5 Things To Know Before You Self-Publish a Book on Amazon by Desiree Villena / Guest Post
Please help me to welcome Desiree Villena to Write with Fey. She has an amazingly detailed post for you all about self-publishing with Amazon. Thank you, Desiree!
Self-publishing via Amazon can be very attractive — it’s the largest marketplace for ebooks, and incredibly convenient for authors to boot!
That said, there are some finer points about how Amazon’s self-publishing process works that might not be apparent at first glance. Fortunately, I’m here with a handy list of five things you should know before you commit to Amazon self-publishing, so you’re aware which parts of the fine print might be crucial for your book sales later on. Let’s dive right in!
1. Amazon forces you to follow their pricing structure for ebooks
One of the greatest appeals of self-publishing is that its authors keep a much larger percentage of the royalties than traditionally published authors do. Amazon’s self-publishing service, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), offers a competitive royalty rate of 70% (in specific countries) — but that comes with several caveats.
First off, it only applies if you price your ebook between $2.99 and $9.99; any ebook priced outside that range is disqualified and receives the default 35% royalty rate. Additionally, for any ebook of yours that Amazon price-matches to meet a third party seller’s sales price, you’ll be dropped back down to that 35% royalty if the sale ends up outside of that $2.99 to $9.99 range. So be cautious when pricing your book, and make sure it’s consistent across platforms!
If you choose to publish through KDP, Amazon offers you the option to join their KDP Select program. This gives authors access to a larger reader base through Kindle Unlimited, the ability to discount or provide their books for free for a limited time every 90 days, and a bump from 35% to 70% royalties in India, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan.
Sounds great, right? But there’s a big restriction to KDP Select: committing to publishing your work solely on Amazon for the 90 days you’re enrolled (and longer if you choose to re-enroll). This is a major decision, as you’re cutting off other potential revenue streams by doing so, and because some readers are increasingly anti-Amazon — or reside in less Amazon-dominated areas, like Canada or Germany.
To that end, consider where your intended audience is located and how much you might benefit from using other platforms before settling on KDP Select. It’s tempting to forge ahead with it just so you can run price promotions, but keep in mind that…
Amazon exclusivity might be the most important thing to note about KDP Select, but there are plenty of other restrictions hidden in the contract about the benefits of the program.
For one thing, Amazon’s pay structure for people who read your book through Kindle Unlimited is on a pay-per-page basis, regardless of the original list price. Obviously, this privileges books that have more pages — so if you happen to publish a children’s book in the 20-40 page range, you’re going to be pulling in much less than someone with a 400-page novel. That per-page price also fluctuates per month according to Amazon’s KDP Global Fund, so the rate is slightly inconsistent.
The other marketing benefits of KDP Select, Kindle Countdown Deals (which offer a discount on your ebook for a week every 90 days) and Kindle Free Promotions (provides your ebook free for up to five days every 90 days), also have quite specific restrictions. To start with, you can’t use both Kindle Countdown Deals and Kindle Free Promotions within 90 days of each other, so you’ll effectively have to choose between them each KDP Select membership period.
Kindle Countdown Deals and Kindle Free Promotions each have their own fine print as well. Per the Countdown Deals details page, it can only be initiated 30 days after KDP Select enrollment, and only if your list price remains unchanged. Additionally, neither Countdown Deals nor Free Promotions can be triggered in the final 14 days of a 90-day KDP Select period — which is bad luck for authors hoping to end their enrollment with a bang.
Everyone likes to get paid quickly, and for self-published authors, it’s often important to have a shorter payment cycle. Hence why it’s worth noting that Amazon’s royalty payment schedule is quite lengthy, at 60 days from the endof the month (according to their KDP contract).
This means you wouldn’t get early January royalties until the end of March, for example. Notably, Amazon KDP’s competitors, Apple Books and Kobo, get your royalties to you within 30or 45 days, respectively. Given that many authors are attracted to self-publishingbecause of its flexibility and high royalties, a long turnaround time on the payments may be a major drawback of Amazon KDP.
Furthermore, according to that same contract, if you have a payment dispute with Amazon, you must file within 6 months of the day the financial statement is made available. You will also not be able to claim any damages beyond the original amount owed, e.g. for the delay in payment — which can be a real hassle if it happens to you.
It’s no secret that Amazon has had many run-ins concerning business ethics and workers’ rights, most recently about essential worker conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.
But perhaps closer to home — and to your own financial well-being — is that Amazon can change the rules of a KDP or KDP Select agreement at any time and suspend or terminate your account, through no fault of your own. Dale Roberts has cited some examples of self-published authors being locked out of their accounts, one for having a name that happened to be the same as a celebrity.
Needless to say, you don’t want to lose all your earnings and data about your book sales, and the pain can be compounded if you had previously been a KDP Select member with no other revenue streams. So think carefully before going all-in with Amazon, and ensure you’re making the choice that’s right for you!
Having second thoughts about Amazon? Check out this post on how to publish an ebook to get a better grasp on your alternatives. And if you’re looking for more information on self-publishing in general, head to Chrys’s master list of posts all about publishing !
Guest Bio:
Desiree Villena is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world's best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Desiree enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories. She's very passionate about indie publishing and hopes to help as many authors as possible achieve their dreams!
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