Kindle Unlimited KDP Select Fund total leaps by nearly a quarter for the first half of 2020

The Kindle Unlimited KENP rate for June 2020 rose to $0.0045 from $0.0042 in May while the KDP Select Global Fund for June 2020 edged up by $100,000 to $32.3 million from $32.2 million in May 2020.

The smaller increase in the fund represents a levelling-off of sorts after some big rises in recent months as ebook business boomed during pandemic lockdowns around the world. However, the June 2020 fund figure still represents a thumping increase of 30% compared with June 2019 which saw a fund of $24.9 million.

The KENP rate for the UK in June 2020 rose to £0.0031 from £0.0030 in May 2020.

The first half of 2020 has seen a total of $179.2 million paid out by the KDP Select Fund and that total figure is 23% higher than the fund’s total for the first six months of 2019 which saw a total of $145.8 million.

By way of comparison, the annual increase in the fund total over the whole year in 2019 compared with 2018 was 12.5%.

The fund figures for April 2020, May 2020 and June 2020 have all topped the $1 million a day mark at $30.3 million, $32.2 million and $32.3 million respectively, while the results for each of the first three months came close to the $1 million a day mark.

There was a fall in the number of KENPS read during June 2020 to my estimated figure of 7.11 billion, down from 7.66 billion in May 2020 and 7.21 billion KENPs in April but still well up on the 6.3 billion KENPs in March and 6.04 billion KENPs in February.

The figures I use for total KENPs read are entirely unofficial and use a calculation of dividing the total KDP Select Global Fund ($32.3 million) by the US KENP rate ($0.0045). These estimates should not be regarded as being the overall total number of KENPs read during a month as they do not take into account any margin taken by Amazon. They are based entirely on the amount paid out under the KDP Select Global fund and are only an indication of possible trends.


The US KENP payout figures for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 are:

2016

January: $0.0041
February: $0.0047 (KENP v2.0 introduced)
March: $0.0047
April: $0.0048
May: $0.0046
June: $0.0049
July: $0.0048
August: $0.0045
September: $0.0049
October: $0.0052
November: $0.0053
December: $0.0052

2017

January: $0.0047
February: $0.0049
March: $0.0046
April: $0.0045
May: $0.0043
June: $0.0042
July: $0.0040
August: $0.0041 (KENP v3.0 introduced)
September: $0.0044
October: $0.0045
November: $0.0046
December: $0.0050

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


The monthly KDP Select Global Fund totals for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 are:

2016

January: $15 million
February: $14 million (KENP v2.0 introduced)
March: $14.9 million
April: $14.9 million
May: $15.3 million
June: $15.4 million
July: $15.5 million
August: $15.8 million
September: $15.9 million
October: $16.2 million
November: $16.3 million
December: $16.8 million

Overall total for 2016: $186 million

2017

January: $17.8 million
February: $16.8 million
March: $17.7 million
April: $17.8 million
May $17.9 million
June $18 million
July: $19 million
August: $19.4 million (KENP v3.0 introduced)
September $19.5 million
October $19.7 million
November: $19.8 million
December: $19.9 million

Overall total for 2017: $222.6 million

Annual increase from 2016-2017: 19.67%

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

Total for 2020 so far: $179.2 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: $179.2 million so far

Grand total overall of $1,294,335,000 ($1.294 billion)


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