putting your books in Amazon KDP Select or going wide. If you don’t what going wide means, you’re not alone. I was in the same boat up until a few months ago.

Going wide simply means that an author has decided to publish their books beyond just Amazon. Authors who have gone wide have their books on Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, and other book vendors. They can also have their books on Amazon, but going wide means they aren’t exclusive to the platform.

KDP Select requires authors to exclusively put their eBooks on Amazon. Authors can’t put their eBooks on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, etc. Just Amazon. This exclusivity agreement scares authors off, myself included. By being in KDP Select, authors are putting all their eggs in one basket and are hoping their eBooks do well being in the program.

Though it should be stated, that readers are more likely to read a book in Kindle Unlimited (KDP Select, but for readers) than out right buying it. Kindle Unlimited is Amazon’s monthly subscription where readers spend $10 to read as many books they want that are in the program.

Many indie authors have found readers by having their books in KDP Select because readers don’t mind reading it for free with their Kindle Unlimited subscription. But if authors aren’t having any luck with the program, they can easily get out of it as Amazon only requires authors have their books in KDP Select for 90 days.

On the other side, wide publishing allows eBooks to be on multiple platforms and reach more users. Particularly those who don’t use Amazon for one reason or another. However, more visibility doesn’t guarantee sales. If authors can’t find an audience on book vendors outside of Amazon, then they won’t make any sales on them.

Deciding if you should go with KDP Select or Wide Publishing is one of the hardest choices you’ll make as an indie author. Or at least it was for me. I liked the idea that more people would read my book if it was in Kindle Unlimited. But I also thought having more visibility on book vendors was important. Especially as I’m just starting out.

I am currently going down the wide publishing route. This doesn’t mean I won’t ever change courses. As an author, I can always pull my eBooks down from book vendors and be exclusive to Amazon. But as of right now I’m testing out wide publishing. We’ll see if I’m happy with the results. If not, then I know I have another option with KDP Select.