Authors making a bundle through Kindle Direct Publishing

January 12th, 2012

A Kindle Fire tablet computer

Amazon seems intent upon further disrupting the already roiling publishing industry and is apparently succeeding.

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is off to a strong start: customers borrowed 295,000 Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select titles in December alone, and KDP Select has helped grow total library selection to over 75,000 books.

KDP lets authors publish their works directly through Amazon rather than first going through traditional print publishers and a number of them are making much better money than likely via traditional means.

We’re about to finish the first book we borrowed from the Kindle Lending Library. Amazon Prime members can borrow a book a month. A word of warning – many of the KDP select titles suffer from relatively amateurish writing and poor editing, judging from the samples we’ve read and comments we see online. Some, however, are entertaining reads, if not exactly great literature.

In any event, it is providing authors with another route to publication and profits.

With the $500,000 December fund, KDP authors have earned $1.70 per borrow.

In response to strong customer adoption of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (as well as seasonal, post-holiday use of new Kindles), Amazon.com, Inc. has added a $200,000 bonus to the January KDP Select fund, raising the total pool from $500,000 to $700,000.

“KDP Select appears to be earning authors more money in two ways. We knew customers would love having KDP Select titles in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. But we’ve been surprised by how much paid sales of those same titles increased, even relative to the rest of KDP”

Paid sales grew rapidly

Paid KDP sales grew rapidly in December — and results show that paid sales of titles participating in KDP Select are growing even faster than other KDP titles. On top of this growth in paid sales, KDP Select authors and publishers on average are receiving an incremental 26% in December as a result of their participation in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

“Due to this early success and a seasonally strong January, we’re adding a $200,000 bonus to January’s KDP Select fund, growing this month’s total pool to $700,000.”

The top ten KDP Select authors earned over $70,000 in the month of December from their participation in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, a 30% increase on top of the royalties they earned from their paid sales on the same titles in the same period.

Writer earned $8K plus in December

In total (paid sales plus their share of the loan fund), these authors saw their royalties grow an astonishing 449% month-over-month from November to December. The list of top 10 KDP Select authors includes Carolyn McCray, Rachel Yu, the Grabarchuk family and Amber Scott.

Carolyn McCray, a writer of paranormal romance novels, historical thrillers and mysteries, earned $8,250 from the KDP Select fund in December. “KDP Select truly is a career altering program,” said McCray.

“I couldn’t be happier with the tools, support and exposure it has given me. To say the trade-off of exclusivity on Amazon for the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has been a profitable one would be a gross understatement. Participating in KDP Select has quadrupled my royalties.”

Rachel Yu is a 16-year-old author of children’s books, and she earned $6,200 from the KDP Select fund in the month of December. “It’s so cool to be part of the success of KDP Select,” said Yu. “It’s just like a library but with easier access. There’s truly no other opportunity like Amazon for self-publishing.”

The Grabarchuk family earned $6,300 from the KDP Select fund in December from their puzzle books.

“After only a month KDP Select has dramatically changed things — finally indie publishers are playing as equals with the big publishing houses in the world’s biggest eBook marketplace,” said Serhiy Grabarchuk, Co-Founder of the Grabarchuk Puzzles company.

Amber Scott is a romance writer and earned $7,650 from the KDP Select fund in December.

“Enrolling in KDP Select utterly transformed my career,” said Scott. “I’ve experienced not only a surge in royalties but a surge in readership thanks to the increased exposure. I love the chance to earn new readers through the innovation of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. What an exciting time to be an author.”

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6 Responses to “Authors making a bundle through Kindle Direct Publishing”

Robert W. Walker says:

January 12, 2012 at 1.07.pm.

I too am an author who is ALL-IN with the Kindle kdp Select program and the lending program, and am finding it has the potential to pay authors FINALLY what they’re worth; it represents a time when a CEO, Mr. Bezos, is actually interested in paying the workforce! My title DEAD ON has gone ballistic with 20,000 downloaded in fifteen days in December, and it is continuing to see now an increase in paid sales as a result of the buzz the free giveaways stirred up…a ripple effect of buzz that even a couple of bad reviews have helped ignite along with the five star reviews. My titles now written expressly for Kindle Books ONLY, some six such titles, are gaining far more attention now that I have enrolled in this program, along with some forty four previously DEAD books which were out of print and shelved by my NYC publishers who allowed them to go out of print. In short, this program and my previous involvement now for some three years with Amazon.com/Kindle books has revived my career and has allowed me to re-invent myself entirely as an author by allowing me to write cross-genre titles a traditional publisher would never publish, such titles as Titanic 2012 and Bismarck 2013 and Children of Salem — all of which combined elements of many categories into one whole, swinging from historical suspense to science fiction in the same book. Finally, given the new dynamics, a new playing field, I am capable of making a far better living as an author now by selling $2.99 titles than $25 hardcovers. The math and the ballgame are entirely different.

Robert W. Walker
David Gremillion says:

January 12, 2012 at 2.48.pm.

It’s not about the money. This is about bypassing publishers that won’t give hundreds of writers the time of day. This is how many budding authors can have a significant breakthrough and have their works out there for all to see. This strongly encourages people (such as myself) to keep on trying.
Norm Cowie says:

January 12, 2012 at 2.54.pm.

I just joined the party and the first book I put in KDP shot up to #1 in humor/family/relations on the first day they advertised it for free (The Guy’d Book, why we leave the seat up… and other stuff).

So I just put three of my other humor/fantasy books up this week: Bonk & Hedz … a caveman.. and woman story; WereWoof (YA humor vampire/werewolf); and my first book which was originally published in 2006 The Adventures of Guy … written by a guy (probably).

I can’t wait until the rights to my second book (The Next Adventures of Guy) are reverted back to me by my publisher this summer.

Norm Cowie
Teri J. Dluznieski M.Ed. says:

January 12, 2012 at 4.09.pm.

Are you talking about the basic kindle direct publishing program? or are you talking about kindles select, exclusivity program?

I am totally for kindle and direct publishing. I have a bit of trouble, however, with amazon/kindle trying to gain exclusivity of content. The whole point of publishing indie, is not to have someone dictating where what and how an author chooses to promote their content. Is AMAZON/KINDLE spending $$ and time to promote my title? if not, then they really shouldn’t have the right to say, hey, join our exclusive club, and promise not to publish/offer your work through any other venues- even if it is a stick and carrot, because it offers an added incentive to the authors who opt-in…

I just think it is something ALL INDIE authors should be very wary of, the precedent this creates…and where it might head..

But yeah- I LOVE amazon/ KDP for removing the middle-man, both in terms of profit and control.

Teri J. Dluznieski M.Ed.
author: Dancing in Your Bubble
Armand Rosamilia says:

January 12, 2012 at 4.20.pm.

I put my toe in the water with only one title in December and I’m glad I did! Added two more in early January and I’ll be adding everything else I have coming up… with a backlist of over 20 books, I might start looking at each book and deciding if I want in or not… but so far it’s been all positive for me, and sounds like others as well.

Armand Rosamilia
author of “Extreme Undead Collection”
Carlton loftin says:

January 15, 2012 at 10.55.pm.

I am the author of CRYSTALS bv C.R. Loftin, published by Outskirts Press, and the kindle version.
I am stuck with Outskirts Press for the sequel I am writing, because I included info from upcoming book two in book one. Along with the character names,etc.
That doesn’t bother me.
However, I’ve written 32 chapters of a book that I have titled “Existence after 2012.”
I am looking for a new avenue of publishing, and I am wanting to know the costs of Kindle Direct Publishing.
Sincerely,
Carlton R. Loftin