This post is for aspiring writers and interested readers. I’ll give you the knowledge I’ve gathered after a year of self-publishing my books on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

WHAT IS AMAZON KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING?

KDP allows you to self-publish e-Books, paperbacks, and hardcover books for free on all marketplaces. You can also enroll you book in the KDP select program, which makes it available to readers with the Kindle Unlimited membership (see my post on K.U here). You then owe Amazon the exclusivity of your book for three months and aren’t allowed to sell it somewhere else. Amazon KDP doesn’t market your book for you (unless you pay for ads) but it gives you access to the biggest e-Book marketplace in the world for free. It’s a great start for self-published writers without a big following.

HOW DOES A KINDLE UNLIMITED MEMBERSHIP WORKS FOR WRITERS?

As a reader, you pay $9.99 a month to have access to a selection of books. You know the drill, it’s great!

As a writer, it means you get paid $0.0045 (Amazon U.S) per KENP (Kindle Edition Normalzied Pages) page read. Your KENP count is different from the actual numbers of pages your book has (usually more). I used one of my books as an example for income generated by pages with K.U below. Smaller marketplaces (like Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.au…) pay less per page read. I personally make 80% of my income on Amazon.com. Most of my readers are Americans.

But know that authors only get paid once per page. So, if as a reader with a K.U membership you often pick up the same book to read, the writer doesn’t get extra money. Remember to buy digital or physical copies of your favorite books!

For first-time writers, the Amazon KDP Select program is a wonderful way to reach new readers and get reviews. Once every three months, you can create a Free e-Book promotion or a Kindle Countdown Deal for your book. If you keep them rolling with a few different books, they will bring great results. It’s a powerful marketing tool. Usually, when I do a promotion, I get an increase in sales and pages read on my other books.

As of now, the Kindle Unlimited program brings 50-60% of my monthly income. It has worked well for me so far. Bigger writers tend to take their books off K.U once they’ve reached a wide audience (they lose money if they miss sales in favor of K.U).

How about normal sales and royalties?

As a writer, you get paid 70% of the price of your e-Book, less the delivery cost. And 60% of the paperback price, less the printing and delivery costs (Amazon does it all for you with their print-on-demand feature). Check out the example with my book below (for Amazon.com).

Don’t forget the other costs that go into self-publishing a book.

Amazon KDP might be free, but don’t forget that creating a book isn’t.

The average cost for a professional book cover is between $300 and $1500. Or you can make them yourself, like I do. Canva is a great way to make book covers when you’re a first-time writer.

The average cost for a professional editor is between $400 and $2000, depending of the wordcount and your editor. Don’t skip that part, trust me. You can’t publish a book without having it checked by a professional first. I did that mistake once… the reviews were bad. There is nothing the readers hate more than finding typos in the book they’re reading. And they can be merciless. Start saving now for an editor!

And, of course, don’t forget to pay your taxes! Writing is a job.

here you go. I hope found it interesting. please, don’t hesitate if you have questions. You can reach me easily on instagram, goodreads, and here on my website.