# What is KDP Select?

Source: https://kdpbook.io/glossary/kdp-select · Updated 2026-10-15

**KDP Select**: An optional 90-day program that makes your eBook exclusive to Amazon and enrolls it in Kindle Unlimited. Required for 70% royalties in some marketplaces.

Checked against KDP Help on 2026-09-28.

KDP Select is a free, optional 90-day program for Kindle eBooks. While enrolled, the eBook must be exclusive to the Kindle Store; print and audio editions can still be sold elsewhere. In return it joins Kindle Unlimited, earns a share of the KDP Select Global Fund by pages read, and can use Kindle Countdown Deals and free promotions. Enrollment renews automatically.

Also called: Kindle Select, KDP Select enrollment.

## The numbers

KDP Select at a glance:

|  | Rule |
| --- | --- |
| Cost | free |
| Term | 90 days, renewed automatically unless you turn renewal off |
| Formats | Kindle eBook only |
| Exclusivity | during the term, the eBook can only be distributed through KDP (and public libraries); print, audio and other formats can be sold anywhere |
| Kindle Unlimited | included automatically; paid from the KDP Select Global Fund, by pages read |
| Promotions | Kindle Countdown Deals (Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk) and Free Book Promotions (free for up to 5 days) |
| 70% royalty in Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.in, Amazon.com.br and Amazon.com.mx | requires KDP Select |

## The trade-off

What you give up: selling the eBook anywhere else for 90 days at a time, including other eBook stores and your own website. What you get: Kindle Unlimited readers, whose pages read earn a share of the KDP Select Global Fund, the promotional tools, and eligibility for the KDP Select Bonus, a monthly bonus based on pages read and other customer signals (there is no separate Illustrated Kids’ Book bonus). Sales to buyers are unchanged: the eBook stays on sale and earns its usual royalty.

On Amazon.com the 70% royalty doesn't depend on Select: it is available from $2.99 to $12.99. In Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.in, Amazon.com.br and Amazon.com.mx, the 70% option requires enrollment.

## Leaving

Turn off automatic renewal in the KDP Select settings of the eBook. The current 90-day term continues until it ends; the eBook can be published elsewhere after that.

## Example: an author on several eBook stores

An author selling a novel on Amazon and on other eBook stores must remove it from the other stores before enrolling it in KDP Select. The paperback can stay on sale everywhere. After 90 days, the author can let the term renew or turn renewal off and go back to the other stores when the term ends.

## Common mistakes

- Enrolling while the eBook is still on sale in another store or on your own website.
- Forgetting that enrollment renews automatically.
- Thinking KDP Select covers paperbacks or hardcovers: it is eBook only.
- Assuming Select is needed for 70% royalties on Amazon.com.