Self Publishing on Amazon KDP: Is it Worth it?

After completing a novel, a collection of short stories, a set of poems, or a novella, the chances are you want to publish them and find your audience. In recent years, more and more authors have ditched the idea of traditional publishing with a publishing house to instead self-publish, and no platform has seen as many self-published works as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, commonly referred to as Amazon KDP. In fact, around 1.4 million self-published books are released through Amazon KDP every single year.

The question is: is self-publishing on Amazon KDP worth your time? Are you able to reach an audience on there and perhaps make some money? These are the questions we’ll be exploring in this guide.

What Is Amazon KDP?

Amazon KDP is a popular self-publishing platform that launched in 2007, coinciding with the release of the first-ever Amazon Kindle e-reader. Most people regard Kindle Direct Publishing as the self-publishing go-to, which makes sense, as it was the very first self-publishing eBook publisher and currently has the most self-published works. It is super simple to use, too – authors can publish for free, while readers can simply download books from their device and begin reading them immediately.

The Benefits of Publishing on Amazon KDP

Whether you write exciting adventure stories for children, spine-tingling horror novels, or introspective poetry, there is no denying that publishing independently on Amazon KDP has its perks. Here are the stand-outs.

First of all, it’s completely free. Publishing on Amazon KDP is appealing to many because of its accessibility – specifically the fact that it’s completely free to do so. Once you’ve completed your work, there are no monetary barriers at any stage. Even if you sell a printed copy of your KDP-published book, you won’t have to pay for that upfront either, as the printing costs are simply taken from the earned royalties.

And then there’s the global reach. With Kindle Direct Publishing, your work becomes available in multiple countries – not just your own. That means your book has a global reach, increasing its reader potential.

Printing on Amazon KDP means that your work is automatically available on e-readers. But that’s not all, as the platform also uses a print-on-demand model, which means that if a buyer purchases a physical copy, a printed version of the book is created and sent to them. It means you, as the publisher, do not have to pay for a large print run up front, nor do you need to manage inventory.

Excellent Promotional Tools

Marketing your newly published book can be overwhelming, especially when trying to do it yourself (although not impossible, as our other guide shows!). KDP’s promotional tools come in handy here, as they offer a variety of ways to help you market your book to your target audience, including the KDP Select program and Amazon Ads.

Publishing your book on Amazon KDP means you receive much higher royalties compared to traditional publishing. To put it in perspective, traditional publishing, whether with a small or large publishing house, typically offers authors a royalty rate of 10-15%. Amazon KDP, on the other hand, offers two royalty rate options: 35% and 70%, with 70% royalties specifically offered to authors who price their books between $2.99 and $9.99. That essentially means more author profit per book sold, which is naturally appealing!

The Downsides of Publishing on Amazon KDP

Of course, everything in life comes with some kind of catch. Publishing on Amazon KDP has undeniable advantages, but there are some downsides, too.

For one thing, there’s a world of competition. When it comes to standing out on Amazon KDP, it can feel like you’re trying to capture the attention of a band at a sold-out stadium concert. In simple words: it’s hard. You’re just a small fish in a massive ocean, as so many others choose to publish on Amazon KDP. Even if your work is incredible, you might just find you don’t find an audience.

A Lot of Responsibility

Going down the traditional publishing route means that the publishing house (which will likely have a lot of experience and expertise) handles everything not to do with the writing aspect, from cover design to marketing. That’s not the case when publishing on Amazon KDP. You will have to handle it all: the editing, designing a genre-appropriate cover, formatting your manuscript, promoting your work, and much more. It can quickly become overwhelming.

The Stigma of Self-Publishing

Unfortunately, there is stigma surrounding self-publishing. People tend to value and have more respect for authors who go down the more traditional publishing route. If this is something that matters to you, self-publishing on Amazon KDP may not be the right option.

And that’s not even getting into the risk of account termination.. If you go against Amazon’s terms of service, they can suspend or terminate your account without any warning or even an explanation, which then means your books are no longer available. While this can be avoided by always keeping within Amazon’s terms of service, the consequences for not doing so are pretty extreme.

The Overall Consensus

No two writers are the same. One writer may find great success publishing on Amazon KDP and prefer the control they have over their work. Other writers may prefer the route of traditional publishing, perhaps because they want more control over how their printed book looks.

If you dream of going down the traditional publishing route, it’s best to avoid publishing on Amazon KDP, as most traditional publishing houses will not touch your work if it’s already self-published on there. However, if your main goal is to get your work out there, and you don’t mind doing the marketing yourself, then it’s a great way of finding an audience.

Keep in mind, there are other options. Here at OpenLeaf, our team has created a free platform for authors to publish their work and find an audience. With our platform, you have complete control over your work and can build a dedicated, connected community.