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Publishing on KDP, step by step

By R. S. Breed · Updated

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon's self-publishing platform, and for most first-time authors it's where the first book goes live. It's free to use, and you can publish an ebook, a paperback and a hardcover of the same book from one dashboard. This guide walks through the process in order, explains what you'll actually earn, and covers the rules that changed in 2026.

Nothing here is hard. Most of the stress comes from not knowing which choices are permanent and which you can fix later. Where a choice is hard to undo, this guide says so.

Before you start

Have these ready before you open the dashboard. It saves you from half-finishing a setup and coming back to it days later.

  1. Your finished manuscript. Edited and proofread. For the ebook, a Word file or EPUB. For print, a PDF formatted to your chosen trim size.
  2. Your cover. A front cover image for the ebook. For print, a full wrap PDF (back, spine and front) sized to your page count and paper.
  3. Your book description. The blurb readers see on the product page.
  4. Up to seven keywords and up to three categories. (Choosing them well.)
  5. Your tax and bank details. KDP must receive and validate your tax profile before you can publish, and it needs a bank account to pay you. For non-US authors, including Australians, the tax profile produces a US Form W-8. US tax of 30% is withheld from some royalties by default; to claim a lower treaty rate, enter the tax number your own country issued you (for Australians, your tax file number).
  6. An ISBN decision for print. Ebooks don't need one. Paperbacks and hardcovers do. See our guide to ISBNs before you choose, because this is one of the few decisions that's hard to reverse.

Step 1: Set up the ebook

On your Bookshelf, click + Create and choose a Kindle eBook. Setup runs over three pages: details, content, and rights and pricing.

Details

  • Title and subtitle. Type them exactly as they appear on your cover. KDP's metadata guidelines say the title, author name and other details on the cover must match what you enter here, so a mismatch can get the book sent back.
  • Series. If this is book one of a series, set up the series now. It links the books on Amazon.
  • Author name. Your pen name if you use one. Keep it identical across every format.
  • Description. Paste your blurb. Don't stuff it with keyword lists; KDP doesn't allow that.
  • Keywords. KDP recommends phrases of two or three words. They must describe your book accurately. Don't use other authors' names, brand names or anything unrelated to your story. KDP says it has zero tolerance for metadata meant to mislead.
  • Categories. Up to three. Pick the ones a reader browsing for your kind of book would actually look in.

AI disclosure

On the Content page, KDP asks one yes-or-no question: did you use AI tools to create text, images or translations in your book? Answer no and you're done. Answer yes and three dropdowns appear, one each for texts, images and translations. Each one is set separately, and each offers:

  • None
  • Some sections, with minimal or no editing
  • Some sections, with extensive editing
  • Entire work, with minimal or no editing
  • Entire work, with extensive editing

What counts as "used AI tools to create" comes from KDP's content guidelines, which split AI use in two:

  • AI-generated: text, images or translations created by an AI tool. This counts even if you edited the output substantially afterwards, which is why the dropdowns ask how much you edited rather than letting editing take you out of it. You must disclose it.
  • AI-assisted: you created the content yourself and used AI tools to edit, refine, error-check or improve it. KDP says you don't need to tell it about this.

So if you wrote the book and ran it through a grammar tool, the answer is no. If an AI tool made your cover image, the answer is yes, with "Entire work" (or "Some sections") in the images dropdown and "None" in the others. Amazon doesn't say it shows these answers to readers.

Content

Upload your manuscript and cover, then use the online previewer to check the book in tablet, phone and Kindle e-reader modes. Look at chapter breaks, the table of contents and any images. It's the quickest way to catch formatting problems before readers do.

Pricing

This is where you choose your royalty option and set your prices. KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited) enrolment is a separate choice you can make from your Bookshelf, and it has its own guide: see Kindle Unlimited or wide?

What an ebook earns

KDP has two ebook royalty options.

Option What you get Notes
35% 35% of list price (excluding VAT) Any price in range. No delivery fee.
70% 70% of list price (excluding VAT), minus a delivery fee Only for eligible prices and territories.

On 7 July 2026 KDP widened the 70% price band on Amazon.com to $2.99 to $12.99 (it was $2.99 to $9.99). On Amazon.com.au the 70% band is now A$3.99 to A$15.99. Publishers Lunch reported it as the first time the ceiling has been raised. Nothing changes by itself: KDP says your price and royalty option stay as they are unless you change them. If a book sits on 35% because it was priced above the old ceiling, you have to switch it to 70% yourself.

Delivery fees still apply on the 70% option. KDP charges them by file size, and says the average is about $0.06 per sale. A book stuffed with large images costs more to deliver, which can make 35% the better deal for an image-heavy ebook.

Sales in territories outside the 70% list are paid at 35%. Works that are public domain, or consist mainly of public domain content, only qualify for 35%.

A practical example. A novel priced at $4.99 on the 70% option earns roughly $3.49 minus a few cents of delivery fee per sale. On 35% it would earn about $1.75. For a typical text-only novel, 70% is almost always the right choice.

