What is Kindle Unlimited?
- Amazon ebook subscription: $11.99/month in the US.
- Authors earn per page read (~$0.004 per page in 2026).
- Requires KDP Select exclusivity (90-day terms).
- Strong genres: romance, fantasy, mystery, sci-fi.
- Weak genres: literary fiction, nonfiction.
Kindle Unlimited (KU) is Amazon’s ebook subscription service costing $11.99/month in the US, where authors earn per page read (~$0.004 per page in 2026) from a shared KDP Select Global Fund. KU requires KDP Select ebook exclusivity (90-day terms, auto-renewed). KU dominates romance, fantasy, and mystery; literary and nonfiction authors typically skip it.
Chapter i·Why it matters
KU is the single biggest distribution decision for indie authors. Genres where KU readers dominate (romance especially) make the exclusivity worth the trade-off; genres where wide distribution matters more (literary, nonfiction) lose money by enrolling. Knowing your genre’s KU dynamics before signing the Select exclusivity is critical.
Chapter ii·What to include
- $11.99/month subscription (US; varies by country).
- ~$0.004 per page read from the Global Fund.
- KDP Select exclusivity (90-day terms, auto-renewed).
- Strong genres: romance, fantasy, mystery, sci-fi.
- Weak genres: literary fiction, nonfiction.
- Decision data: check if your top 10 genre comps are in KU.
Chapter iii·Example
A working romance author publishes in KU for her first three books. Year-one royalty mix: 65% page reads, 35% paid copies. She tests "wide" with book four (no KU); paid copy sales rise 18%, page-read income drops to zero. Net: -22% vs KU. She returns book four to KU.
Chapter iv·Related questions
WriteLoom holds your KU decisions per book alongside the rest of your distribution strategy.
See the Sell studio