Is Kindle Publishing Still Profitable In 2020? YES or NO?!

About this video

Dale Roberts answers whether Kindle publishing is still profitable in 2020, pointing to the $27.2 million KDP Select Global Fund in February 2020 as evidence money is flowing, while noting most authors touch only a fraction of it. He traces the history: KDP launched in late 2007, and the 2010–2015 ‘Kindle publishing Gold Rush’ let authors profit with minimal marketing — he says some pulled in five to six figures per month. The shift came in July 2015: Amazon clamped down on fake reviews from review swaps and outsourced reviewers, and replaced the old KDP Select payment model — where reading at least 10% of an ebook paid roughly $1.30 to $1.50 regardless of length, which rewarded tiny pamphlets — with KENPC, the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count, paying per page read. He also notes CreateSpace merged into KDP Print in December 2018, so publishing now spans ebooks and print in one dashboard. His verdict is yes, it is still profitable, but only with current best practices: build and grow a following rather than expecting Amazon to supply an audience, market and promote indefinitely, keep producing more books to ‘feed the beast,’ solicit honest reviews legitimately without coercion, and accept that it is now a pay-to-play world where Amazon Advertising is the simplest paid route.

Key takeaways

• Dale cites the $27.2 million KDP Select Global Fund for February 2020, while stressing most authors earn only a small fraction of it.
• The 2010–2015 gold rush ended in July 2015 when Amazon cracked down on fake/review-swap reviews and replaced the 10%-read payout with per-page KENPC payments.
• Under the old model, reading 10% of a book paid about $1.30–$1.50 regardless of length, which rewarded short pamphlets; KENPC pays per normalized page read.
• Profitability now requires bringing your own audience: grow a following, market continuously, and keep releasing more books.
• It is a pay-to-play environment — legitimate honest reviews and Amazon Advertising are part of the expected playbook.

Episode details: published May 12, 2020 · 7:54 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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