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- Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing offers a chance for authors to self-publish on its book store.
- The free platform allows writers to publish books in print and digital to earn a royalty rate.
- Here's a breakdown of how to start publishing on Amazon KDP and how much writers can earn.
Amazon's self-publishing platform Kindle Direct Publishing, commonly abbreviated to KDP, enables authors to self-publish in both print and digital.
Free at the point of use, Amazon claims on its website that writers can earn up to a 70% royalty rate for eBook sales and up to 60% for print compared to the 5% to 15% rates offered by traditional publishers.
The uptick in royalty rates has meant that many emerging authors have started to embrace the platform. In February, self-published writer Mark Dawson made $1.3 million in a year through the program.
While authors stand to cash in on higher royalty rates, they're also responsible for marketing, designing, and even editing their books, which the publishing house would typically handle.
"You have to remember you're in competition with books, which are written by very good writers and published by professional publishing houses," Dawson said.
Not only do writers have to be prepared to market their books, but it can be tough to predict sales.
A couple who make up to $17,000 a month selling notebooks on Amazon KDP said sales can be erratic and difficult to predict. They also said that they published ten designs of notebooks before they started making money on the platform.
Still, their success shows that there isn't one set kind of book that can sell well on the platform. Along with notebooks, novelists and non-fiction writers have succeeded on Amazon KDP.
How to sell on Amazon KDP
After creating an Amazon KDP account, users can format their manuscript through its Kindle Create tool and then list the product on the Kindle and Amazon bookstores.
Authors can also publish books through Kindle Select on KDP, which makes books accessible on the Kindle Unlimited subscription service. As it's a $ 9.99-a-month subscription plan, authors get paid for every page a customer reads of their book rather than per sale of the whole book.
After that, authors are in charge of marketing their books. All the Amazon KDP authors that Insider has previously spoken to emphasize the importance of promotion. Self-publishers typically use a combination of events, email newsletters, and social media to market their books.
Is Amazon KDP worth it?
Not every author wants to market, design, and edit the book they write, but the ones prepared to do so could stand to benefit. Angelina Stanzione and Chris Rawson said they made $34,000 in three months on Amazon KDP. The couple has even begun to use ChatGPT to write first drafts, which dramatically reduced their costs.