Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Amazon has reported that thousands of independent authors now earn at least $50,000 per year in KDP royalties, and that over 2,000 authors have earned $100,000 or more in a single recent year. A follow up report in 2025 notes that thousands of European authors earn €50,000 or more annually through KDP alone. Through Kindle Unlimited and the KDP Select Global Fund, Amazon paid authors over $300 million in 2019 and over $1.1 billion in KU payouts by early 2020, creating a second royalty stream that sits alongside standard ebook sales. Individual KDP breakout cases show what that scale can look like in practice, with Amanda Hocking selling over 1 million self published Kindle ebooks in about a year at prices from 99¢ to $2.99 before signing a $2 million four book deal with St. Martin’s Press, and Hugh Howey selling hundreds of thousands of copies of Wool through KDP before negotiating a print only deal with Simon & Schuster while keeping his digital rights.
FEES
FORMATS
No Setup Fee, Print Cost Per Copy
EPUB, Paperback, Hardcover, Print
REGION
DISTRIBUTION PLATFORMS
Global
Amazon Kindle Store, Amazon Print
IDEAL FOR
KDP is best for authors who want maximum reach and algorithmic support inside the Amazon ecosystem for both ebooks and print.
PAYMENT TERMS
Royalties are reported monthly and typically paid about 60 days after the end of the month in which the sale occurs.
Expanded Distribution royalties for print are paid on a slightly longer schedule.
Minimum payout thresholds depend on the payment method selected; electronic funds transfer usually has the lowest or no threshold, while checks and wire transfers require higher minimums.
ISBN POLICY
Authors may use a free Amazon-assigned ISBN for print or supply their own; Kindle ebooks use ASINs and do not require ISBNs.