Amazon on Thursday announced that the number of new authors in India who have self-published their e-books using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) has doubled in 2020 as compared to 2019.

KDP is a platform that helps authors self-publish e-books and get up to 70 per cent of the royalties. However, the tech-giant did not provide the exact number of authors who have leveraged the self-publishing service in 2020.

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In 2020, Indian writers who used KDP published works across genres such as Literature and Fiction, Society, Politics and Philosophy, Mystery and Thrillers, Amazon said.

“Thousands of authors” also published their work on the platform in regional Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, and Gujarati. The best selling self-published genres in 2020 included Health, Mind and Body, Society, Politics, and Philosophy, Romance, Literature and Fiction, and Business and Investing.

Amol Gurwara, Director Kindle Content - India, Amazon, said, “2020 was an unprecedented year that affected the way we live and work. In such times, it has been humbling to play a part in helping people get continued access to a great selection of e-Books. Through KDP, we saw budding authors from all walks of life embracing self-publishing as an alternative career option, and subsequently crafting their own success stories.”

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Amazon has also recently announced the fourth edition of its KDP Pen to Publish contest for self-published authors across genres in English, Hindi and Tamil languages Participants can self-publish their e-Book through KDP on Amazon. in until March 10, 2021, to enter the contest.

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