KDP Select Defined.
Definition
KDP Select is an optional, free program for Kindle ebooks and audiobooks. Enrolling makes the ebook exclusive to Amazon for a 90-day term that renews automatically unless you opt out. In return the book is included in Kindle+, formerly Kindle Unlimited, paid by pages read, and the ebook can run Free Book Promotions or Kindle Countdown Deals.
Sources checked 23 October 2026.
How it works
To enroll, you must hold exclusive rights to the ebook's primary content, so public-domain works can't join, and the ebook must be sold only through the Kindle Store for the whole term. KDP allows it to be distributed through public libraries too, and print, video and other formats can be sold anywhere. You can enroll from the Bookshelf while the book is a draft, or from the Marketing page once it is published; an audiobook made with virtual voice is enrolled with its ebook. The term renews every 90 days unless you turn off automatic renewal under Manage KDP Select. Kindle Countdown Deals run only on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and audiobooks can't use either promotion.
An example
An author enrolls a new novel's ebook and keeps selling the paperback through Expanded Distribution: that is allowed, since exclusivity covers the ebook, not print. What is not allowed is also selling the same ebook from their own website during the term, or handing it out there as a free download: until the term ends, KDP allows the ebook to be distributed only through KDP and public libraries.
Common mistakes
Forgetting that enrollment renews by itself, then finding the ebook locked in for another term. Enrolling while the ebook is still live on another store or a direct sales page. And assuming that unpublishing ends the term: KDP says unpublishing pauses it, and the remaining days resume once the book is republished.
