Kindle Unlimited boosted by biggest-ever monthly rise in KDP Select Fund for January 2022 with total paid out since KU launch set to hit $2 billion

Kindle Unlimited started the year with a bang as the KDP Select Global Fund for January 2022 leapt by the biggest-ever monthly rise of $2.7 million to $42.9 million from $40.2 million in December 2021.

The increase in the KDP Fund from December to January is generally the biggest monthly rise for Kindle Unlimited, with increases of $2 million seen in 2019-20 and 2020-21, but the latest boost of $2.7 million shows KU continuing on a very buoyant trend. The January 2022 monthly rise is actually the equal biggest-ever increase with August 2014 in the very early days of Kindle Unlimited,

The $42.9 million paid out by the KDP Select Fund in January 2022 represented a 19% month-on-month increase over the $36 million paid out in January 2021.

The KENP rate for January 2022 was $0.0043, down from December 2021’s rate of $0.0047, in line with the usual trend seen from December to January.

The KENP rate for the UK for January 2022 was £0.0030, down from the December 2021 rate of £0.0033.

The overall total paid out by the KDP Select Fund since Kindle Unlimited was introduced in July 2014 is set to smash through the $2 billion mark when the February 2022 KDP Fund is announced, even though February’s fund usually shows a fallback from the January figure.

My calculations indicate there could have been a massive total of around 9.76 billion KENPs read during January 2022, up from the 8.55 billion KENPs read during December 2021.

The figures I use for total KENPs read are entirely unofficial and use a calculation of dividing the total KDP Select Global Fund ($42.9 million) by the US KENP rate ($0.0043). These estimates are based entirely on the amount paid out under the KDP Select Global fund and are only an indication of possible trends.


KINDLE UNLIMITED PAYOUTS 2018-2022

The US KENP payout figures for 2018-2022 are:

2018

January: $0.0044
February: $0.0046
March: $0.0045
April: $0.0045
May: $0.0045
June: $0.0046
July: $0.0045
August: $0.0045
September: $0.0048
October: $0.0048
November: $0.0052
December: $0.0048

2019

January: $0.0044
February: $0.0047
March: $0.0045
April: $0.0046
May: $0.0046
June: $0.0046
July: $0.0044
August: $0.0044
September: $0.0046
October: $0.0046
November: $0.0049
December: $0.0046

2020

January: $0.0044
February: $0.0045
March: $0.0046
April: $0.0042
May: $0.0042
June: $0.0045
July: $0.0043
August: $0.0043
September: $0.0045
October: $0.0045
November: $0.0046
December: $0.0045

2021

January: $0.0042
February: $0.0045
March: $0.0044
April: $0.0045
May: $0.0044
June: $0.0044
July: $0.0043
August: $0.0042
September: $0.0045
October: $0.0045
November: $0.0047
December: $0.0047

2022

January: $0.0043


The monthly KDP Select Global Fund totals for 2018-2022 are:

2018

January: $20.9 million
February: $20 million
March: $21 million
April: $21.2 million
May: $22.5 million
June: $22.6 million
July: $23.1 million
August: $23.3 million
September: $23.4 million
October: $23.5 million
November: $23.6 million
December: $23.7 million

Total for 2018: $267.8 million

Annual increase from 2017-2018: 20.35%

2019

January: $24.7 million
February: $23.5 million
March: $24 million
April: $24.1 million
May: $24.6 million
June: $24.9 million
July: $25.6 million
August: $25.8 million
September: $25.9 million
October: $26 million
November: $26.1 million
December: $26.2 million

Total for 2019: $301.4 million

Annual increase from 2018-2019: 12.5%

2020

January: $28.2 million
February: $27.2 million
March: $29 million
April: $30.3 million
May: $32.2 million
June: $32.3 million
July: $32.4 million
August: $32.6 million
September: $32.7 million
October: $32.9 million
November: $33.2 million
December: $34 million

Total for 2020: $377 million

Annual increase from 2019 to 2020: 25%

2021

January: $36 million
February: $33.5 million
March: $35.4 million
April: $35.5 million
May: $35.9 million
June: $36.5 million
July: $38.1 million
August: $39.6 million
September: $39.7 million
October: $39.8 million
November: $39.9 million
December: $40.2 million

Total for 2021: $450.1 million

Annual increase from 2020 to 2021: 19%

2022

January: $42.9 million


The annual total figures for Kindle Unlimited since it started are:

2014: $31.735 million (Jul-Dec)

2015: $131.6 million

2016: $186 million

2017: $222.6 million

2018: $267.8 million

2019: $301.4 million

2020: $377 million

2021: $450.1 million

2022: $42.9 million so far

Grand total overall of $1,985,135,000 ($1.985 billion)


Kindle Vella monthly bonus gathers pace to hit $725,000 in January 2022

The Kindle Vella bonus for authors rose by $75,000 in January 2022 to $725,000 from $650,000 December 2021.

The increase represents a 50% rise in the monthly trend which has seen the bonus rising by $50,000 in recent months. Amazon says the boost is ‘to celebrate the success of the Kindle Vella launch on Android and Fire in January’.

Meanwhile, the success of The Marriage Auction by Audrey Carlan continues as it remains the Top Faved Vella serial with a total of 81,071 faves — up from 44,000 last month — while Hot Vampire Next Door by Nikki St Crowe stays in second place with a total of 46,424 faves, up from around 23,000 faves last month.