Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing — usually written as KDP — is the self-service platform Amazon operates for independent authors and small publishers. You upload a manuscript and a cover, set a price, pick categories, and within roughly 72 hours your book is for sale in every Amazon storefront on Earth. There is no application, no agent, no gatekeeper, no minimum order quantity. You keep the rights. You keep most of the money.
KDP launched in 2007 alongside the first Kindle e-reader. Amazon initially called the program Digital Text Platform, then renamed it to Kindle Direct Publishing in 2011. Print-on-demand paperbacks arrived in 2017 when Amazon folded its CreateSpace subsidiary into KDP. Hardcovers were added in beta in 2021 and went global in 2023. The platform is owned and operated by Amazon.com Services LLC and is headquartered, like most of Amazon, in Seattle.
The reason KDP matters so much to working authors is sheer market share. Independent estimates put Amazon's share of the U.S. ebook market between 65% and 80%, depending on whose methodology you trust, and KDP is the only direct path onto Kindle. Apple Books, Google Play Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble Press together control the remaining slice. If you publish exclusively wide and skip KDP, you have given up roughly three quarters of the English-language ebook market before you have written a sentence.
This page is a working reference for the platform. It walks through publishing step by step, explains how royalties are calculated with real numbers, what every acronym means, how the 7 keywords and 3 categories work, when KDP Select is worth its 90-day exclusivity, what counts as a low-content book, and what KDP's AI disclosure rule asks of you. Every cluster section below links to a deeper article. If you only have five minutes, read the royalty section: that is where the money is.
1. What Amazon KDP is
Kindle Direct Publishing is a publishing platform, a sales channel, and a print-on-demand fulfillment network rolled into one account. You sign in with the same credentials you use to buy things on Amazon, switch into KDP at kdp.amazon.com, and you are immediately a publisher. The dashboard is called the Bookshelf. From there you can create three product types: a Kindle ebook, a paperback book, and a hardcover book. Each of those is a separate listing, though Amazon links them on the same product page using an internal mechanism the dashboard calls a series or related-book relationship.
An ebook on KDP is stored internally as a Kindle file. Amazon used the old .mobi extension for years, then moved to a format called KF8, then to the current KFX. You never see those formats directly — you upload .epub, .docx, or a Kindle Create package and Amazon converts on its servers. A paperback is printed at one of Amazon's print-on-demand facilities (Kentucky, Nevada, South Carolina, the UK, Germany, Poland, Australia, Japan) within roughly 72 hours of an order. Hardcovers run through the same network with a smaller subset of trim sizes.
What KDP is not: it is not exclusive. The default state of a KDP listing is non-exclusive. You can simultaneously list the same book on Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, Barnes & Noble Press, and through aggregators like Draft2Digital or IngramSpark. The only time KDP imposes exclusivity is if you enroll the ebook in KDP Select, the optional 90-day program that puts it in Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited). Print books are never required to be exclusive.
2. How to publish on Amazon KDP
Publishing on KDP takes an afternoon once your files are ready. These are the seven stations every book passes through, in the order the KDP dashboard asks for them.
- 1
Create your KDP account
Sign in at kdp.amazon.com with an Amazon account, then complete the tax interview and add bank details for royalty payments. You can set up books before the tax interview is done, but you cannot be paid until it is.
- 2
Prepare the manuscript
For the Kindle ebook, upload an EPUB or DOCX file (or a Kindle Create package). For a paperback or hardcover, upload a print-ready PDF at the trim size you choose, with the margins KDP requires for your page count.
- 3
Prepare the cover
The ebook needs a front cover image. Print books need one full-wrap PDF (back cover, spine and front cover) whose width depends on trim size, page count and paper, so finish the interior before you size the cover.
- 4
Enter the book details
Title, subtitle, series, author name, description, primary audience, up to seven keywords, up to three categories, and the question about AI-generated content. These fields decide how readers find the book, so treat them as marketing, not paperwork.
