What does it cost to join Kindle Unlimited?

You may have seen books marketed as “Free in Kindle Unlimited,” but what does that mean?

Kindle Unlimited is a $11.99 monthly subscription service offering access to digital books, audiobooks, comics, and magazines through Amazon. Users can borrow up to 20 titles at a time with no due dates, accessible on Kindles, smartphones, computers, and tablets via the Kindle app. I don’t know anyone enrolled in KU. 

Authors enrolled in KDP Select (Kindle Direct Publishing) earn royalties based on the number of pages read by subscribers, not the number of books borrowed. The payment amount fluctuates monthly and is determined by “a portion of a global fund that Amazon allocates.” While the exact per-page rate varies, it generally falls between $0.004 and $0.005. 

KU can expose books to a new audience that might not otherwise find them, especially if the authors are not well-known. I think that’s how readers find the Leora books, and they’ve been reading them steadily again now that summer is winding down. 

KU readers have read nearly 8000 pages of Leora books so far this month, over half of them in Leora’s Dexter Stories, the dear Depression Era book–in blue on the chart. Next is the WWII family story, Leora’s Letters (in gold), with less then half the pages read of Dexter Stories.

We live in amazing times, where people across the globe can learn about the remarkable times Grandma Leora here in the middle of Iowa!

Do you read many books on a Kindle or Nook?