Yep. You heard that right. KDP Select will now allow distribution to public libraries
The word on the street is that Amazon’s Kindle Digital Platform’s KDP Select program will now include the distribution to public libraries. On August 30, 20205, I talked with multiple KDP reps to confirm this news.
According to Representative Syed: “Yes, I can confirm that you can distribute your Kindle eBook to public libraries during your KDP Select enrollment period. You may use services to do this during your KDP Select enrollment period as long as distribution is limited to public libraries.”
Since there has been some confusion on what KDP considers a public library, that was my next question. I specifically asked about several online library distribution services, which many authors distribute to via Draft2Digital.com.
Lesley was the first representative I talked to about this new KDP Select change, and she refused to answer the question multiple times. This was her reasoning: “We cannot do that—that is research you must do on your own. We do not have that public information.”
It wasn’t until I told her that her answers would be going into this article verbatim that she immediately disconnected from the live chat and a new and more knowledgeable rep got on the chat. Not only that, but the new rep, Thembi, mentioned that they checked with a supervisor to confirm the information before sharing it with me.
Representative Thembi wrote: “Yes, KDP consider these as public libraries.”
This confirms that KDP considers the following entities public libraries and safe to distribute to:
- Hoopla
- Overdrive
- cloudLibrary
- BorrowBox
- Odilo
- Baker & Taylor
- Palace Marketplace
It’s important to note that the listed platforms above are only some of the distribution channels available on Draft2Digital.com, so if you have further concerns about other channels, you may want to reach out to KDP Support directly.
In fact, I highly recommend that you get written confirmation from KDP on this as well. Save the conversation in a file for safe keeping. So if there is ever a question or issue, you’ll be able to supply that confirmation to other KDP representatives if needed.
To get on a Live Chat to ask KDP:
- Go to KDP.Amazon.com and log into your account.
- Choose Help in the top menu.
- Scroll down and click on the yellow Contact Us button.
- Click on the Amazon Store, pricing, & promotion section.
- Twizzle down KDP Select.
- Click on the “How it works and earnings” link.
- Click on the blue Contact Us button.
I also asked if the new change to Kindle Unlimited is considered official and if KDP is planning to eventually add this new KU library expansion to the main KDP terms of service or the genera guidelines for Kindle Unlimited specifically.
Thembi confirmed: “The relevant team is looking into that already and there should be an update soon.”
So there you have it. The Kindle Select program on Kindle Direct Publishing now allows distribution to public libraries during the 90-day enrollment period.
For more information on KDP’s Terms of Service or KDP Select, check out the resources below (be sure to log into your KDP account first):