How to Make Your Amazon Book Free Outside the KDP Select Program

Using a free book promotion as a marketing strategy!

Jul 22, 2024

It’s counter-intuitive, but one of the ways that you can earn more from your books on Amazon is to offer your books for free!

This is the reason why Amazon itself offers its KDP Select program.

What is KDP Select?

When you enroll your book in KDP Select, you are opting to sell your books “exclusively” on Amazon, more specifically, the digital versions of your book. This means you can’t sell any digital copies of your book on Apple, Kobo or Barnes & Noble.

In return, Amazon gives you the power to select your promo dates where you can offer your book for free!

After enrolling in KDP Select, you can offer your book for free for a total of 5 days within the 90-day duration of your enrollment.

Many authors choose to do this as part of their marketing strategy. When they offer their books for free, their Amazon ranking increases and their book becomes more visible to buyers. Of course, they won’t earn anything from these free downloads. But they will still earn for their paperback sales!

You see, some people who get to download your free e-book are enticed to buy the paperback version also. They prefer to read and enjoy the book that way.

Another advantage of this is that you can get more reviews for your book. Keep in mind that people tend to buy books with more reviews. So even after your book promo days are over, you get to keep all the reviews you gained and these can help you sell more books later on.

The Problem with KDP Select

The problem with KDP Select is that it only offers you a total of 5 days in promoting your books for free. After that, your book reverts to $0.99 minimum.

While you can still earn from royalties from Kindle Unlimited (where you are enrolled automatically thru KDP Select), you will no longer enjoy the benefits of having a free digital book for download.

Another problem is that you can’t sell your books on other digital stores like Apple and Kobo during the time that you are enrolled on KDP Select.

The Alternative for Authors

To solve the above problems, you need to find a way to offer your book for free on Amazon while still selling your books elsewhere. You also want the ability to offer your book for free for longer than 5 days.

If you want to do this, just follow the steps below. Note that I am not guaranteeing any results with this. Amazon still retains its right to decide whether to allow your books to be priced at zero or not.

Here are the steps to make your book free on Amazon outside the KDP Select program:

1. Don’t enroll in the KDP Select program.

Yes, you read that right. That’s the first step.

2. Publish your books on other digital stores.

To do this, you can publish your book on Draft2Digital.

3. Set your book price to zero on Draft2Digital

You may need to wait for a day or two before your book price can be updated. Please ensure that your book is free on other digital stores before you do the next step.