What’s The Difference Between Amazon KDP And KDP Select? Everything Authors Need to Know
Self-publishing your book is an exciting journey, but navigating platforms like Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) can sometimes feel overwhelming. One common question for many authors self-publishing their books on Amazon is What is the difference between KDP and KDP Select? And Which One Should I Choose When Self-Publishing My Book?
Understanding the difference between these two options is crucial because it affects how your book is distributed, marketed, and monetized. Let’s dive into the details so you can make the best decision for your self-publishing goals.
What Is Amazon KDP?
Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is a self-publishing platform on Amazon that allows authors to publish and distribute eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcover books to millions of readers worldwide. When you publish through KDP, your book is listed on Amazon, and you retain complete control over pricing, rights, and royalties.
One of the advantages of Amazon KDP is its non-exclusivity—you can publish your book on Amazon and also make it available on other platforms. Options include Barnes & Noble Press, ideal for selling eBooks and print books through Barnes & Noble; Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors reach international readers, especially in Canada and Europe; and Apple Books for Authors, a platform for publishing eBooks directly to Apple’s audience of iPhone, iPad, and Mac users. Additionally, services like Draft2Digital make it easy to distribute to multiple retailers, including Apple Books, Kobo, and library systems, while Smashwords connects authors with numerous online retailers and libraries. For print distribution, IngramSpark is a top choice for reaching bookstores and libraries worldwide.
Key Features of Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing):
1. Wide Distribution Across Amazon’s Global Stores
Publishing through Amazon KDP ensures that your book is available in Amazon’s online stores worldwide, including regions like North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond. This extensive reach makes it easier to connect with millions of potential readers around the globe, giving your book maximum visibility and accessibility.
2. Competitive Royalty Rates
KDP offers royalty rates of up to 70% on eBook sales, depending on your book’s pricing and the regions where it’s sold. This allows authors to earn more per sale compared to many traditional publishing deals. For books that don’t meet the criteria for the 70% royalty, authors can still earn 35%—a solid return for many markets.
3. No Exclusivity Requirement
One of the biggest advantages of Amazon KDP is that it doesn’t require exclusivity. This means you’re free to publish and distribute your book on other platforms like Kobo, Barnes & Noble Press, and Apple Books. This flexibility allows you to expand your book’s reach and target a broader audience across multiple retailers.
4. Simple, User-Friendly Publishing Process
Amazon KDP is super easy to self-publish on. Amazon KDP is designed to make self-publishing as straightforward as possible. Authors can upload their manuscripts, cover design, and book details in just a few steps. KDP also provides tools like the Kindle Create software to help format your eBook with ease. They accept a wide range of file formats for manuscript uploads, including:
- Microsoft Word Documents (.doc, .docx)
- PDF Files (.pdf)
- ePub Files (.epub)
- HTML Files (.html, .htm)
- Rich Text Format (.rtf)
- Plain Text Files (.txt)
Amazon KDP is definitely one of the easier publishing platforms to format a book. There are so many file upload options to choose from that authors can prepare their manuscripts in the format they’re most comfortable with. Additionally, KDP allows for high-quality cover uploads in JPEG (.jpg) and TIFF (.tif) formats, ensuring your book looks polished and professional. So whether you are formatting your own book or hiring someone to format your book for you there are a lot of different options to format and upload your book.
5. Print-On-Demand Services
Through KDP, you can publish both eBooks and print-on-demand paperbacks or hardcovers. This eliminates the need for upfront printing costs, and books are only printed when ordered, saving authors time and money while reducing waste.
6. Real-Time Sales Tracking
KDP has a dashboard where you can monitor your book’s sales and royalties in real-time. This real-time sales transparency helps you track your book’s performance and adjust your marketing strategies as needed. Really helps you save money if you are running a marketing plan that isn't producing results. You can pivot your marketing strategies and find something that is giving you your best ROI (Return On Investment).
KDP is perfect for authors who want flexibility and the freedom to distribute their books anywhere they like.
What Is Amazon KDP Select?
KDP Select is an optional program within Amazon KDP that authors can opt into to boost their book’s visibility and sales. The catch? It requires exclusivity for your eBook. While enrolled in KDP Select, your eBook can only be sold on Amazon KDP. The enrollemts into the KDP Select program are for 90-day periods. If your book is available on other platforms like Barnes & Noble or Apple Books, or any other publishing platform you'll need to temporarily remove it during the 90-day KDP Select enrollllment period.
In return, for exclusivity, KDP Select gives you access to amazing tools to help market your book, drive traffic, and increase your earnings. These include Kindle Unlimited, where readers can discover your book as part of their subscription, and options like Kindle Countdown Deals or Free Book Promotions, which can drive more attention to your books.
Some authors choose to keep their books enrolled in KDP Select indefinitely with the auto 90-day renewal button clicked on. These authors are able to continually leverage KDP Selects tools for consistent marketing and exposure running price promotions and book giveaways to build hype around their book every 90 days. Others take a hybrid approach, alternating between wide distribution—offering their book on platforms like Barnes & Noble and Apple Books—and temporarily taking their books off those platforms and enrolling in KDP Select for specific 90-day periods, to take advantage of its marketing opportunities. This strategy allows authors to benefit from both wide distribution and the promotional tools of KDP Select, depending on their goals.
Side Note:
Amazon KDP Select applies exclusively to eBooks, which means you can enroll your eBook in KDP Select while keeping your print book available on other platforms like Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or elsewhere. This allows you to benefit from KDP Select's promotional tools for your eBook while still reaching a broader audience with your print book through wide distribution.
