What’s Happening With Kindle in 2020?

Now we are halfway through the year; it’s a great time to analyze what’s happening with Kindle and observe the trends that have come up over the last six months and what we can expect going forward.

For any writer, understanding what’s hot and what’s not in kindle publishing is essential. If you are hoping to write a book that sells – you need to know what it is that people are buying. 

Ebooks are continuing to do well

The sales of ebooks on Amazon is huge. In the US, around 85 % of the ebook market is held by Amazon. An indicator of ebook growth can be observed when looking at the Kindle Global Select Fund’s growth and the royalty payments to authors who sign up for Kindle Unlimited. Last year that amount grew to more than $300 million. Independent authors are taking over, grabbing their market share, and taking this away from traditional publishers. 

An explosion of indie authors

Indie authors hold around 38% of all the top 100 rankings in all bestseller categories on the Amazon bookstore. They are closely followed by Amazon imprints and then the top five publishers.

New trends in the kindle market

Pay to play

In 2019 Amazon made some changes to their interface, which means that fewer books show up. For desktop users, only around 16 books per page are visible, with 7 of those being sponsored results. Doing the math, just under half of the results come from paid advertisers – and this basically translates to the fact that if authors want to be seen, they need to pay for the privilege. Because of this, authors need to understand how to manage their ads and implement a robust paid advertising strategy. The more you earn, the more you can invest, and the more visible your book will become. 

The gain of Kindle Unlimited. 

If an author agrees to sell exclusively on Amazon, they become part of Kindle Unlimited. In the past, there have been theories that these books have been weighted more positively in terms of rankings – however, this has never been proven. There is no denying the fact that Kindle Unlimited has significantly gained in share. In some of the most popular genres, Kindle Unlimited seems to be dominating. Subscribers who pay a monthly fee then download books for ‘free,’ and these downloads are driving sales ranks of Kindle Unlimited books, therefore causing them to rise up and outperform the ‘paid for’ books.

Amazon imprints

Amazon also publishers their own books. Unsurprisingly they have gained market share. Amazon naturally has unique insights and tonnes of data, so it is no surprise that their in-house books continue to do well. 

Audiobooks are growing

The growth in audiobooks is also significant, though not the same across all genres. Romance, for example, is much lower than SciFi and Fantasy. This appears to be associated with gender. More audiobook listeners are male and more men read SciFi and fantasy than women. So that’s why the figures look like this. There have been moves to encourage more women to sign up for audiobooks. However, they continue to be more likely to be readers rather than listeners, despite any marketing efforts to convert them.

Where will the Kindle trends go in 2020?

It is likely that Amazon imprints will continue to do well and push down sales of books from traditional publishers. Indie authors are still expected to control the most significant share. However there may be a shift towards a more collaborative indie author/publisher hybrid where authors and publishers work together for smarter investment and more considerable gains. 

Keeping abreast of trends in the Kindle world can help authors shape their books, understand their audiences, and discover the best ways to market and publish their work. Make sure you stay up to date and informed, and use your research and insights to help make sure your next book is a success!

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