After hours of brushing through a Kindle Direct Publishing Success Guide, your literary piece is now on the Amazon Kindle book market.

As you present your book for sale, knowing how you will get paid is important.

When does Kindle Direct Publishing pay? How do you access your earnings? These are common questions that self-published authors need some answers to.

We will attack these questions head-on to help you find your way in a crowded marketplace.

Earning Using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

With a click of KDP’s publish button, you have successfully published your book on the world’s largest online publishing platform. You saved yourself from the tedious process still common in the traditional publishing industry. You are now a certified, self-published author.

The traditional publishing industry only gives authors a 10 to 12 percent royalty payout.

On the other hand, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing pays its self-published authors through book royalties per sold copy on the eBook marketplace.

Authors of self-published books on the Kindle Direct Publishing platform usually earn around 35 to 70 percent royalty payout. A print book on Kindle gives its author a 60 percent royalty rate.

You can also turn your available book copies online into print books using Amazon’s print-on-demand books technology.

KDP accepts every type of book. You can publish fiction or non-fiction books, educational pieces, self-help books, book series, children’s books, and even audiobooks.

Given the multiple possibilities of earning in KDP, you need to know how and when you earn.

When Does Kindle Direct Publishing Pay?

When you try to sell your books through KDP, the first thing you want to know is when you’ll get paid for book sales. It is a common question amongst upcoming self-publishers.

Here are helpful guidelines for answering relevant queries about payment:

Setting Up a Payment Method

After uploading a book file and book cover design, entering book details, and updating the list price, you’re ready to click on the publish button.

While waiting to make a sale, you still have to consider how you’re getting paid.

Or course, you will only acquire book sales payments after setting up a payment method.

Setting up the payment is easy and uncomplicated. You can choose from three methods: direct payments, wire transfers, and check payments.

Direct Deposits

Also known as electronic funds transfers (EFT), direct deposits refer to direct money transfers between two bank accounts: yours and Amazon’s.

In short, no physical money check or cash changes hands, and the money does not travel through a long chain of bank networks.

Amazon supports direct deposits to many banks in different countries or regions.

However, some local banking institutions in your area might require some form of additional documents and fees before they release funds from international EFTs.

Make sure to contact your bank and inquire about such requirements and fees.

Wire Transfers

Any wire transfer is a funds transfer that happens electronically across a global network of banks.

Depending on your bank’s international connections, there may be some fees or foreign exchange rates associated.

Amazon Poland and Amazon Sweden sites do not allow wire transfers.

Payments Via Checks

If you opt for check payments, Amazon will issue you paper checks through physical mail to the address listed on your account.

Check payments are only available in regions where wire transfers and direct deposits are unavailable.

Like wire payments, check payments are unavailable on Amazon.pl and Amazon.se because Amazon cannot issue checks from banking institutions in Poland and Sweden.

Switching Between Check Payments, EFTs, and Vice Versa

Whatever method you choose to set up the first time, Amazon allows you to switch between different payment modes.

You can do this under the “Getting Paid” section of your KDP account.

Nevertheless, doing so does not necessarily mean removing your previously used method.

Essentially, you are adding a new payment method to your account and setting it up as the default option.

Scheduling of Payment

So When Does Kindle Direct Publishing Pay?

Amazon’s KDP makes royalty payments roughly 60 days following the last day of the month the sale was recorded.

The payment schedule for authors using Expanded Distribution services is different—books sold through expanded distribution clear payments after a 90-day term.

The transfer of funds to a bank account or payment address varies depending on the payment method.

Direct Deposits

Payments made via direct deposits take one to five business days to appear on the bank account.

In special cases like India, it takes longer for the royalty payments to show, around 7 -10 days.

Wire Transfers

Wire payments can take 5-10 business days to appear on your bank account.

Sometimes, online payment issues appear, but you can easily handle them through your financial institution.

Payments Via Checks

Since check payments use physical mail, they take a lot more time to reach your listed address, usually between 20 and 30 days.

Amazon advises self-published authors to allow at least one month for receiving check payments.

In addition, all authors publishing through Kindle must check their payment address listing to avoid payment issues.

Minimum Payment Requirement

There is no minimum payment requirement for direct deposits made by Amazon. No matter how small your directly deposited royalties are, you will receive your payments as scheduled.

