(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that a bonus of $1.5 million has been added to the KDP Select global fund this holiday season. This is on top of the regular monthly fund during the three-month period from December-February. 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 worldwide can earn a share of the total global fund every time their book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr, and reach more readers than ever before.

“This holiday season, millions of customers will open new Kindles, and if they’re Amazon Prime members they can borrow a book from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library for free. The unusual thing about KDP Select is that when this happens authors get paid. With record Kindle sales worldwide, and the recent expansion of the lending library to Europe, we expect the number of books borrowed this holiday season to increase significantly,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. “We’ve seen authors experience incredible success with KDP Select – in only a year it’s become commonplace to see KDP Select books on our best seller list.”

KDP Select was introduced in December 2011 to enable independent authors using KDP to reach the growing audience of millions of Amazon Prime members and earn more money through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Here’s how it works: if a KDP author or publisher enrolls any of their books in KDP Select, which may be done in 90-day increments during which their books must be exclusive to the Kindle Store, those books are eligible to be included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. They can then earn a share of the global fund every time their book is borrowed, and borrows from the lending library count toward a book’s sales rank on Amazon. Authors can enroll any of their titles, including their full catalog. They also have access to a self-service promotional tool which gives them the option to offer their enrolled titles for free for up to five days every 90 days, which many authors have found to be a great way to engage more readers and find new audiences.

First-Year Milestones

KDP Select has proven to be an entirely new growth opportunity for authors and publishers. Milestones over the past year include:

• After enrolling in KDP Select, over 500 books have reached the top 100 Kindle best seller lists around the world, including “Stop the Wedding!” by Stephanie Bond and “The Unwanted Wife” by Natasha Anders.
• KDP authors will have earned more than $7 million from the KDP Select global fund through November, on top of increased royalties from paid sales.
• KDP Select books have been purchased, borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, or downloaded for free through KDP Select promotions over 200 million times.

Author Successes

During the past year, authors have experienced incredible success after enrolling books in KDP Select. Here’s what some of them are saying:

• Andrew E. Kaufman is the author of “The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted,” one of the most-borrowed independently-published books in the US Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. “Traditional publishing told me that my dream would never come true – KDP Select not only told me it could, they made it a reality. From hundreds of rejections, to hundreds of thousands of sales, the numbers tell the story. KDP has helped me live the dream.”
• Carolyn McCray, author of paranormal romance novels, historical thrillers and mysteries, has earned more than $45,000 from the KDP Select fund since joining the program a year ago. “KDP Select is an author’s workhorse. There is no better marketing tool out there to launch a book and help it grow. Recently KDP Select helped propel one of my books, ‘Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware,’ into the Top 20 Kindle best seller list. As I always say, you have to play to win and KDP Select is by far the best game in town.”
• Joel Goldman is a best-selling thriller/mystery writer who has earned more than $20,000 from the KDP Select fund to date. “In December 2011, KDP Select changed everything. The combination of free giveaways and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library helped my sales take off like a rocket – both were instrumental in the growth of my business because they enabled me to reach thousands of readers who might not otherwise have considered buying my books. I've heard from many readers who've told me how glad they are to have had the chance to discover me. None of that could have happened without KDP.”
• Martin Crosbie is the author of “My Temporary Life,” and after enrolling it in KDP Select he earned over $45,000 in one month from paid sales and loans combined – a huge increase from the $100 he earned the prior two months when his book was not enrolled in the program. “It’s really simple: without Amazon, and more specifically KDP Select, I would still be receiving rejection letters from agents and publishers. I tried releasing my book through other outlets and tried numerous ways to promote it but nothing has come anywhere close to the opportunities that KDP Select has given me. I have readers anxiously waiting for my next novel, and, I never get tired of saying this, I’m a full-time writer.”

Authors can learn more about KDP Select and enroll their books now at http://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/KDPSelect. To learn more about the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, visit www.amazon.com/kindleownerslendinglibrary.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support, dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.