Kindle Unlimited KENP payout fund for March 2020 shows 21% annual rise as onset of lockdown sees readers turn to ebooks

The Kindle Unlimited KENP rate for March 2020 was $0.0046, up from $0.0045 in February and $0.0044 in January, while the KDP Select fund for March 2020 saw a monthly increase of 6.6% to $29 million from $27.2 million in February 2020.

It was a particularly impressive rise in annual terms for the KDP fund as that $29 million paid out in March 2020 represents a rise of 21% on the $24 million fund in March 2019.

The KENP rate for the UK also rose slightly to £0.0034 from £0.0033 in February 2020.

The figures have probably been affected to some extent by the start of coronavirus lockdowns in the US, the UK and around the world. The lockdowns have brought big rises in ebook business  and the effect of the lockdowns should be much more evident when April’s figures are released.

Amazon is running promotions on its Kindle Unlimited ebook subscription service at present, which include doubling the usual one-month free trial to two months.

For March 2020, using the calculation of dividing the total KDP Select fund ($29 million) by the US KENP rate ($0.0046) to get an idea of the total number of KENPs read during the month results in 6.3 billion KENPs. up from 6.04 billion KENPs in February, but down from 6.4 billion KENPs in January 2020.

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


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

Total for 2020 so far: $84.4 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: $84.4 million so far

Grand total overall of $1,226,535,000 ($1.226 billion)


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