Kindle Direct Publishing is the biggest ebook direct publishing platform in the world, and while it has come a very long way since its humble beginnings back in 2007, that’s not to say that there aren’t at least a few drawbacks that have dampened the experience many authors have had with KDP.

Many well-known authors have used Kindle Direct Publishing to upload their books including the likes of Mark Dawson and Joanna Penn, and there’s certainly no denying that when compared to many of its competitors.

KDP does have many positive reviews that recommend this platform to any aspiring authors, but there are also some who have pointed out smaller issues which mean that it might not be suitable for everyone.

So that you know whether uploading a book using Amazon KDP is the best choice for you, we have compiled all of the pros and benefits that come with using this popular online platform, along with the cons that hold it back.

Pros Of Kindle Direct Publishing

There are many reasons why KDP has become the largest ebook publisher in the world, and with over 1 million authors using the service each and every year, it proves that there are many perks and benefits that come with using it.

Here are some of the main pros that come with publishing a book through Amazon KDP.

Creative Control

One of the biggest worries that many authors will have when publishing a book is for the words on the pages or the book cover to become edited or altered in some way by the publishing platform so that they can tailor it towards a specific market or present it in a way that suits them.

This, unfortunately, happens a lot and disregards all the hard work and creativity of the original author, however the good news is that authors will still have full creative control over their book and will be able to change the price, cover, and any words in the book whenever they please without any restrictions.

Free Publication

When you sign up to publish a book through KDP, you won’t have to pay a penny since the entire process is completely free.

Authors will not be required to pay to either set up an account or release a book, which is always a massive relief considering self-publication can already cost a lot, so it makes the whole process far easier if there are no extra payments.

Royalties

Authors will acquire a decent amount of money from their books being sold, receiving 70% of the total royalties while the extra 30% is used as recompense to Amazon for advertising the book and wirelessly sending it to readers.

Just to put this into perspective, most traditional publishers will offer between 5-30% in regards to the royalties offered to the original author, which can make it hard for any author to make a profession and a successful career out of writing since they will be earning so little.

Kindle Direct Publishing therefore makes this far easier and more accessible, with the authors being paid much more fairly for their creative talents.

Book Availability

When you publish a book with KDP, it will be available for readers to buy from the Kindle store within 72 hours, and can even be up in 48 hours if it’s smaller. Most other publishers will be able to make the book available after at least a week since it will often take a while for them to process the product and make any changes if they decide to.

This isn’t the case with Kindle Direct Publishing however who will take no control away from the editor and won’t make any editorial changes so that they can get as many eyes on the book as quickly as possible.

Worldwide Access

Kindle books are available in over 15 countries across the world including the US, UK, Australia, Japan, France, and so many more, which means you can reach the widest audience possible when choosing to publish through KDP.

Additionally, Kindle device users can very easily change their store location without even needing to create an Amazon account, so your audience can grow much more than expected when you choose to publish with KDP because of their global reach.

Report Tabs

After you publish a book, you will have access to numerous different statistical reports and data by logging into your KDP account. These are some of the reports you will be able to analyze:

• Promotions
• Sales Data
• Prior Months’ Royalties
• Month-To-Date
• Ad Campaigns

This makes it incredibly easy to keep track of how well a book is doing, along with how much you are getting paid for the sales.

It is also incredibly useful if you have multiple books published so that you can keep an eye on which are doing the best and what your fans are gravitating toward the most in terms of concepts and writing styles.

Cons Of Kindle Direct Publishing

There are more than a few benefits to using KDP which have allowed it to become such a popular publishing platform, but with that being said, there are still a few downsides that some authors have pointed out in their experience that are still worth mentioning.

Paid-Only Reviews

Amazon only allows paid customers to review products, which means that even if a reader is given the book for free and becomes a fan who wants to share their thoughts on the book, they will be restricted from doing so.

This is extremely unfortunate because reviews are so important, not only because they allow the author to see how people are finding their work, but also because reviews work into the Amazon algorithm, so more reviews means the book will appear more often in the store.

60 Day Payment Window

While authors will be paid monthly from their book sales, there is a 60 day window in place before you actually receive money, so if you earned a certain amount in March from your sales, you wouldn’t actually acquire the money until May at the earliest.

Exclusivity

When you agree to publish a book through KDP, you also agree on an exclusivity clause in which your books will only be available on the Kindle store. If your book is found to be on sale in any other online ebook store, it will be pulled from the Kindle marketplace.

This is particularly annoying if there is a certain online store tailored towards a specific genre that relates to your book, or online marketplaces where there are fewer books available which can make your work more noticeable.

Bottom Line

The biggest drawback to publishing through KDP, and the main factor that every author needs to consider when choosing to publish their book through Kindle Direct Publishing, is how exclusive and restrictive they are about their books.

If you don’t mind your book only being sold on the Kindle marketplace where it will be able to reach the widest audience, and are comfortable being paid fair royalties which will only get to you 2 months later, then there are more than enough benefits to warrant publishing a book with KDP.