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What does KDP Select exclusivity rule out?

KDP Select applies to the Kindle ebook, for 90 days at a time, and the term renews automatically unless you turn renewal off. While it is enrolled, you cannot sell or distribute that digital book, or a substantially similar one, anywhere else you have rights. Print, video, and audio can stay on sale elsewhere.

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The short answer

  1. Select is a free program for the Kindle ebook only. Each term is 90 days and renews on its own unless you opt out on the KDP site before renewal.[24][77][78]
  2. During the term you cannot sell or distribute the digital book, or a book that is substantially similar, in any territory where you hold rights. You also cannot give anyone else that right.[77]
  3. KDP's Select page says that ban includes your website and blogs. The enrollment help page allows distribution through KDP and public libraries, and a sample of up to 10 percent on other sites.[78][79]
  4. You can keep distributing print, video, audio, or any format that is not the digital ebook.[78][79]
  5. The Select terms do not name Wattpad, a newsletter file, or any advance-copy service. If a specific setup is not answered by the exclusivity clause, ask KDP support in writing.[77][80]

01

What the 90-day term covers

The KDP Select terms give Amazon the exclusive right to sell and distribute the enrolled book in digital format for as long as it stays in Select. The enrollment help page says that, during the 90 days, the Kindle ebook can be distributed only through KDP and public libraries. The Select page says you cannot distribute it digitally anywhere else, including your website and blogs. The same enrollment page says you may make up to 10 percent of the book available on other sites as a sample, and that 10 percent is roughly the length of the Kindle free reading sample. The Select terms section does not restate that percentage. Print, video, audio, and any format other than the digital ebook can stay in distribution elsewhere. Enrollment is free, and the ebook is included in Kindle Unlimited.[24][77][78][79]

  • In each 90-day term you can run either a free promotion or a Kindle Countdown Deal, not both. A free promotion can total up to 5 days. Unused days do not carry into the next term. You earn no royalty on downloads during a free promotion.
  • To stop the next term, open Manage KDP Select and uncheck Automatically renew this book's enrollment. Canceling renewal does not end the current 90 days.
  • You can cancel enrollment within three days of the start. After that, the help page says to contact KDP. If you unpublish during the term, the help page says the enrollment period pauses until you republish, and both that page and the terms say the ebook must stay exclusive through the rest of the current 90 days. The terms also say unpublishing removes it from Kindle Unlimited.

02

Other stores, serial chapters, and your own site

Another ebook store is digital distribution, which the terms prohibit while the book is enrolled. The terms do not name Draft2Digital, Apple, Kobo, or any other retailer. They also do not name Wattpad, Tapas, or any serial platform. Publishing the same book, or a substantially similar book, as digital chapters elsewhere is the conduct the exclusivity clause describes. The terms do not define how many chapters make a work substantially similar. The enrollment page's 10 percent allowance is for a sample on other sites, not for the whole book. A full ebook file on your site, in a newsletter, or as a giveaway is digital distribution of the book. The terms do not mention newsletters by name.[77][78][87][88]

  • If the ebook is already on sale elsewhere, remove it before you enroll. A listing that is still for sale is digital distribution.
  • Draft2Digital says you can unpublish a book to delist it, using its self-service tool, without closing the account. The mass-remove tool is under Account, then Multi-Book Actions. It expects store and subscription partners to remove a book within 3 business days. Print and library services generally take 1 to 2 weeks. It also says delisting can be delayed.
  • On Draft2Digital, Delisting means the removal request has been sent and stores are still taking the listing down. Delisted means the book has been removed from every store it was listed with. KDP does not publish a number of days to wait after another retailer accepts a removal request. The terms require exclusivity during the term, so enroll once the ebook is no longer available elsewhere.

03

Free copies, reviews, and what Select leaves open

The Select terms do not mention advance reader copies, a named ARC service, or review requirements. KDP's Customer Reviews page is a separate rule. You may give readers free or discounted copies of your book, as long as you do not require a review in exchange and you do not try to influence the review. Offering anything other than a free or discounted copy of the book, including a gift card, invalidates the review, and the Amazon Community team will remove it. That page does not say a free copy is exempt from Select exclusivity. Whether sending the full ebook file to readers, or uploading it to a particular ARC service, counts as distributing the digital book is not answered in the terms. Describe the exact setup to KDP support and keep the written reply.[77][78][80]

  • Select does not take print, video, or audio off other stores. A paperback or an audiobook can stay wide while the ebook is enrolled.
  • You cannot enroll a book if you do not control exclusive rights to it, or to its primary content. KDP gives public-domain content, and content licensed to you on a non-exclusive basis, as examples.
  • The terms do not say a newsletter may carry more than the enrollment page's 10 percent sample on other sites.
  • The directory pages for aggregators, advance copies, and serial publishing list the services. They do not change the Select terms.

04

Is KDP Select worth it?

This page states what the exclusivity rules forbid. It does not say whether enrolling is a good deal for a particular book. That choice is whether to keep the Kindle ebook exclusive or to sell it in other stores, and it lives on the decision page.[24][78]

  • Enrollment is free, and the ebook is included in Kindle Unlimited.
  • Print, video, and audio can stay on sale elsewhere while the ebook is enrolled.
  • The rules on this page still apply for each 90-day term the ebook stays enrolled.

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