- 5
Upload content and preview
Upload the manuscript and cover, choose a free KDP ISBN or enter your own for print, and check every page in the online previewer. Most rejections come from margin, bleed or cover-size problems the previewer flags.
- 6
Set rights, pricing and KDP Select
Choose territories, the 35% or 70% ebook royalty plan, list prices per marketplace, and whether to enroll the ebook in KDP Select. Print prices must cover the print cost shown on the page.
- 7
Publish and wait for review
Press Publish. KDP reviews the book and it usually goes live within 72 hours. You can edit details, files and prices after publishing; changes go through review again.
Step-by-step guides
3. How KDP royalties actually work
Royalty math on KDP looks complicated only because Amazon uses different formulas for ebooks and print books. Once you separate the two, it is straightforward arithmetic. We will walk through both with real numbers.
Ebook royalty: the 35% and 70% bands
Every Kindle ebook earns one of two royalty rates: 35% or 70%. You pick the plan when you set up the book. The 70% plan is the obvious choice, but it has conditions. Your list price must be between $2.99 and $9.99 on Amazon.com (other marketplaces have equivalent bands), the 70% rate applies only to sales in the territories listed on KDP's pricing page, and Amazon deducts a delivery cost based on file size ($0.15 per megabyte in the U.S.). Books priced outside the band, public domain works, and sales outside the eligible territories earn 35% with no delivery cost.
The actual formula is: royalty = (list price − VAT, if applicable − delivery fee) × 0.70 for the 70% band, or list price × 0.35 for the 35% band. A 2 MB ebook priced at $4.99 in the U.S. earns ($4.99 − $0.30) × 0.70 = $3.28 per copy. The same book on the 35% band would earn $4.99 × 0.35 = $1.75. The 70% band wins for almost every fiction title.
Print royalty: 50% or 60% minus print cost
Print royalties use a different formula: royalty = (list price × royalty rate) − print cost. KDP pays 60% on paperbacks listed at $9.99 or more on Amazon.com and 50% below that (the cut-off is €9.99 in the eurozone marketplaces and £7.99 in the UK). Print cost for a regular-trim black-ink paperback on Amazon.com is a flat $2.30 for 24 to 110 pages, then $1.00 plus $0.012 per page from 110 to 828 pages. A 280-page novel costs $1.00 + (280 × $0.012) = $4.36 to print. List it at $14.99 and your royalty is ($14.99 × 0.60) − $4.36 = $4.63. List it at $9.99 and you earn ($9.99 × 0.60) − $4.36 = $1.63. Drop it to $9.49 and the rate falls to 50%, so you earn ($9.49 × 0.50) − $4.36 = $0.39. Page count and the $9.99 line are the two silent variables on print margins.
Hardcovers carry a much higher fixed print cost: KDP's own Amazon.com example uses $5.65 plus $0.012 per page for black ink, so a 300-page hardcover costs $9.25 to print. Premium color ink costs $0.065 per page on a regular-trim paperback instead of $0.012. Expanded Distribution, which sells print books to bookstores and libraries through Amazon's distribution partners, pays 40% of list price minus print cost and pays out later than Amazon sales. Expanded Distribution is rarely worth it for indie authors; IngramSpark gives better wholesale terms.
Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited): pay per page read
If you enroll your ebook in KDP Select, it is included in Kindle+, the subscription Amazon called Kindle Unlimited until it renamed it on October 22, 2026. The price and the way authors are paid did not change. Kindle+ does not pay a per-borrow rate. It pays per page actually read, normalized by something Amazon calls Kindle Edition Normalized Pages, or KENP. The KENP rate changes month to month based on the fund Amazon sets divided by total pages read. Historically it has hovered between $0.0040 and $0.0048 per KENP page. A 350-KENP novel read all the way through pays roughly 350 × $0.0044 = $1.54. Multiply by 1,000 reads a month and page reads become meaningful income for series authors.
