To DRM or not to DRM?

Now that really is the ‘question du jour’!

Very many authors use Amazon’s KDP platform to publish their books; Kindle e-reader users who buy a book from Amazon can then download their reading choice quickly and easily. Simples, as the meerkats used to say.

But as we know things change quickly in the digital world and Amazon is always trying out new ways of reaching potential as well as current clients.

When I published my first novel INCEPTIO in 2013, my then publisher, SilverWood Books, encouraged me to opt for Digital Rights Management (DRM) as this was reckoned to protect against unscrupulous people ripping off or otherwise pirating my hard sweated out pearls of wisdom.

Over the years, that protection has been significantly eroded by new technological advances. It’s a long story, so I won’t go into it. But I left the earlier books with DRM enabled and didn’t bother to enable it with more recent books.

A few days ago, Amazon sent out a (not very well worded) email about a change:

Starting January 20, 2026, Amazon will make it easier for readers to enjoy content they have purchased from the Kindle store across a wider range of devices and applications by allowing new titles published without Digital Rights Management (DRM) to be downloaded in EPUB and PDF format.

If you take no action, the DRM-status of your previously published titles will not change but the EPUB and PDF downloads will not be enabled for existing DRM-free titles. If you want to allow reader downloads for these titles, follow the directions below on or after December 9, and select the option not to apply DRM.

Cue intense discussion in the author community!

According to Amazon…

Applying DRM limits reader access to Kindle apps and devices only. DRM technology is designed to limit unauthorized access to or copying of digital content files.

Authors choosing not to apply DRM (DRM-free) gives readers additional flexibility to enjoy their purchased content across a wider range of devices and applications by providing downloadable EPUB and PDF files.

What readers will be able to do from 20 January 2026

How a book appeared originally in my KDP account – With DRM

How a book appeared originally in my KDP account – Without DRM

Amazon says in their help page (You need to be an self-publisher/indie author to have this account) : 
“Note: For books you published prior to December 9, 2025 where you did not apply DRM, Amazon will not automatically provide the EPUB/PDF download option to readers.”

So older books without DRM won’t necessarily be available for download as PDFs/EPUB to non-Kindle e-readers. They won’t make anything retrospective – it’s up to the self-publishing author to choose.

Amazon are saying that from 20  January, readers will be able to download a Kindle file onto a non-Kindle e-reader. If we want to allow this, then we need to change our DRM settings in our KDP accounts to DRM free.

My books are all available wide: Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook and several others, so I’m not going to make my books DRM free. If a reader wishes to read one on a non-Kindle, they can easily purchase it from any of the platforms. I have a fair number of non-Kindle readers especially on Kobo and Apple.

DRM protection is minimal, some say questionable, but out of precaution I’m going to set them all to enable DRM and thus limit downloading as PDFs and EPUB. I already offer those readers not buying their ebooks on Amazon plenty of choice to buy them on other platforms and read on other devices such as iPad, other e-readers or phone.

If you publish only on Kindle, then swapping your books to DRM free might be a way for non-Kindle readers to access your books. But that’s your choice!

Scooting round indie author groups, I’ve found opinion divided about changing the DRM status of their books – either way. One theory is that Amazon wants to prove authors making all their books DRM enabled and lock authors more tightly into their Amazonian universe and increase its monopoly. Another theory is that Amazon is opening things up so they can sell more books to non Amazon customers!

I leave you to make your own mind up.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers –  INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO,  AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO  and RETALIO,  and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories.  Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA,  Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.

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