We count downloads by the calendar month, so if you sign up on April 19 for a First-Time Author Account, you will have 500 downloads in April. On May 1st, your counter will start over with 500 downloads.
How We Count Reader Downloads
We count reader downloads in a rolling, 24-hour window by IP address. So if Tom downloads your EPUB (on IP address 1), he can download that EPUB, MOBI, or PDF 50 more times in the next 24 hours and your account will only show one download. We do this because some readers keep mashing the same download button over and over again, and we don’t feel that their confusion should count against your download limit. If Tom downloads that EPUB at work (IP1), and then downloads the MOBI on his Kindle at home (IP2) a few hours later, THAT will count as a second download. When a reader switches IP addresses, we have no way of knowing that IP2 is the same person as IP1.
Counting Downloads on a Private Link
A private download link, which is generated anytime a reader downloads your book through Certified Mail, book gifting, and a giveaway page, will only ever count as one download.
Not sure what will happen if you exceed your monthly downloads? Learn more about overages here.