With millions of Kindles bought (and many gifted) this Christmas, authors around the world can earn a share of both the regular monthly fund and the bonus every time their book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr

In the first full year of KDP Select, Amazon will pay authors more than £4 million from the KDP Select fund; over 500 KDP Select books have reached the top 100 Kindle best seller lists around the world

Independent UK authors are benefitting from the success of KDP Select - in October alone UK authors enrolled in the programme earned £1.47 per book borrowed—more than many KDP books earn per sale

SEATTLE AND LUXEMBOURG—November 29, 2012 - Amazon today announced that a bonus of £930,000 has been added to the KDP Select global fund for authors worldwide this Christmas. This is on top of the regular monthly fund during the three-month period from December-February. December’s regular monthly fund is over £435,000, plus £435,000 of the £930,000 bonus will be paid out for December, doubling the total amount available to authors in December to more than £870,000. The remainder of the £930,000 bonus will be paid on top of the regular fund in January and February as well. Authors worldwide can earn a share of the total global fund every time their book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr, and reach more readers than ever before.

“This Christmas, millions of customers will open new Kindles, and if they’re Amazon Prime members they can borrow a book from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library for free. The unusual thing about KDP Select is that when this happens authors get paid. With record Kindle sales worldwide, and the recent expansion of the lending library to Europe, we expect the number of books borrowed this Christmas to increase significantly,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, Kindle EU. “We’ve seen authors experience incredible success with KDP Select – in only a year it’s become commonplace to see KDP Select books on our best seller list.”

KDP Select was introduced in December 2011 to enable independent authors using KDP to reach the growing audience of millions of Amazon Prime members and earn more money through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Here’s how it works: if a KDP author or publisher enrols any of their books in KDP Select, which may be done in 90-day increments during which their books must be exclusive to the Kindle Store, those books are eligible to be included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr. They can then earn a share of the global fund every time their book is borrowed, and borrows from the lending library count toward a book’s sales rank on Amazon. Authors can enrol their full catalogue, or a selection of their titles, there are no limits. They also have access to a self-service promotional tool which gives them the option to offer their enrolled titles for free for up to five days every 90 days, which many authors have found to be a great way to engage more readers and find new audiences.

First-Year Milestones
KDP Select has proven to be an entirely new growth opportunity for authors and publishers. Milestones over the past year include:

• After enrolling in KDP Select, over 500 books have reached the top 100 Kindle best seller lists around the world.
• Authors earn money every time their book is borrowed from any of the lending libraries – in October, UK authors earned £1.47 per borrow, which is more than many KDP books earn per sale.
• Since launch, KDP authors will have earned more than £4.3 million from the KDP Select fund, on top of increased royalties from paid sales.
• KDP Select books have been purchased, borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, or downloaded for free through KDP Select promotions over 200 million times.

Author Successes
During the past year, authors have experienced incredible success after enrolling books in KDP Select. Here’s what some UK authors have said about the benefits of KDP Select over the past year:

• Romance novelist Louise Rose-Innes is the author of “The Italian Inheritance,” a top 100 Kindle bestseller this year at Amazon.co.uk. “KDP Select has allowed me to reach an entire group of readers that might not otherwise have seen my books. The online promotions have helped my sales figures reach limits I only dreamed of. It is an opportunity that has opened many doors for me as an author.”- Louise Rose-Innes
• Peter Flannery is the author of “First and Only,” a #1 bestselling psychological thriller in the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk. “KDP is an incredibly powerful resource for independent authors like me. From the domestic chaos of my spare bedroom I can now compete with the biggest names in publishing. My sales had been slowly increasing but it wasn’t until I ran a free promotion using KDP Select that things really took off. In three days nearly 19,000 people downloaded my book for free. There followed a nervous wait to see if this would translate into actual sales... it did!”- Peter Flannery
• “I chose the KDP Select program to publish my three novels because it offered the best opportunity to reach a wider audience,” said romantic suspense author, Victoria Howard. “The benefits to the independent author are enormous; including the option to promote your books for free, earn a share of the six figure monthly fund Amazon provides every time your books are borrowed through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, as well as the publicity an author receives from hitting the best seller list.”

Authors can learn more about KDP Select and enrol their books now at http://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/KDPSelect. To learn more about the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, visit www.amazon.co.uk/kindleownerslendinglibrary.

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Amazon.co.uk Ltd Press Office:
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