4. KDP Select and Kindle+
KDP Select is an optional, free 90-day program for Kindle ebooks. While the ebook is enrolled it must be exclusive to the Kindle Store: you cannot sell or give away the digital edition anywhere else, including your own website. Enrollment renews automatically for another 90 days unless you switch auto-renew off. Paperbacks and hardcovers are not affected.
In return, the ebook goes into Kindle+ (renamed from Kindle Unlimited on October 22, 2026), where you are paid for every KENP page subscribers read. Each 90-day term also gives you one promotion type: either a Kindle Countdown Deal of up to 7 days (Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk only) or up to 5 days of free promotion. You cannot mix the two in one term, and unused days do not roll over.
Select tends to pay in genres where readers binge through subscriptions, such as romance, thrillers and long series. Going wide tends to pay when you already sell on Apple Books, Kobo or Google Play, or when your readers are outside the markets where subscriptions are popular. The deep dives below compare the two with numbers.
KDP Select deep dives
5. KDP keywords and categories
KDP gives every format up to seven keywords or short phrases. They are search terms readers type on Amazon, not tags, so phrases such as 'cozy mystery with cats' beat single words. KDP's own guidance says to leave out words already in your title, contributors or categories, quality claims ('best'), time-sensitive words ('new'), other authors' names, brands you do not own, quotation marks and Amazon program names.
You also choose up to three categories per format. Categories decide which bestseller lists your book can rank on, so a specific subcategory where the top books sell modestly usually beats a broad one where you will never reach the first page. Check what the current top 20 in a category look like before you pick it.
Our free KDP keyword research tool suggests keyword phrases from what Amazon shoppers search, and the category finder shows which categories books like yours sit in.
Keyword and category tools and guides
6. Low-content books on KDP
KDP defines low-content books as books with minimal or no interior content that the buyer fills in: notebooks, planners, journals and diaries, prompt journals, log books, score cards and blank sheet music. Puzzle books, coloring books, children's books and textbooks are generally not low-content, even when they are simple.
Low-content paperbacks and hardcovers do not need an ISBN. You can publish without one or use your own, but these books cannot use a free KDP ISBN, and the choice cannot be changed after publishing. Books published without an ISBN do not get the Look Inside sample, low-content books cannot use Expanded Distribution, and they cannot be part of a series.
Because anyone can upload a lined notebook, the money in low-content publishing comes from niche selection and interior design, not volume. The guides below cover niches that still sell and how to research them.
Low-content and activity book guides
7. AI content rules on KDP
Since September 2023, KDP asks every author during title setup whether the book contains AI-generated content. KDP defines AI-generated content as text, images or translations created by an AI-based tool, and that stays true even if you edited it substantially afterwards. You must disclose AI-generated content when you publish a new book or republish an edited one.
AI-assisted content is different: you wrote it yourself and used AI tools to edit, refine, error-check or otherwise improve it. KDP does not require you to disclose AI-assisted content. Either way, you are responsible for making sure the book follows KDP's content guidelines, including intellectual property rights.
If AIWriteBook drafted chapters, generated your cover or translated your book, answer yes to the AI-generated question for that part. If you wrote the book and used AIWriteBook only to edit or proofread it, that counts as AI-assisted.
