Amazon has added a bonus $1.5 million has been to itsKindle Direct Publishing Select fund, an account that pays bonuses to self-published authors when readers check out their books from the Kindle Lending Library.
This additional $1.5 million will be added to the regular monthly fund during the three-month period from December to February. Here is more from the press release: “December’s regular monthly fund is $700,000, plus $700,000 of the $1.5 million holiday bonus will be paid out for December, doubling the total amount available to authors in December to $1.4 million. The remainder of the $1.5 million bonus will be paid on top of the regular fund in January and February as well.”
Authors who make their books available for lending are eligible to earn from this pot of money. Amazon introduced this fund in 2011 as a way to encourage authors to allow their books to be shared.
In the past year, KDP authors have earned more than $7 million from the KDP Select global fund. This is on top of royalties that the authors have earned from book sales. Author Carolyn McCray earned more than $45,000 from the KDP fund in the past year. Author Joel Goldman has earned more than $20,000 from KDP to date. Martin Crosbie has earned more than $45,000 in one month from paid sales and loans, after he enrolled in KDP.