KDP Select Review: The Pros & Cons of Amazon Exclusivity

About this video

In this older Self-Publishing with Dale video, Dale reviews KDP Select, Amazon’s program that places enrolled ebooks in Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library in exchange for ebook exclusivity to Amazon — the book cannot appear on platforms like iBooks, Nook or Kobo, though print and audiobook content has no such restriction. Enrollment lasts for the 90-day term discussed in the cons. Benefits he lists: earnings from the KDP Select Global Fund, a pool of subscription dues divided monthly by total pages read and region (with page reads not equal worldwide); 70% royalty on sales to customers in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico that non-enrolled books miss; and one promotional choice per period between Kindle Countdown Deals, a time-bound discount that still earns full royalties, and a free book promotion. Top books can also earn KDP Select All-Stars bonuses, which he gives as ranging from about $250 to $25,000, significantly lower outside the US. His pros are potentially larger payouts, more Amazon exposure, greater promotion, and the ability to rank without sales; his cons are meagre earnings based on pages flipped, no off-Amazon publishing for 90 days if the book performs poorly, and that same rank-without-sales point, which he says he covered critically in ‘The Untold Truth of the Kindle Best Seller’. His verdict: KDP Select is good for fiction writers and a choice few nonfiction writers, while he personally found greater success spreading content across multiple platforms.

Key takeaways

• KDP Select makes the ebook Amazon-exclusive — print and audio are unrestricted — and blocks other ebook platforms for 90 days
• Income comes from your share of the Global Fund based on pages read, plus 70% royalties in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico
• Each period you choose Countdown Deals or a free promotion, not both as separate entitlements described here
• All-Stars bonuses for top books are given as about $250 to $25,000, lower outside the US
• Dale’s verdict: best suited to fiction; he personally did better publishing wide across multiple platforms

Episode details: published July 31, 2017 · 4:42 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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