After hours spent creating this article with this video tutorial on how to better understand Amazon KDP’s reporting for authors, Amazon decided to overhaul the reporting platform. Great 😞
Don’t be surprised if, like me, when accessing your Amazon KDP sales reports you notice things look a little different. As of May 24th 2022 Amazon has made its new reporting interface, KDP Reports Beta the default for authors publishing via KDP.amazon.com.
Beta?
As the name “KDP Reports Beta” suggests the updated reporting interface is still in beta (testing) and not yet considered final. This likely means there might be bugs or parts of the reporting that do not behave as they should.
New KDP Reports Beta 👉 https://kdpreports.amazon.com
Older Reporting 👉 https://kdp.amazon.com/reports-old
When did Amazon make the switch to the new reporting interface?
The change of interface caught me unawares, I only noticed recently after routine updates to an author’s KDP profile. After some online sleuthing (thanks Dale), I uncovered an email-alert announcing the change from Amazon sent on May 17th from .
”…as of May 24, 2022, the KDP Reports Beta will become the main reporting experience.”
After queries to our local indie publishing groups it seems the updated KDP reports have been available to authors for sometime, it was just voluntary. This now changes as Amazon has made the new interface the default for their authors.
How does the new Amazon KDP Reports Beta Look?
Why change the old KDP reporting interface?
I’m also a little unsure as to why the previous reporting system needed to be overhauled. Although to give credit to Amazon, they do tend to know what their customers want before we actually do. Let me quote directly from the email Amazon sent regarding the new features and changes in the refreshed KDP reporting:
Benefits with the new KDP reporting experience:
- Mobile-friendly view. See KDP Reports on your phone.
- Royalties Estimator. Estimate your upcoming Kindle Unlimited (KU) earnings before the fund is released and approximate your total earnings in a single currency.
- New Dashboard. Check today’s top-earning books, estimated royalties, orders, and KENP reads, plus your top formats and marketplaces for the month.
- Improved Reporting Experience. Enjoy the same functionality with an improved user experience and look compared to our old reports.
This article is meant as a more of a “heads-up” about the interface switch. I haven’t taken the new reporting for a spin yet and will likely do a deeper dive into the updates over the coming months however I can already agree with the first point – The previous reports were definitely not mobile-friendly.
So what now?
As with all new updates to the tech in our lives I imagine after a few tears 😭 and spilled coffee ☕ we will warm to the new reporting interface. It sounds as if this latest version is already a large improvement over the previous iterations of the Beta reporting platform.
When will Amazon turn the older KDP reports off?
Amazon dedicates a vague sentence in their email as to when they will turn the older reporting off: “The old reports will continue to be available for a limited time. We’ll notify you before we remove them.”
I would suggest that you switch back to the older reporting only when you really need to. Instead try to familiarise yourself with the newer refreshed look. At least when the older reports fully disappear, you will be ready. 💪
What if I don’t like Reports Beta?
Within KDP Reporting Beta, the left-hand side menu bar within the new reporting screen has a link at the very bottom “Take a survey”. After giving the new reports a try, let Amazon know what you think of the updated interface. This sort of feedback is vital for any platforms in beta or testing where the kinks are not yet fully ironed out.
Want the older reports back? Within the same LHS menu bar of the new reporting screen you will find a link near the bottom titled “Reports (Old)”. This will take you through to the older reporting style for those of you who just need a little longer to adjust 😊
Here is the link to the older reporting 👉 https://kdp.amazon.com/reports-old
Where can I find out more about KDP Reports Beta?
Before writing this article I spent some time Googling for other articles addressing the reporting switch by Amazon. I found next to nothing. I guess it’s still a little soon for self-publishing content-creators to create how-to’s on the new reporting platform from Amazon.
All I found was this single page from Amazon giving the merest suggestion of advice on the updated reporting.
How have you found the new reporting interface? Liberating or confusing?
👉 Would love to hear your thoughts down below please 👇🙏
