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Kindle Unlimited or wide?

By R. S. Breed · Updated

Every self-published author with an ebook hits this fork early. You can enrol your ebook in KDP Select, which puts it in Kindle Unlimited (KU) but makes it exclusive to Amazon. Or you can go "wide" and sell the ebook on every store you like.

Neither is the right answer for everyone. This guide explains the trade, shows what KU has actually been paying, and walks through switching, because the decision isn't permanent.

What KDP Select actually is

KDP Select is a free, optional program for Kindle ebooks. You enrol one book at a time.

KDP Select
Term 90 days
Renewal Renews automatically unless you opt out
Exclusivity The ebook can only be distributed through KDP and public libraries
Covers The ebook, plus any KDP virtual voice audiobook of it. Print can be sold anywhere.
Main benefit Your book is in Kindle Unlimited and you're paid for pages read
Extras Kindle Countdown Deals or Free Book Promotions; 70% royalty on sales in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico

The exclusivity rule, in plain terms

While the book is enrolled, the digital version can't be available anywhere else, with one exception: KDP's enrolment rules now allow distribution to public libraries. Authors typically do this through a distributor such as Draft2Digital's library service, with every retail store switched off. The ban includes:

  • Other ebook stores (Apple, Kobo, Google Play, and the rest)
  • Your own website or blog
  • A free download for newsletter subscribers
  • Platforms where you post chapters publicly

Paperbacks and hardcovers are unaffected. You can sell those anywhere. Audio from other producers is generally treated as outside Select too, unless you've made a KDP virtual voice audiobook of the book: that's enrolled in Select along with the ebook, and then every audio edition of the book must be exclusive to Audible for the term.

If you want to share a sample, check the current KDP Select terms for how much is allowed. Don't guess. Under KDP's terms, breaking the rules can mean Amazon doesn't owe you the book's KU royalties, and can claw back ones already paid.

Promotions

Each 90-day term you can run either a Kindle Countdown Deal (a timed discount) or a Free Book Promotion (up to 5 free days), not both. Unused promotion days don't roll over.

How KU pays

Kindle Unlimited is a subscription. Readers pay Amazon a monthly fee and read as much as they like. Authors are paid from a monthly pot (the KDP Select Global Fund) according to how many pages of their book were read.

Pages are counted in KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages), which is Amazon's standard page count. It's not the same as your print page count. Once the book is enrolled, KDP shows its KENP count on the book's Promote and Advertise page, reached from your Bookshelf. You're paid for at most 3,000 KENP per title per customer.

The per-page rate changes every month. Here's what it's been for the past year, from Written Word Media's monthly tracker (Amazon itself announces the size of the fund each month on its KDP community forum):

Month Rate per KENP page
Sep 2025 $0.004521
Oct 2025 $0.005007
Nov 2025 $0.004749
Dec 2025 $0.004800
Jan 2026 $0.004202
Feb 2026 $0.004689
Mar 2026 $0.004692
Apr 2026 $0.004820
May 2026 $0.004888
Jun 2026 $0.004615
Jul 2026 $0.004221
Aug 2026 $0.005170

Each month's figures come out during the following month, so September 2026's aren't out yet.

Over those twelve months the rate averaged about 0.47 cents a page, with a low of about 0.42 cents (January) and a high of about 0.52 cents (August). That swing is normal. Budget on the average, not the best month.

What that means for one book

Say your novel has a KENP count of 400. One reader who finishes it earns you about $1.88 at the average rate. The same book sold at $4.99 on the 70% option earns about $3.49. So a KU read pays less than a sale, but a KU reader was often never going to buy at all. KU is extra readers, not the same readers paying less.

Written Word Media, which tracks the fund each month, puts the August 2026 KDP Select Global Fund at $66 million (July's was $67.6 million). That's a big pot, and a lot of authors sharing it.

Who KU tends to suit

KU usually works best when:

  • You write in a genre with heavy readers. Readers who get through several books a week are exactly who subscribes to KU.
  • You have (or are writing) a series. A reader who finishes book one in KU can go straight to book two at no extra cost to them. Read-through across a series is where KU income builds.
  • You're releasing fairly often. Frequent releases keep you visible to subscribers.
  • Your readers are mostly on Amazon. If your sales already come almost entirely from Amazon, exclusivity costs you little.

KU tends to suit you less when:

  • Your books are standalones in a genre where readers buy rather than borrow.
  • You want your ebook on Apple, Kobo and Google Play. (Libraries alone are no longer a reason to leave: Select now allows public library distribution.)
  • You don't want one company to control your income. If Amazon changes the rules or the rate, a KU-only author has nowhere else to stand.
  • You want to give the ebook away to build your mailing list.

Going wide

"Wide" means selling your ebook on several stores. You can upload to each store directly, or use an aggregator such as Draft2Digital to reach many at once. The main options are:

  • Apple Books (direct, or through an aggregator)
  • Kobo Writing Life (direct). Kobo also has Kobo Plus, a subscription program that isn't exclusive.
  • Google Play Books (direct through Partner Center)
  • Bookshop.org ebooks, currently through Draft2Digital
  • Libraries, through aggregators

The going-wide guide covers each of these, with fees.

Wide is usually slower to build. Each store has its own readers and its own quirks, and it takes time for sales to show up across them. Expect the first months to look thin. The aim is steadier, more spread-out income over time, and that takes patience.

A middle path

You don't have to choose one strategy for every book.

  • Some authors keep a new series in KU while it builds, then go wide once it's complete.
  • Others keep their backlist wide and test one series in KU.
  • Remember that print is never affected by KDP Select, so a KU author can still sell paperbacks through bookstores. Audio is only tied up if you've made a KDP virtual voice audiobook.

What you can't do is have the same ebook in KU and on other stores at the same time.

How to switch

From KU to wide

  1. On your Bookshelf, click the "…" next to the ebook, choose Manage KDP Select, then Manage KDP Select Enrollment.
  2. Uncheck the box next to Automatically renew this book's enrollment. This doesn't end your current term; the book stays in KU until the 90 days are up.
  3. Note the end date of your term.
  4. Prepare your listings on other stores, but don't make them live until the term has ended.
  5. Once the term ends, publish on the other stores.

From wide to KU

  1. Remove (unpublish) the ebook from every other store and aggregator. Public library distribution can stay.
  2. Check that it's really gone. Stores don't all take books down at the same speed, and a leftover listing breaks exclusivity.
  3. Search for your title on each store to confirm.
  4. Remove any free download of the ebook from your website or newsletter.
  5. Then enrol in KDP Select.

Doing step 5 before step 2 is the classic mistake. Take your time with it.

A simple way to decide

Ask yourself three questions:

  1. Is this book part of a series in a genre where people read a lot? If yes, lean KU.
  2. Do you want the ebook on Apple, Kobo and other stores? If yes, go wide. (Libraries on their own don't decide it any more.)
  3. Could you live with Amazon changing the rate or rules next month? If that thought worries you, go wide, or at least keep some books wide.

Then pick one, commit for at least a full 90-day term (or equivalent time wide), and look at the numbers before you change your mind. Switching back and forth every few weeks tells you nothing.

Sources

Platforms change their rules often. If something here is out of date, tell us in the forum and we'll fix it.

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