Key Features of KDP Select
1. Kindle Unlimited (KU):
When you enroll in KDP Select, your eBook is added to Amazon’s popular subscription service, Kindle Unlimited. This allows millions of subscribers to read your book for free as part of their subscription. Instead of earning royalties from direct sales, you earn based on the number of pages read (via the KENP—Kindle Edition Normalized Page—program). This feature can significantly boost your book's visibility and engagement, especially with voracious readers.
2. Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL):
Your book becomes part of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, available to Amazon Prime members. Prime members can borrow one book per month for free, and you earn a share of the KDP Select Global Fund for each borrow.
3. Exclusive Promotional Tools
Amazon KDP Select has two amazing marketing tools—Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotions.
Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotions can seriously boost a book's visibility, help authors gain more book reviews, new followers and ultimately help authors sell more books.
Kindle Countdown Deals
- Temporary Discounts with Higher Royalties: With Kindle Countdown Deals, you can offer your eBook at a reduced price for a limited time while still earning royalties at the higher 70% rate (if your book is priced between $2.99 and $9.99).
- Creates Urgency: A countdown timer on your book’s product page shows readers how much time they have left to snag the deal, motivating them to purchase sooner rather than later.
- Boosts Sales Ranking: Increased sales during the promotion can push your book higher in Amazon's sales rankings, improving visibility for new potential readers.
- Attracts New Readers: The lower price point often encourages readers unfamiliar with your work to give it a try, especially if it’s part of a series.
Free Book Promotions
Offering your eBook for free for up to 5 days during a 90-day KDP Select period can lead to long-term gains:
- Increase Downloads: Free promotions often result in a surge of downloads, putting your book into the hands of hundreds or even thousands of readers in a short period.
- Gain Reviews: Free promotions are a proven strategy for generating more book reviews. Readers who download your book for free are often willing to leave reviews, especially when prompted in your book’s back matter. More reviews increase credibility and influence purchasing decisions.
- Achieve Best Seller Status in Free Categories: A free book promotion can help you hit Amazon's bestseller lists in free eBook categories, boosting your book's visibility and attracting even more downloads. This "momentum" often carries over when your book returns to paid status, increasing overall sales.
- Reach a Broader Audience: Readers who discover your free book may become fans, leading them to purchase other titles in your catalog or recommend your work to others.
- Perfect for Series Starters: Offering the first book in a series for free is an excellent strategy to hook readers, increasing the likelihood they’ll purchase the next books in the series.
Both Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotions are fantastic tools for helping authors build their audience, improve their book’s visibility, and grow their overall author platform. Taking advantage of these cool promotional tools can really help authors market their books and grow their author platform.
Thinking about running a free book promotion on KDP Select? Check out our blog post: Step-by-Step Guide: How To Make Your Book Free on Amazon KDP for all the details!
4. Access to the KDP Select Global Fund:
Each month, Amazon allocates a global fund exclusively for authors enrolled in KDP Select. Authors earn a share of this fund based on their book’s performance, such as the number of pages read in Kindle Unlimited or borrows from KOLL.
5. Enhanced Discoverability:
By being part of Kindle Unlimited and KOLL, your book is exposed to a larger audience of dedicated Amazon readers. These programs often increase rankings and visibility in Amazon’s algorithm, helping your book appear in more search results and recommendations.
6. Flexible Enrollment:
Enrollment in KDP Select is for 90 days at a time. After this period, you can decide whether to re-enroll or opt-out. This flexibility allows authors to test the program’s benefits and adjust their distribution strategy based on results. So If you want to just test out Amazon KDP Select just for a while you can!
Pros and Cons of KDP and KDP Select
Amazon KDP Pros:
- Freedom to sell your book on multiple platforms (e.g., Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books)
- No restrictions on pricing or distribution
- Retain complete control over where your book is available
Amazon KDP Cons:
- No access to Kindle Unlimited readers
- Limited promotional tools
Amazon KDP Select Pros:
- Access to millions of Kindle Unlimited subscribers
- Increased visibility through Amazon’s promotions
- Additional income streams from page reads and lending
Amazon KDP Select Cons:
- Exclusivity limits your ability to sell your eBook on other platforms
- No guarantee of increased sales or readership
How to Decide: Which One Is Right for You?
When choosing between KDP and KDP Select, consider your goals as an author:
- Do you want maximum reach? If you plan to distribute your book across multiple platforms, Like Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Press, Smashwords, Kobo, KDP is the better option.
- Are you focused on Amazon readers? Amazon is hands down the number one book-selling platform on the internet. If you want all the best tools to market Amazon readers you may want to take advantage of KDP Selects tools like Kindle Unlimited and Kindle countdown deals and free book giveaways.
- What’s your marketing strategy? If you have a strong following outside of Amazon, the exclusivity requirement of KDP Select may limit your opportunities.
Both Amazon KDP and KDP Select offer awesome opportunities for self-publishing authors. The right choice really depends on your goals, audience, and where you want to distribute your book.
If you're just getting started, KDP Select is a great way to tap into Amazon's huge audience and grow your readership. With cool tools like free book giveaways and kindle countdown deals for free you can reach more people and gain more reviews for your book. But if you prefer more control and want to spread your book across multiple platforms, sticking with standard KDP might be the way to go.
Ultimately, no matter which route you choose, remember that success in self-publishing is about more than just the platform. It’s about writing a fantastic book, knowing your readers, and staying consistent with your marketing. I hope you enjoyed this blog post. If you want to hear more content from us subscribe to our free email newsletter!
Do you have any questions about self-publishing or Amazon KDP? Drop a comment below – I’d love to help!
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Samantha Panzera is an adventurous travel blogger, graphic designer, and multi-media business entrepreneur who uses the experience she’s gained over the years to teach aspiring writers the skills they need to build an author platform and take their careers to the next level.