LONDON - 03 September 2024 - Today, Amazon Books is celebrating 10 years of Kindle Unlimited - a digital reading subscription service allowing customers to read as much as they want on any device with the Kindle App, choosing from millions of eBooks, thousands of audiobooks and hundreds of magazines.
First introduced in 2014, Kindle Unlimited was designed to give customers the freedom to explore genres, discover authors, and dive into a world of audiobooks and magazine subscriptions. Since 2014, Kindle Unlimited members have read more than 3 billion books globally. Since 2014, authors using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and choosing to make their books available through Kindle Unlimited have collectively earned more than US$3.5 billion for reads of their books through Kindle Unlimited.
Over the last ten years on Kindle Unlimited in the UK, the most popular genre has been Romance, with Colleen Hoover proving the most popular author within this category. Her title, Reminders of Him: A Novel takes the fifteenth spot in the most read books on Kindle Unlimited in the past decade. Romance is also in the air for Amazon Publishing bestselling author, T L Swan, whose steamy novel The Stopover (The Miles High Club) also makes the top 20 most read books on Kindle Unlimited in the UK, with the author also sitting in seventh in the most read author list of the past decade.
Following Romance, Thrillers are the next most popular on Kindle Unlimited in the UK, with this genre comprising almost 50% of the top 20 most read titles on Kindle Unlimited in the UK. Interestingly within this genre, there is a real appetite for independent authors who publish via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
In the UK, it is independent author LJ Ross who leads the way as the most popular KDP author on Kindle Unlimited, with six of her DCI Ryan Mystery novels featuring in the top 20 Most Read titles. LJ Ross is also the UK’s second most popular author on Kindle Unlimited after J.K. Rowling, with other notable KDP authors featuring prominently in the top ten, including JD Kirk, JM Dalgliesh and Rachel McLean.
The top 10 most read books on Kindle Unlimited in the UK over the last ten years:
1) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3) Holy Island: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
4) The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
5) Sycamore Gap: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
6) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
7) Heavenfield: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
8) The Stopover (The Miles High Club) by T L Swan
9) Reminders of Him: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
10) Angel: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
The top ten most read authors on Kindle Unlimited in the UK over the last ten years:
1) J.K. Rowling
2) LJ Ross
3) Joy Ellis
4) Faith Martin
5) Michael Anderle
6) JD Kirk
7) T L Swan
8) J M Dalgliesh
9) Rachel McLean
10) J .S. Scott
Taking a closer look at the last 10 years, the following titles were the most popular each year in the UK on Kindle Unlimited:
2014
1) The Maze Runner by James Dashner
2) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling
2015
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling
2) Sleep Tight by Rachel Abbott
3) Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott
2016
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling
2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling
3) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling
2017
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling
2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling
3) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling
2018
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling
2) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling
3) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling
2019
1) The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay by Nicola May
2) The Infirmary: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
3) The Moor: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
2020
1) The Other Wife by Claire McGowan
2) The Crossing by Matt Brolly
3) Ryan's Christmas: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
2021
1) The Corfe Castle Murders by Rachel McLean
2) The Cove by LJ Ross
3) The Clifftop Murders by Rachel McLean
2022
1) Reminders of Him: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
2) Bamburgh: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
3) Taming Mr. Walker: An Enemies to Lovers Office Romance by Rosa Lucas
2023
1) The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
2) Lady's Well: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
3) Twisted Love by Ana Huang
2024 (January to 30th June)
1) Death Rocks: A DCI Ryan Mystery by LJ Ross
2) The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
3) The Teacher by Freida McFadden
To celebrate 10 years of Kindle Unlimited, from 3rd – 15th September Amazon is offering new Kindle Unlimited customers a promotional offer of three months of Kindle Unlimited for the price of one month (thereafter renewing at £9.49 per month until cancelled). Meanwhile, existing customers will be eligible for a promotional offer of 12 months of Kindle Unlimited for the price of 10 months (thereafter renewing at £9.49 per month until cancelled.) Deal Terms apply, with more information available here.
Amy Tipper, Head of EU Books Subscriptions at Amazon said, “We are delighted that so many customers are reading the millions of eBooks, thousands of audiobooks and hundreds of magazines available on Kindle Unlimited. There really is something for everyone, which is evident with over three billion titles read by customers globally in the past decade. We love seeing publishers and authors find new audiences for their books in Kindle Unlimited, meaning we are able to continuously improve the depth and breadth of our catalogue for our members.
The magical world of Hogwarts has undeniably stood the test of time, with all seven books featuring in the global and UK top ten top most read lists. Whether reading to children (something which I am currently doing) or re-reading the iconic series as an adult, the ability to access Kindle Unlimited on any device, providing you have the Kindle app, makes it even easier to immerse yourself into the spellbinding stories.”
Interestingly, the books which feature alongside the witchcraft and wizardry series in the global top ten are authors who have gone viral on BookTok. Freida McFadden, Lucy Score, Colleen Hoover and H. D. Carlton have all shared huge success on the social channel in recent years - a clear demonstration of the influence of BookTok on the industry and author success.
Globally, the most read books on Kindle Unlimited over the last 10 years include:
● The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
● The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
● Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
● Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
● Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton
● Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
● The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden
● The Stopover (The Miles High Club) by T L Swan
● Twisted Love by Ana Huang
● Never Lie by Freida McFadden
To find out more about Kindle Unlimited, how to sign up and all the benefits, please visit www.amazon.co.uk/kindleunlimited10.
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Notes to Editors:
About Kindle Unlimited
Kindle Unlimited offers members unlimited access to more than four million digital books, audiobooks, comics, and magazines, spanning genres from mystery and romance to nonfiction and memoir. For just £9.49 per month, members can read as many books as they’d like - find out more at amazon.co.uk/kindleunlimited.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalised recommendations, Prime, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.co.uk/about and follow @AmazonNewsUK.
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