Step 2: Set up the paperback

Create the paperback from your Bookshelf the same way (+ Create, then paperback). Use exactly the same title and author name as the ebook.

  • ISBN. Use a free KDP ISBN or your own. The free one only works on KDP, and your imprint will show as "Independently published". If you own your own ISBN, the imprint name you type must match your ISBN registration exactly. It's case-sensitive, and even a trailing space causes a mismatch error.
  • Print options. Trim size, paper colour, ink, bleed and cover finish. Black ink on cream paper is a common choice for novels.
  • Manuscript and cover. Upload your interior PDF and cover PDF. The cover needs 0.125 inch (3.2 mm) of bleed on every side, and crop marks and trim marks aren't allowed in the file. Embed all fonts.
  • Print previewer. It checks things like margins, cover size and fonts, and you have to fix the errors it finds before you can submit.
  • Order a proof copy. You pay the printing cost plus shipping, and it's the single best check you can do. Books look different in the hand.

What print earns

Print royalties are a percentage of list price minus the printing cost.

List price (Amazon.com) Royalty rate
$9.99 and above 60%
Under $9.99 50% (down from 60% since June 2025)

The formula is: (royalty rate x list price) minus printing cost.

KDP's own example: a $15 book at 60% with $5 printing cost earns $4. Printing cost depends mainly on page count, ink and paper, and on the marketplace the copy is ordered from. KDP's help pages disagree about trim size: one says it doesn't affect cost, while the printing cost page charges more for large trims (wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9 inches). KDP's printing cost calculator will show you the exact figure for your book.

If you turn on Expanded Distribution (bookstores and libraries through KDP), those sales pay 40% minus printing. Using IngramSpark instead is covered in its own guide.

Step 3: Add a hardcover (optional)

Hardcover uses the same setup flow and the same royalty formula (50% or 60% depending on list price, minus printing). Hardcovers cost more to print, and KDP sets the minimum list price from the printing cost, so the minimum is higher. Use the calculator before you commit to a price. A hardcover needs its own ISBN.

Keep your title and author name identical across ebook, paperback and hardcover. Amazon tries to link formats onto one product page automatically when the book details match.

The rules that changed in 2026

Pre-orders (ebook only)

Since 2 September 2026, you can set an ebook pre-order up to 18 months ahead. The rules worth knowing:

  • Your final manuscript must be uploaded at least 72 hours before release day.
  • For pre-orders created on or after 2 September 2026, you can postpone up to twice without penalty, as long as the new date is within six months of the release date you first chose. Older pre-orders follow the earlier rules (one postponement, up to 30 days). KDP's page on changing a pre-order release date has the details.
  • You can have up to 10 active pre-orders at once.
  • If you miss the deadline, KDP can remove your pre-order privileges for six months across your whole catalogue. KDP's help page says the first miss is treated as a one-time courtesy, but don't rely on it.

Paperbacks and hardcovers can't be put on pre-order, though you can schedule a release date.

A pre-order is great for a book that's finished and in editing. It's risky for a book you haven't finished writing. Only set one up when you're confident of the date.

Upload limit

From 21 September 2026, KDP limits you to creating 2 new titles per format per week. KDP's help page doesn't say when the week starts, but KDP's announcement on its community forum (as quoted by Publishers Lunch and others) says the limit resets every Sunday at 12:00 am UTC. That's 10 am Sunday in Sydney and Melbourne, or 11 am during daylight saving. For most authors this makes no difference. It matters if you planned to publish a box set and several backlist titles in one burst: spread them out.

Common rejections and how to avoid them

Each of these breaks a KDP rule or guideline. Check them before you press publish.

  1. Cover and metadata don't match. The title, subtitle, author name or series on the cover differs from what you typed. Make them identical.
  2. Cover wrong size. The print cover wasn't made for your final page count, so the spine is off. Recalculate after any change to the interior.
  3. Missing bleed or text too close to the edge. Use KDP's templates or a proper formatting tool.
  4. Fonts not embedded in the PDF.
  5. Misleading keywords or description. Other authors' names, "bestseller" claims, or keyword lists pasted into the description.
  6. Imprint name mismatch on your own ISBN. Copy it character for character from your ISBN account.
  7. Content available free elsewhere. KDP won't accept copyrighted content that's freely available on the web unless it comes from the copyright owner, so if your book (or part of it) is posted publicly online, expect to be asked to show it's yours. Public domain material only earns 35%, can't go in KDP Select, and KDP may refuse it unless it's differentiated (for example an original translation, original annotations or at least ten original illustrations).

A rejection for a fixable problem like cover size is routine: KDP tells you what needs fixing, you fix it and resubmit. Metadata meant to mislead is different. KDP says it has zero tolerance for that, so don't try it.

After you publish

  • KDP says to allow about 3 business days for a book to go live, and 48 hours to a week after that for the ebook and print editions to link.
  • Check your product page on the Amazon store for your country and on Amazon.com.
  • Set up your Author Central profile so your bio and photo appear.
  • Save copies of your final files and a note of every setting you chose. You'll want them for the next book.

Sources

Platforms change their rules often. If something here is out of date, tell us in the forum and we'll fix it.

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