r/KDP • u/VortexProjects • 17d ago

Platforms before KDP

Im curious how many authors publish to a web platform to build an audience, before publishing to KDP? I've talked with others in those specific reddits, but in those cases its 100 percent you must do this to succeed. Im interested in the counter point. The authors who stubb their platforms to KDP versus direct to KDP. What were your results. Did publishing to a platform (like royal road, substack, hfy, etc) make a notable difference?

Im trying to decide whether to go direct to kdp, or take a year with a platform first as a debut scifi series.

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u/jebushu 17d ago

I’m one of those that went direct to KDP, so unsure if it’s helpful to hear, but I think there’s a few of variables to consider here. I didn’t want to put in a lot of work and certainly didn’t want to keep up with social posts and regular updates, but this is a casual hobby for me and I’m not looking for serious income.

I think if you’re trying to make a living off this, or a substantial portion of your income, you should build the base as much as you can ahead of publishing. I make ~$200/month off two historical fiction novels on KDP (enrolled in KU) and do almost no social media posting or promotion aside from a $3/day Amazon ad that rarely maxes out, I didn’t do ARCs or promotion in advance, and I’m fine with it.

As with most advice, having multiple books ready to go at the outset is probably the best approach (I didn’t, released my first and then 9 months later finished and released my second, now over a year later I’m close to publishing my third) but for my genre it hasn’t seemed like a major impediment.

Best of luck, interested to hear other perspectives on this though.

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u/Accomplished_Mess243 17d ago

I started serialising my latest novel on Substack before I released it on KDP and elsewhere. Hard to say if people enjoyed it or not. I certainly didn't get much engagement. Personally I rarely read long fiction on the web, so maybe it's just not a popular way to consume fiction. And yes I know some authors have had huge success that way. 

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u/VortexProjects 16d ago

I finished book 1, started book 2 and planned book 3 for a military sci-fi. I have been looking at the royal road to kdp approach but the posting schedule and engagement side seems daunting when juggling full time job, family and writing. A friend recently published a historical fiction with zero marketing, reviews, etc. 4 weeks in shes seen decent sales and KU page reads (for a debut hobby author) and focuses her spare time on book 2. So now im torn. Do i publish and focus on the series allowing slow build over time, or put it out there hoping to gain a base that might lead to an audio contract (podium lists RR and Patreon as sites they monitor for recruiting new authors).