How do I publish a book on Amazon?

What Amazon KDP is, in plain terms

Kindle Direct Publishing is Amazon’s platform for authors and publishers to upload and sell books directly, without going through a traditional publishing house. It covers Kindle ebooks and print-on-demand paperbacks, with hardcover available for eligible titles. You keep an ongoing account through which you manage pricing, availability and updates.

It is worth being clear from the outset that KDP is infrastructure. It gives you the mechanism to get a book listed for sale on Amazon; it does not edit your manuscript, design your cover, or promote your book once it is live. Those remain separate jobs, whether you do them yourself or bring in help.

Setting up a KDP account

You need an Amazon account and a KDP account linked to it, plus tax and payment information so Amazon knows where to send earnings and how to handle tax reporting. This step only needs doing once — after that, the same account is used for every book you publish.

Choosing your formats

KDP supports Kindle ebooks and print-on-demand paperbacks as standard, with hardcover available for eligible titles under Amazon’s current programme. Each format has its own file requirements, cover specifications and preview tools, so decide early which formats you actually want — you do not have to publish all of them at once, and many authors start with one format and add others later.

For example, a first-time non-fiction author might publish the Kindle edition first to test the listing and keyword strategy, then add a paperback once the metadata is confirmed to be pulling in the right readers.

Preparing the manuscript

Print manuscripts need to be formatted to a trim size with correct margins, and ebook manuscripts need clean, consistent styling so the text reflows properly on different screen sizes. Editing should be finished before you format for upload — reformatting after further edits wastes time and risks introducing new errors.

If you are unsure whether your file meets current requirements, KDP’s help pages provide file-preparation guidance for both print and ebook formats, and these are worth checking against your file before upload rather than assuming your last book’s settings still apply.

Preparing the cover

Print covers need a single wraparound file that accounts for spine width, which depends on page count and paper type — so the cover typically cannot be finalised until the interior is locked. Ebook covers are a single front-cover image. KDP provides a cover calculator and templates for print covers; use the current version rather than a saved template from an older project, since specifications can be revised.

ISBN decisions

For print books, you will be asked to either use a free KDP-provided ISBN or supply your own. This is a genuine decision with longer-term implications for how the book is identified and who is listed as the publisher of record, and it is worth reading what an ISBN actually does if that guide exists in your resources, or checking KDP’s own explanation, before choosing.

Entering book details and metadata

This is where you enter the title, subtitle, series information, description, author name, categories and keywords. Metadata is not paperwork to rush through — the description and categories genuinely affect discoverability, and inaccurate or misleading metadata can also breach Amazon’s content guidelines.

For example, a description that oversells the book with claims it cannot support, or a category chosen purely because it looks less competitive rather than because it accurately describes the book, can both cause problems later — from poor reader reviews to a listing being reclassified or removed.

Categories and keywords

Categories place your book in Amazon’s browsable structure; keywords help it surface in search. Both should reflect what the book genuinely is and who it is genuinely for, rather than being chosen purely to chase a smaller, easier-to-rank-in category. A mismatch between category and content tends to produce readers who feel misled, which shows up in reviews.

Setting pricing and rights

You choose a list price, select the territories in which the book is available, and pick a royalty or distribution option for the ebook. Pricing interacts with royalty calculations and, for print, with the underlying manufacturing cost, so it is sensible to check KDP’s current pricing and royalty pages before settling on a number rather than copying a price from another book.

Previewing before you publish

KDP provides an online previewer for both print and ebook formats. Use it properly: check chapter breaks, images, front matter, and — for print — that margins and bleed look right on the actual trim size you chose. For paperbacks, many authors also order a physical proof copy before making the book widely available, to check colour, paper and binding in hand.

Submitting for publication

Once you submit, Amazon reviews the listing before it goes live. Review can flag issues with formatting, metadata or content that need fixing and resubmitting. This is a normal part of the process, not a sign that something has gone badly wrong — build a little slack into your launch timeline in case a first submission needs a small correction.

What happens after publishing

A live listing is not fixed forever. You can update metadata, pricing, and even upload a revised interior file later through the same account. Many authors treat the first few weeks after launch as a period of small adjustments — refining the description, testing categories, or correcting anything reviewers flag — rather than expecting the first version to be perfect.

Publishing the listing is also the start, not the end, of getting readers. KDP does not market the book for you; that is a separate, ongoing task covered in our book marketing guides.

Common mistakes

• Uploading before editing is finished. Formatting a manuscript that still needs substantive edits means redoing the formatting work later.
• Finalising the cover before the interior. Print cover spine width depends on final page count, so covers made too early often need reworking.
• Choosing categories for competition, not accuracy. Picking a category because it looks easier to rank in, rather than because it fits the book, tends to mislead readers.
• Skipping the preview. Files that look fine in a word processor can display very differently once converted, so previewing is not optional.
• Not checking who controls the account. If a third party sets the account up, confirm ownership and access before publishing anything under it.

Frequently asked questions