Kindle Unlimited and KENP
Because I am still learning all the new things that come with publishing and marketing, I wanted to share something I learned somewhat recently about KENP.
If you are an author or aspiring author, this is especially for you!
KENP stands for Kindle Edition Normalized Pages. It is Amazon’s way of keeping track of how many pages of an eBook are being read. IT is important to note that KENP only applies to eBooks that are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.
What is Kindle Unlimited?
It is Amazon’s subscription program that works like a digital library. Readers pay a monthly fee, and in return they can borrow and read as many Kindle Unlimited books as they would like, without buying them first.
When someone borrows your eBook through Kindle Unlimited, Amazon measures how many pages they read using the KENP system. Since eBooks can be read on different devices (phones, tablets, Kindles) with different font sizes, KENP gives Amazon a consistent way to track pages read.
Here is what that means for authors:
If your eBook is in Kindle Unlimited, your KDP dashboard will show KENP numbers. These reflect how many pages people are actually reading.
Every month, Amazon sets aside money in the KDP Select Global Fund, and royalties are paid out to authors based on their share of total KENP pages read.
If your eBook is not in Kindle Unlimited, your KENP number will stay at 0. Even if people buy and read your book, Amazon does not track purchased pages. KENP is only for borrowed reads through Kindle Unlimited.
What about earnings?
The payout per KENP page read changes month to month, but it is usually around $0.004 to $0.005 per page. For a children’s book that might be 32 to 40 KENP pages long, a full read-through would earn only around 12 to 20 cents. So for most authors, KENP reads alone do not generate large royalties.
Here is an example from my own experience:
Last month, my dashboard showed 808 KENP pages read. Since What’s Wrong with Tom? is about 40 pages long and most of the pages read were from that book, that works out to roughly 20 copies borrowed and read through Kindle Unlimited. The payout was not huge, but what mattered more was that 20 more families discovered my book, families who may not have found it otherwise.
And that is one of the real values of Kindle Unlimited. It allows readers to try out your book at no extra cost, which can sometimes lead them to purchase a print copy or leave a review. Plus, by enrolling in KDP Select (the program that makes KU possible), authors get access to promotions and giveaways that can help with visibility and growth.
Final thoughts:
In summary, KENP is Amazon’s way of tracking eBook pages read in Kindle Unlimited. While it will not usually produce meaningful royalties on its own, especially for shorter books, it can be a helpful way to reach new readers and build momentum over time.
Gal Chivvis, DVM
