For a monthly charge (currently $9.99/month), consumers can borrow up to ten books from Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service for as long as their writers or publishers have elected to include those titles within the Kindle Direct Publishing platform (KDP).

There are benefits and drawbacks to publishing a book via KDP Select from the author’s perspective. What exactly it is, how authors are compensated, as well as whether it is worthwhile to include books are all covered in this article.

How Do Writers Incorporate A Book Into The Program?

Using Kindle Direct Publishing, authors upload their novels to Amazon. You are offered the opportunity to join KDP Select after entering the book’s details. 

During this procedure, the KDP Select Enrollment box is located at the very top of the final tab, where this choice may be found. Your book will be accessible to Kindle Unlimited subscribers once you tick the box.

How Are Writers Paid?

Amazon does a respectable job of outlining both the specifics of how payment is given to you and how you are paid with KDP Select on their website.

In essence, a percentage of KU subscribers’ payments is transferred into the “KDP Select Global Fund.” The overall number of “pages” read by all KU members is divided by that fund each month. The resultant figure is the quantity you receive for each page read in your electronic books.

Price per page = Total money paid by KU registered users and pages read.

The Select Global Fund total for the previous month is disclosed in an email from Amazon about 2 weeks after the conclusion of the month, but not the overall number of pages read.

The following month’s end is when you receive your payment. So if you made $5,000 in January, for example, you would see that money arrive in your bank account sometime towards the end of March.

Your royalties can be placed directly into a checking or savings account at no minimum cost.

You might be eligible for a KDP All-Stars bonus if your book performs remarkably well (as in, is the most popular). These numbers represent those bonuses:

How Are E-Book Pages Determined?

The price is established by Amazon, who isn’t exactly open about it. However, if you go to your books on the KDP bookshelf page, you can check the total number of pages in an e-book, as defined by them. 

You may view your KDP Select Info from a pop-up window that appears when you tap on Promote and Advertise. You may find your book’s Kindle Edition Page Count by scrolling to the bottom of that page.

What Are The Disadvantages?

If signing up for KDP Select seems like a no-brainer to you, you ought to be informed of its disadvantages. 

1. Your Book Needs To Be Amazon-Only

Blocks of 90 days make up the KDP Select periods, and there is an automatic renewal which you must actively choose not to accept. You are prohibited from selling or giving away any book online within that 90-day window, including on your own website.

You may give away 10% of a book at most. For instance, if you wish to give away preview chapters to followers on an email list or post them on your website. Anything more than that is against the terms of service, and you risk being kicked out of the programme.

2. You Can’t “Stuff” Your Book

Several years ago, several authors attempted to game the system by adding numerous added materials or even whole volumes to raise their KNEP total. 

The reasoning behind this strategy is that if a user enjoyed a first book, they would likely read the second or the third in a single sitting, giving the author the value of 900 pages instead of 300 for just a single title.

Such actions are strictly prohibited for KDP Select purposes by Amazon. Be extremely cautious when trying this because several authors were indefinitely barred from posting on the site due to breaking the rules.

Back matter like your backlist as well as some sample chapters from some other book are both acceptable. According to the common rule of thumb, it shouldn’t take up over 10% of your entire book. Obviously, it is best to be conservative.

Sales of collections of a series and numerous books are also permitted, but you have to make it very obvious on the product pages and on the cover that it is exactly what the book is. Regarding this, Amazon is rigorous.

Is It Worth Putting Your Book On KDP?

The debate over whether it’s worthwhile to participate in the programme still exists despite the KDP Select’s benefits and drawbacks being discussed.

1. Buys Versus Borrowing

The payout is one thing to think about.  You get access to readers through KDP Select who would not otherwise be interested in purchasing your work but will gladly give it a try through Kindle Unlimited. 

Consider it as providing a “free” sample of your work to them while still receiving payment.

Still, some readers will decide to purchase the book. 

Perhaps to make room on their list of things to borrow, or simply because they genuinely liked it. Like when you appreciate a book so much that you decide to buy it after reading it at the library.

2. Popularity By Genre

The Kindle Unlimited market is dominated by a few categories, and readers of several of these genres have all but accepted that a book will be added to KU. 

This can be advantageous for authors who specialise in particular genres because readers are motivated to finish books quickly because they can only have ten books downloaded at once.

(Not an exhaustive list) The following genres are strongly represented in Kindle Unlimited:

• Romance
• Fantasy
• Sci-Fi
• Self-Help 

KDP Publishing Techniques

There are a few methods authors have used to test the market or simply have the greatest of both worlds while skirting around the exclusivity clause if you’re not sure if Kindle Unlimited is right for you.

1. Publish On Additional Platforms Earlier

A few weeks before the book’s final Amazon release date, you can publish it on other platforms. This is often done a week or two beforehand. 

If you wait any longer, your Amazon readers—who, let’s face it, will represent the vast majority of your readers—might feel slightly cheated.

2. Hold Off On Adding The Book To Kindle Unlimited

You can choose not to immediately publish in KDP Select as an option. Most of your followers won’t mind if you’re notorious for not being accepted into the KU programme, particularly if you waited a long time before doing so. 

Consider it like holding a book sale; you probably don’t want to do it until six to twelve months following release.

Don’t auto-renew; instead, enrol your work in KDP Select. If you’re strong at remembering dates, you can notify readers as the 90-day window approaches. 

Prior to the book’s termination from the programme, the urgency might generate demand for it. It should be noted that if a reader chooses a book through KU, they can keep it even after it is removed from KDP Select.

Final Thoughts

You should now have a better understanding of how authors are compensated through KDP Select, how everything functions for authors, and if it’s a suitable fit for you.