Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon’s self-publishing unit. Their website homepage advertises them as a free service to help independent authors publish their books on Amazon.com, with the ability to “earn up to 70% royalty on sales.” Those are the main factors that convince writers to sign with them because not a lot of self-pub companies offer perks like these. Its existence almost sounds impossible. It’s a free and convenient platform, there’s good pay – what writer doesn’t want those benefits after being exhausted from writing a book? They sacrifice time and soul for months, for years, to bring their words to life, hoping to impact someone out there. The sheer amount of patience they have is insane and to even describe what they go through wouldn’t do justice to their constant struggles.

A majority of these writers had high expectations when signing up for KDP before learning that what they were promised isn’t the whole truth. Authors receive 70% of royalties for e-books (per copy) and 60% for paperbacks (per copy), but only the first part of that sentence stands true. What many were led to believe is that the other 40% of a paperback that KDP would take would include processing fees. It doesn’t. Authors pay for the printing of their book out of their own royalties. There was no clear section in regards to that fee in the pricing stage of publication until more recent years. KDP omitted to notify users about that section, which is why it came as a surprise. To explain how the processing fee impacts royalties, here’s a brief example:

Depending on the page count, what authors end up with is around 20%, not the 60% that was advertised. Most end up earning less than KDP does. If a book’s list price is $7.99 and its processing fee is $2.89, what the author would expect to be getting is $4.79. However, due to the deduction, the author would profit $1.90 and KDP would take $3.20. It’s unclear whether this matter and the royalty calculator tool was upfront in the terms and conditions in earlier versions due to KDP’s lack of communication. 

Another issue is that KDP neglects to say where that 40% goes. There’s no mention if that percentage goes to the company’s revenue or to maintain their website. A flat rate of $0.85 out of each processing fee also goes to KDP, presumably to sustain the printing facilities. In another payment-related case, some have reported that KDP withheld their royalties for months and were unaware of the situation until users contacted them. These little annoyances on their own seem minor but with enough time, they explode into frustration and rage. Is this what those hopeful writers were promised? No.

Something else that was not relayed with enough clarity was the merge between CreateSpace, a paperback publishing unit, and KDP. Authors who have both e-book and paperback versions of their book often have contracts with both services. However, KDP was vague about the merge and sent out just one email to inform users. This email varied in sending dates, so not everyone got it at the same time. The terms and conditions of both services joined together as well and the nature of those combined terms can be described in one word: confusing. Like any other terms and conditions, it’s difficult to interpret and even contradicts itself in some sections. As of August 14, 2019, KDP is allowed to change the content of their T&C at their sole discretion, no email or announcement required. However, users must agree to the changes within 30 days or terminate their account. So if KDP isn’t responsible for telling users, how are they supposed to agree to the changes? Are they expected to check for updates day-to-day? There’s been close to zero communication in regard to several important affairs. The emails one can expect from KDP just talk about their global fund – and that’s about it. One would assume that such a massive corporation would have better management than this. They target aspiring authors, with a large number of them are between 13 and 25. KDP’s terms and conditions are almost impossible to understand without the assistance of a lawyer, despite the reader’s age. 

This isn’t what indie authors should be experiencing with a self-publishing service that claims to have a user-friendly interface and that it’s free. Indie authors demand clearer communication with KDP. There needs to be more conversation about the changes in our contracts. Sending out email notifications to alert us would be a great start to reaching clarity. More transparency in the terms and conditions would also be appreciated so we can understand what we’re agreeing to instead of skimming through pages of legal clauses. We also request that new data regulations (such as the GDPR) require 100% transparency in the terms and conditions in easily comprehensible language.

Indie authors are self-starters and they deserve a self-publishing company that can live up to their expectations.

For legal reasons concerning this petition, the terms and conditions are public to view for anyone on KDP’s website. 

(The header image is a collage of indie books published with KDP!)