AI and KDP guides
8. KDP vs traditional publishing
The honest answer is that the two routes optimize for different things. KDP optimizes for speed, control, and per-unit margin. Traditional publishing optimizes for advance, bookstore distribution, and prestige. Most working indie authors earn more money per book on KDP and more total money once they have backlist of three or more titles.
| Amazon KDP | Traditional | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to publish | 72 hours from finished file | 12 to 24 months after signing |
| Advance | $0 | $1,000 to $50,000 typical for debuts |
| Per-unit royalty (ebook) | 70% of list price | 25% of net (roughly 12% of list) |
| Per-unit royalty (print) | 50% or 60% of list minus print cost | 7.5% to 10% of list |
| Rights | You keep everything | Publisher holds rights for the term |
| Bookstore distribution | Online and special order only | Co-op placement in chains |
| Editing and design | You hire or do it yourself | Provided by the publisher |
9. Why authors choose KDP and when they shouldn't
Authors choose KDP because the math works. A traditionally published debut novelist earns roughly $1.25 on a $14.99 hardcover sale. The same author selling that book on KDP as a $14.99 paperback earns $4.63. To match $50,000 of traditional royalties they would need to sell 40,000 copies through the publisher; through KDP they need about 10,800. The gap widens with every book in the series because there is no agent commission, no foreign rights split, and the backlist royalty rates do not drop after 18 months.
KDP also wins on iteration speed. You can change a cover at noon and have the new cover live on the product page by 2 p.m. You can pull a 99-cent sale, run a Kindle Countdown Deal, or shift your blurb between Tuesday and Thursday. Traditional publishers run on quarterly meeting cycles. For a working author who lives on review data and ad spend, that velocity is worth more than the advance.
KDP is the wrong choice in three situations. First, if your goal is bookstore placement (signing tours, indie bookshop face-out displays) you need a traditional or hybrid deal — Amazon's Expanded Distribution does not get books on physical shelves at scale. Second, if your book is heavily illustrated full-color art (an art monograph, a coffee-table photography book), KDP's print costs make the unit economics impossible — you want offset printing through IngramSpark or a partner press. Third, if you genuinely need a six-figure advance to live on while you write, KDP cannot front you that money. Everything else: KDP wins.
10. The basics: ISBN, ASIN, file formats, KENP, BISAC
Before going further, learn these eight words. The rest of this page assumes them. Each links to a deeper definition in the glossary.
11. Royalties and pricing in detail
Pricing on KDP is more lever than spec. Once you understand the bands and the page-count math, you can move levers deliberately to hit a target monthly income. These deep dives cover each lever.
- KDP Royalty Explained
- Ebook Pricing Strategy
- KDP Pricing in 2026
- Paperback vs Hardcover
- Cost to Publish on Amazon
- Self-Publishing Costs
- When KDP Pays Royalties
- Amazon KDP Taxes
- KDP Income Case Study
Plan your royalties
Run real numbers on your specific book before you set the price. Our calculator models the 35% and 70% ebook bands, paperback page count and KENP page reads on one screen.
Open the royalty calculator12. The publishing path, step by step
Setting up a KDP account, uploading a manuscript, and going live takes about three hours of focused work if you have your files ready. These guides cover each station of the path.
- What Is Amazon KDP
- How Does Amazon KDP Work
- How to Publish a Book on Amazon
- How to Self-Publish on Amazon
- How to Publish for Free
- Amazon KDP Publishing Guide
- How to Format a Book for KDP
- KDP Cover Calculator Guide
- KDP Cover Mistakes
- Edit a KDP Book After Publishing
- Fix a Rejected KDP Manuscript
- Update a Published KDP Book
- KDP AI Disclosure Policy
- KDP Cover Template Download
13. Marketing and growth on KDP
Once your book is live, KDP's discoverability is driven by three levers: keywords (you get seven), categories (you pick up to three per format), and ads (Amazon Ads). Author Central, Series Manager, A+ Content, and Look Inside are the supporting infrastructure. These guides cover each lever.
