What the programme actually says
From KDP's own pages: KDP Select is a free 90-day programme for Kindle eBooks only, and an enrolled eBook is automatically included in Kindle Unlimited. During enrolment the Kindle eBook can only be distributed through KDP and public libraries — it must be exclusive to the Kindle Store — while print, video, audio and other formats of the title can be distributed elsewhere. Every enrolled eBook is automatically renewed for another 90 days unless you opt out. For each term you may run either a Kindle Countdown Deal or a Free Book Promotion, and unused promotion days do not roll over. Payment for Kindle Unlimited reads comes from the KDP Select Global Fund.
Who it suits
Select suits a book whose readers are Kindle Unlimited subscribers and who read it through — genre fiction and long practical nonfiction that people read end to end — because pages read are what the fund pays for. The KENP earnings estimator models that: normalised pages times complete reads times the rate per page, which changes from month to month and which the tool deliberately does not store. It suits a launch, too: the promotion days gather reviews and rank while the book is new. It suits less well a book you sell as a PDF from your own site, or through several stores, because the eBook edition cannot be sold anywhere else during the term.
A way to decide
Enrol for one term when the book is new and you have no other channel yet; use the promotion, watch the pages-read line against the sales line, and decide at day 80 whether to renew — remembering that renewal is the default. Leave Select when you have a direct channel that outsells the reads, or when the book is a lead magnet whose whole point is to be free everywhere. A book can be enrolled later or withdrawn at the end of a term, so the decision is not permanent; the only permanent mistake is forgetting the auto-renewal and finding the eBook locked to one store when you needed it elsewhere.
Common questions
Straight answers
Does Select change the royalty on sales?+
The pages we cite describe the programme and its promotions, not the sales royalty. Sales still follow the 35% / 70% options; Kindle Unlimited reads are paid separately from the Global Fund.
Can I sell the PDF from my site while enrolled?+
No — the eBook must be exclusive to the Kindle Store during the term. A print edition or an audiobook can be sold anywhere.
Sources
Platform figures on this page are quoted from the pages below, read on the date shown. Rules change; check the current page before you publish.
Amazon KDP — KDP Select · read 2026-09-11
Amazon KDP — Enroll in KDP Select · read 2026-09-11
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