Amazon KDP Select Review 2020 | Is It STILL Worth It?

About this video

Roberts reviews whether KDP Select is still worth it in 2020. He explains Select is a 90-day, auto-renewing exclusivity agreement for a single e-book only — print and audio editions are unaffected — that puts the book into Kindle Unlimited (a subscription service he describes as about $10 per month, up to 10 titles at a time) and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Payment comes from the KDP Select Global Fund, which he says averaged about $25 million in payouts in 2019 and totalled over $300 million, with December at about $26 million, divided by total pages read at roughly $0.0043 per page — less than half a cent. Perks include 70% royalties in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico (normally 35%), one promotion per term — either a Kindle Countdown Deal (up to seven days each in the US and UK, keeping 70% even at $0.99) or a Free Book Promotion (five days, global) — All-Star bonuses, and borrows counting toward bestseller rank like sales. His verdict: new authors should try one 90-day term with real marketing, opt out before renewal if leaving, and go wide if page-read pay undervalues the book; he says his own sales largely did not change after moving books wide.

Key takeaways

• Select exclusivity applies only to the enrolled e-book for 90 days and auto-renews unless deselected; print and audiobook distribution is not restricted.
• Authors are paid per page read from the Global Fund — Roberts cites about $0.0043 per page, varying monthly, from a fund he says was about $26 million in December.
• Choose one promotion per term: Kindle Countdown Deal (seven days per region, US and UK only, 70% royalty preserved) or Free Book Promotion (five days, global).
• Roberts says All-Star bonuses reach up to $25,000 in the US, 2,000 pounds in the UK and about 7,500 euros in Germany, but are reserved for top performers.
• If leaving, Roberts advises fulfilling the 90-day term (early removal forfeits accrued page reads), opting out before renewal, then distributing wide via Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play or aggregators.

Episode details: published February 12, 2020 · 16:29 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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