- KDP Keyword Research Guide
- KDP 7-Keyword Strategy
- KDP Stop Words
- Amazon Book Categories Selection
- KDP Categories Strategy
- KDP Keyword Research Tool
- Niche Finder Tool
- Competition Analyzer
- Trend Spotter
- Profitable KDP Niches
- Amazon Author Central Guide
- Author Central Profile Optimization
- Amazon Ads for Authors Guide
- Amazon Ads for Books (Beginner)
- Amazon A+ Content Tips
- A+ Content Tool
- KDP 30-Day Launch Plan
- How to Get Amazon Book Reviews
- KDP ARC Team Setup
- Amazon Vine for Books
- NetGalley for Authors
- How to Get the Bestseller Tag
- How to Write a Book Blurb
- Book Blurb Generator
- AI Book Description Generator
- How to Write a Book Description
- Book Subtitle Generator
- Amazon Category Finder
- Book Marketing for Self-Published Authors
14. KDP Select vs going wide
KDP Select is Amazon's 90-day exclusivity program for ebooks. In exchange for not selling the ebook anywhere else for 90 days, you get Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited) page-read royalties and one promotion per term: a Kindle Countdown Deal of up to 7 days or up to 5 free promotion days. Going wide means listing on every other store. The right choice depends on your subgenre, your reader base, and your willingness to manage multiple dashboards. These deep dives cover the trade-offs.
- KDP Select Pros and Cons
- Kindle Unlimited Strategy
- Kindle Countdown Deal
- KDP Free Promotion
- KDP vs IngramSpark
- KDP vs Apple Books
- KDP vs Kobo
- Amazon KDP vs Barnes & Noble Press
- Amazon KDP vs Medium
- KDP vs Traditional Publishing
- IngramSpark vs BookBaby
- Google Play Books Publishing
- How to Publish on Audible
- ACX Alternatives
- Findaway Voices vs ACX
- How to Find an Audiobook Narrator
- Audiobook Market for Self-Publishers
- Walmart Self-Publishing
- KDP International Marketplaces
- Amazon KDP in Japan
- Multilingual Book Launch
- Self-Publishing vs Traditional
- Amazon KDP Customer Service
- KDP Discord vs AIWriteBook
15. Tools, calculators, and money math
Pricing, page count, cover bleed, spine width, and series revenue can all be modeled before you publish. These free tools let you run the math without leaving the site.
- KDP Royalty Calculator
- KDP Print Cost Calculator
- Book Spine Width Calculator
- Book Cover Bleed Calculator
- Ebook Conversion Calculator
- Author Income Calculator
- Book Series Revenue Calculator
- Amazon Ads ROAS Calculator
- Paraphrasing Tool
- Book Ideas Generator
- Back Matter Generator
- Copyright Page Generator
- Book Mockup Generator
- Cover Preview Tool
- AI Coloring Book Generator
- AI Low Content Book
- AI Graphic Novel Generator
- AI Ebook Creator
- AIWriteBook for KDP Publishers
- Bookbolt Alternative
- Publisher Rocket Alternative
- Kindlepreneur Alternative
16. Glossary of KDP terms
Acronyms and platform-specific terms that show up across the KDP dashboard, the Help center, and the rest of this page. Each entry links to a full definition.
- Is Amazon KDP Free
- Is Amazon KDP Worth It
- Is Kindle Direct Publishing Worth It
- Sell Books on Amazon Without KDP
- Publish on Amazon and Make Money
- Make Money Self-Publishing
- Tips for Self-Publishing on Amazon
- Passive Income from Books
- AI-Generated Books on Amazon: Legal
- Self-Publishing Success Story
- Kindle Direct Publishing Hub
- KDP Print Quality
- KDP Hardcover Guide
- Format a Children's Book
- Publish a Poetry Book on Amazon
- Publish a Coloring Book on Amazon
- KDP Coloring Book Business
- KDP Coloring Book Niches
- Low Content Book Niches
- Low vs Medium Content
- KDP Cover Software Comparison
- Public Domain Books for KDP
- Writing Under a Pen Name
- Coloring Book Revenue 2026
- KDP Success Rate 2026
- Series vs Standalone Revenue
- KDP Niche Saturation 2026
- Cover A/B Tests 2026
- AI Narration Reception
17. Frequently asked questions
The most common questions about Amazon KDP, answered briefly. Each links to a fuller article.
