Making a Kindle Unlimited Book Available to Libraries

I've now completed the process of enrolling Running From Herself in library distribution through Draft2Digital. While it wasn't as painful as I feared, I won't know the final result for a while.

As background, Amazon recently updated its KU enrollment requirements:

“During the 90-day enrollment period, the Kindle eBook can only be distributed through KDP and public libraries.” 

My primary question, which I still don't have an answer for, is: What? I don't know what "90-day enrollment period" means, because my novel has been enrolled in KU continuously since March 1. So, wouldn't any day fall within my enrollment period? I guess I don't know, but I'm sure I'll find out--either by D2D rejecting my submission or by KDP sending me a nasty email.

Setting that aside, the process is relatively painless. In a nutshell: 

1. Go to your KDP dashboard and click the three dots beside "promote and advertise" for the book you want to work with. One of the options is "Manage KDP Select". When you click on it, it will reveal your enrollment period (whatever the hell that means).

2.  Go to Draft2Digital and sign up for an account, if you don't already have one. There'll be some initial housekeeping that needs to be done--general personal info, such as your name, pen name, address, etc., and you'll also need to enter your payment info (bank info, if you choose that payment route) plus the usual IRS stuff. This kind of tripped me up, because although I entered and submitted everything, at the end of the process, D2D required me to do it again. (I hate that kind of stuff.)

3. Upload your book either as a Word Docx or an epub. I don't trust uploading Word docs, because I don't trust Word docs in general. Microsoft loves to do hinky stuff just for fun, so I had to convert my manuscript to an epub. I use calibre for that purpose. It's free and efficient. 

4. Also upload your cover.

5. You'll be asked for info about the book--the blurb, a short blurb, categories, keywords.

6. Once all of this is uploaded and accepted, you'll land on a distribution screen. Only choose library services, so you don't get in trouble with KDP. 

7. Pricing: set your price 2-3 times your book's Amazon price. According to this article:

"Libraries expect to pay more for a license, and this ensures you maximize income per borrow under cost-per-checkout models." 

8. Hopefully, you'll reach the "accepted" screen. D2D states that it can take several days for your book to become available. My acceptance took 1 or 2 minutes.

You're probably wondering, like me, how long it takes for a book (specifically, a digital book) to appear in a library's catalog (i.e., database). According to Google, items are often imported automatically or at least on a weekly basis. That, however, is dependent on whether a library wants the book. Demand comes into play (oops!), but also suitability for their collection. Cost, too, but since my retail price for Running From Herself is only $2.99, I set my D2D price at $8.97, far below most ebooks' prices, I'm assuming. 

Google does say that Overdrive, which is what my local library uses, takes 14-21 days. Thus, I'll take a look in a couple of weeks. I'd be shocked if it actually showed up, since my luck has been non-existent. But you, fellow author, might well be successful.

Overall, the process wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. It's too early to say the same about the results.