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Self-publishing · Kindle+

Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+: what changed for KDP authors (2026)

Nothing changes for an ebook already in KDP Select. It is in Kindle+ automatically. Eligible audiobooks are in the subscription for US customers, and listening is paid from the same KDP Select Global Fund. A page pays once, read or listened. KDP's help home, checked 9 November 2026, states the rename. The Publishing Times, dated 21 October 2026, and Written Word Media, dated 22 October 2026, report the announcement.

Publishing Map's take

Leave an enrolled ebook in KDP Select. A page pays once, whether the subscriber reads it or listens to it, and an audiobook has to meet the eligibility rules before it can be added.

Kindle+ payouts by month Can my audiobook go in Kindle+? Open the distribution stage Read the reference

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The short answer

  1. An ebook already in KDP Select is in Kindle+ with no new enrollment. The help home, checked 9 November 2026, states the rename.[639]
  2. Eligible audiobooks are in the subscription for US customers only, at this time. The royalties page does not give a date for other marketplaces.[640]
  3. A page pays once per subscriber, whether it is read or listened to. A later pass over the same page does not pay again.[640]
  4. Immersive Reading, when the subscriber reads and listens at the same time, pays the higher rate if the two rates differ.[640]
  5. The fund is announced monthly. KENP numbers are finalized near the 15th of the next month. No listening rate, and no fund top-up amount, is printed on the royalties page.[640][644][645]

01

What changed, and when?

KDP's help home, checked 9 November 2026, says Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+. Audiobooks, including KDP audiobooks with virtual voice and ACX audiobooks that are eligible to enroll in KDP Select, are in the subscription for customers on Amazon.com. The royalties page says audiobooks in Kindle+ are available in the US marketplace only at this time, and it does not give a date for other marketplaces. The Publishing Times, dated 21 October 2026, reports a KDP Community announcement that day. Written Word Media, dated 22 October 2026, reports the announcement as that day's news. This page does not quote the community post, because its body did not load in this check.[639][640][641][644][645]

  • An ebook already in KDP Select does not need a new enrollment to stay in the subscription.
  • The ebook term is still 90 days. Listening is the part that is new.

02

How does Kindle+ pay for reading and listening?

The royalties page says you earn a share of the KDP Select Global Fund the first time a subscriber reads or listens to a given page. If that person comes back to the same page, in the same format or the other one, KDP treats it as a re-read and does not pay again. If the subscriber reads and listens at the same time, which KDP calls Immersive Reading, and the rates differ, you earn the higher rate. The page says the fund size is announced monthly in the community forum, and that monthly KENP numbers are finalized near the 15th of the next month. It does not print a dollar rate for listening, and it does not print an amount added to the fund. Written Word Media and The Publishing Times both report that the announcement said Amazon is adding funds, and neither reports a figure.[640][644][645]

  • You get one royalty payment for pages read and listened to, on the same schedule and method as other KDP sales.
  • KDP does not permit payment, gift certificates, bonus content, contest entries, discounts, extra product, or other gifts in exchange for Kindle+ reads or listens.

03

What do the KDP reports show?

The KENP report shows Kindle+ reading and listening, and it can be filtered by format: Kindle+ read, and Kindle+ listened. Prior Months' Royalties shows one Kindle+ column for the combined pages read and listened. Audible royalties for an ACX audiobook stay in the ACX account. The royalties page also says Audible Plus listening from a virtual-voice audiobook is included with Audible ALC royalties in the Audible royalties column.[640][643]

  • Filter the KENP report by format before you compare one month with the month before.
  • Do not look in the ACX account for the Kindle+ listening line.

04

My page reads dropped. Is Kindle+ paying less?

Wait for the final KENP number. The royalties page says monthly KENP figures can change until they are finalized near the 15th of the next month. Filter by format, because read and listen are now separate lines. A page that was read does not pay again when it is listened to, and a page that was listened to does not pay again when it is read. Compare a per-page rate only after that month's fund is posted. The royalties page checked on 9 November 2026 does not print a listening rate, and it does not print an amount added to the fund.[640]

  • A lower read line can be a split between read and listen, a second pass that does not pay, or a number that is not final.
  • This page does not say the per-page rate went down. The October 2026 fund is not in the table yet.

05

What is still unknown, as of 9 November 2026?

The royalties page does not say whether a listened page pays the same as a read page. It does not say how much money was added to the fund. It does not say when listening will leave the US marketplace. Written Word Media, dated 22 October 2026, lists the same open questions. Those cells stay blank on the payouts table until a KDP page or a KDP Community post states them.[640][644]

  • Do not fill a blank with an estimate, and do not average two author-reported rates.

06

How should a writer name the subscription?

Written Word Media, dated 22 October 2026, suggests the wording Available in Kindle Unlimited (now Kindle+) while readers learn the new name. The royalties page still forbids incentives for reads or listens. A change of name on the product page does not change that rule.[644][640]

  • Use both names while the old one is the one readers know. The payment rule is unchanged.

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