Yes. There is no upfront cost to publish an ebook, paperback, or hardcover on KDP. You pay nothing to upload, list, or keep your book on sale. Amazon takes its cut on each sale: 30% on ebooks in the 70% plan (plus a delivery cost), 65% on ebooks in the 35% plan, and 40% or 50% of list price plus the print cost on print books. You will spend money on editing, cover design, and ads if you want the book to sell, but the KDP platform itself is genuinely $0.
On ebooks, KDP pays 70% of list price minus a delivery cost ($0.15 per MB in the U.S.) for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99 in eligible territories, and 35% otherwise. On paperbacks, KDP pays 60% of list price at $9.99 and above (50% below) minus the print cost, which on Amazon.com is $1.00 plus $0.012 per page for a black-ink regular-trim book over 110 pages. Through Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited), KDP pays per page actually read at a rate that has historically been between $0.0040 and $0.0048 per KENP page.
KDP Select is the optional 90-day exclusivity program for Kindle ebooks. If you enroll, the ebook is exclusive to the Kindle Store during the term, and it goes into Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited), where you earn per page read. Each term also allows either one Kindle Countdown Deal of up to 7 days or up to 5 free promotion days. Enrollment renews automatically unless you turn it off. Paperbacks and hardcovers are never required to be exclusive.
KDP says it can take up to 72 hours for a new book to go live, and many books clear review sooner. Reviews take longer when files have errors, when the content needs a closer look, or when the details do not match the manuscript.
Not for ebooks: Amazon assigns a free ASIN as the Kindle identifier. Paperbacks and hardcovers need an ISBN, and KDP offers a free one that lists the imprint as Independently published and can only be used on KDP. If you plan to sell the same print edition elsewhere, buy your own ISBNs from Bowker or your country's ISBN agency. Low-content books such as journals and planners can be published without an ISBN.
Yes, with a disclosure step. During title setup KDP asks whether the book contains AI-generated content, meaning text, images or translations created by an AI tool, even if you edited them afterwards. You must disclose AI-generated content. AI-assisted content (you wrote it and used AI to edit, refine or error-check it) does not need to be disclosed. If AIWriteBook drafted your text, cover or translation, answer yes for that part.
KDP pays royalties about 60 days after the end of the month in which the sale was reported, so a book sold in March is paid at the end of May. Expanded Distribution sales are paid about 90 days after month end. Direct deposit usually has no minimum payment threshold; wire transfer and check have minimums. You must complete the tax interview before payments begin.
KDP pays in U.S. dollars, British pounds, euros, Japanese yen, Indian rupees, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Brazilian reais, and Mexican pesos, depending on the marketplace where the sale occurred. Authors with a U.S. bank account receive everything converted to USD. Authors outside the U.S. can receive foreign-currency direct deposits.
Yes — as long as the ebook is not enrolled in KDP Select. KDP itself is non-exclusive by default. You can list the same ebook on Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, and Barnes & Noble Press at the same time. Print books on KDP are never exclusive regardless of Select status.
KDP is the publishing dashboard where you upload, price, and manage books. Author Central is the author-facing profile dashboard where you write your bio, link social accounts, add headshots, and claim books published through KDP or any other channel. Both are free. Author Central exists in seven country versions (US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, JP) and you should claim all of them.
Yes. You can update the manuscript, cover, blurb, keywords, categories, and price at any time. Manuscript or cover changes go through a short review (usually 6 to 12 hours). Existing buyers do not automatically receive the updated file unless you explicitly request Amazon push the new version through the Kindle Customer Service team.
For most indie authors, yes. The royalty math still works, the audience is still there, and the iteration speed (cover swaps, price changes, ad tweaks) is unmatched. The platform is more competitive than it was in 2015, with more books and more ads, so results depend on niche choice, the cover and description, and a real launch plan.