However, some local banks in your region might have a minimum threshold associated with direct deposit withdrawals.

It is up to you to check with your bank.

With wire transfer payments and payments made with checks, there is a minimum threshold, usually $100.

For Amazon sites in the UK, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, KDP sets the minimum threshold for wire transfer payments at 100 euros.

The minimum threshold for wire transfers for Canada, Mexico, and Japan is 100CAD, 1,000MXN, and 10,000 yen, respectively.

Check payments made to addresses in Europe and Canada require a minimum payout of 100 euros and 100CAD, respectively.

Check and wire payments will continue accumulating, and you will only receive a check when the total value meets the required minimum threshold.

Payment Issues and Troubleshooting

Two main causes of payment issues or missing payments are mismatching information and payment method updates. 

See that your bank account details, listed address, and Kindle Direct Publishing account details match to avoid payment issues. The bank will automatically reject ETF and wire payments if they observe any discrepancies.

Whenever you update your selected payment method, Amazon requests that you allow up to 60 days to receive your next payment.

Amazon KDP Select

Another great way to improve your author earnings is enrolling in Amazon’s KDP Select. KDP Select gives an author more chances of earning from the KDP Select Global Fund.

Since KDP is already an excellent book publishing platform, it features a vast library with very affordable book prices.

If an author publishes exclusively through KDP Select, Kindle gives them two promotional tools. These book marketing tools include Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotion. With such book promotion services, publishers can market their books to a wider audience.

If an author enrolls in KDP Select, their books become available through Kindle Unlimited (KU). Under Kindle Unlimited, audiences can read more books from the same author and leave good book reviews for them.

Subscribers from different backgrounds, like online book clubs with the unquenchable urge to read, gain access to millions of eBook titles online.

Borrows and KDP Select Payouts

Think of Kindle Direct Publishing’s Kindle Unlimited as a library where readers have the luxury of borrowing up to 10 books at once. The only difference is that book borrowing occurs digitally.

When an author lists a book title or book description through KDP Select, every book loaned also corresponds to book royalties.

Self-published authors benefit from Kindle Unlimited (KU) because they get author earnings every time a person borrows or rents a book.

Note that books included in the KDP Unlimited library do not gain author earnings through downloads and purchases. Authors only earn from the number of pages read by Kindle Unlimited members monthly.

Books enrolled in KDP Select are free to borrowers for one month.

In addition, the KDP Select Global Fund varies monthly depending on the subscription fees paid by current total Kindle Unlimited members.

Nevertheless, Amazon has been generous in adding more bonuses for authors to incentivize and continue their enrolment in KDP Select.

KDP Select Payout Scheduling

As a KDP Select author, you will also receive royalty payments from book loans based on your chosen payment method.

Kindle Direct Publishing Succes Guide

Knowing when and how to get paid allows you to set up your business for success.

If you need more help, you can always check out our easy-to-understand Kindle Direct Publishing Success Guide. It helps authors in terms of new niche ideas, keywords, and neat custom interiors.

Additionally, our KDP Guide provides expert tips and advice, training, and monthly content guides, much like a cheat sheet for unpublished writers. It is our way of helping your book get to the bestseller lists.

KDP Royalty Reports

Amazon makes detailed monthly reports available to its authors every 15th of the succeeding month. KDP Select enrollees can track their book sales whether they fall under the 70% or 35% royalty rate. They can also track your author earnings from the Kindle Unlimited (KU) program and books downloaded from Kindle Select Free Promotion.

All KDP authors can download detailed reports when they visit their account page and click on “Prior Month’s Royalties.”

Using these reports, you can track your earnings and check whether you are missing some payments.

Final Thoughts

If you have a book for publishing, you must also factor in the entrepreneurial aspect of the publishing industry. You must know when and how to access and monitor your payouts without hassle.

Kindle Direct Publishing author earnings and payment methods are flexible – it all falls on you to pick up the pace and set up shop.

Nevertheless, an indie author like you need not worry because there are online resources like our KDP Success Guide. This guide will surely help you traverse the competitive market and boost your author earnings. If you use it wisely, Kindle can include you in KDP Select’s list of successful authors.