Kindle Unlimited KDP fund for August 2021 continues strong trend with 21.5% annualised rise while readership rockets

The Kindle Unlimited KDP Select Global Fund for August 2021 showed another strong monthly increase of $1.5 million to hit a new high of $39.6 million from $38.1 million in July 2021 while the KENP rate for August 2021 fell slightly to $0.0042 from $0.0043 in July 2021.

A year-on-year comparison for the month shows the August 2021 KDP fund total of $39.6 million is a full $7 million higher than the August 2020 KDP fund of $32.6 million, representing an annualised rise of 21.5%.

The KENP rate for the UK in August 2021 stayed at the same level of £0.0030 seen in July 2021.

My calculations indicate there could have been a huge total of around 9.42 billion KENPs read during August 2021, up from 8.86 billion KENPS read during July 2021. If that rate of growth continues, then September could well break through the mark of 10 billion KENPs read in a month.

The figures I use for total KENPs read are entirely unofficial and use a calculation of dividing the total KDP Select Global Fund ($39.6 million) by the US KENP rate ($0.0042). 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 Vella bonus boosted for August 2021


Amazon says it is seeing continued growth in the Kindle Vella serial program and has stepped up the August Kindle Vella launch bonus to $450,000 from $200,000 in the launch month of July.

Bonuses will be awarded to authors based on customer activity such as Faves, Follows, and Token redemption (free and paid). If you’ve earned a bonus for August, you’ll receive an email and will see the bonus amount posted in your Kindle Vella Dashboard (https://kdpreports.amazon.com/kindle-vella). Your launch bonus and Kindle Vella royalty earnings will be paid out with your total KDP payments in October.

All authors will continue to be compensated for episodes unlocked using free Tokens at the 200-token bundle rate until the end of the year. This compensation will be included with your overall bonus amount.

You can find further details on Kindle Vella royalties and reporting at https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G5TFR9WSHB46ZKFN


KINDLE UNLIMITED PAYOUTS 2018-2021

The US KENP payout figures for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 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


The monthly KDP Select Global Fund totals for 2018, 2019 and 2020 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


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: $290.5 million so far

Grand total overall of $1,782,635,000 ($1.782 billion)


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