How to Publish Your Ebook on Amazon KDP

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing is where most indie authors publish their ebooks. It is free, fast, and reaches the world's largest ebook marketplace. But the dashboard has more moving parts than new authors expect, and the decisions you make during upload have real consequences for discoverability, royalties, and distribution rights.

This is a how-to guide, not a platform overview. If you want the strategic comparison between KDP Select and wide publishing, see the KDP Select vs. Wide guide in this series. This guide assumes you have a finished, edited manuscript and a cover, and you are ready to publish.

What You Need Before You Start

• A finished manuscript in .docx (Word) or .epub format — these produce the best results; KDP also accepts .html, .mobi, .rtf, .txt, and .pdf

• A cover image: JPEG or TIFF, minimum 2,560 × 1,600 px, ideal aspect ratio 1.6:1 (height:width), maximum 50 MB

• Banking and tax information — you cannot receive royalties until these are on file

• A KDP account at kdp.amazon.com (sign in with any Amazon account or create one)

Step 1: Account Setup — Tax Interview and Banking

From your KDP Bookshelf, click your name (top right) and select Account. Complete two things before publishing anything.

Banking / Payment Method

Under Payment and Bank Account, add your bank details. KDP pays via EFT (electronic funds transfer) to US bank accounts or by check/wire for international accounts. EFT payments are free; wire transfers incur a $4 fee. Payments are monthly, approximately 60 days after the end of the earning month, once your balance reaches the threshold: $10 for EFT, $100 for check or wire.

Tax Interview

Complete the tax interview from Account Settings. US authors provide Social Security Number or EIN (W-9 equivalent). Non-US authors complete a W-8BEN. The interview determines whether withholding taxes apply to your royalties.

Step 2: Starting a New Ebook Title

From your KDP Bookshelf, click the yellow + Create button and select Kindle eBook. The workflow has three pages: Kindle eBook Details, Kindle eBook Content, and Kindle eBook Pricing.

Step 3: eBook Details Page

Language

Select the language your book is written in. This affects which Amazon marketplace storefronts display your book.

Book Title and Subtitle

Enter your title exactly as it appears on your cover. Enter the subtitle in the separate Subtitle field. Do not add genre keywords or marketing copy to the title field — this is a content guideline violation.

Series Name and Number

If your book is part of a series, enter the exact series name and volume number. Use the identical series name across all books in the series — even minor variations (different punctuation, 'The' added or removed) can break the series link in Amazon's recommendation system.

Author and Contributors

Enter your author name as you want it displayed on Amazon and in search results. Add co-authors, editors, or illustrators as additional contributors with their roles. Contributor names are searchable on Amazon.

Description

Your description is your most important marketing copy on Amazon. KDP accepts plain text or basic HTML in this field. Supported tags: <b>, <i>, <u>, <em>, <strong>, <br>, <p>. Maximum length: 4,000 characters including HTML. Amazon's search algorithm indexes your description, so including natural genre-relevant terms supports discoverability — but the description must accurately represent your book's content.

Publishing Rights

Select 'This is not a public domain work and I hold the necessary publishing rights' for original work you own.

Keywords — 7 Slots, 50 Characters Each

KDP gives you seven keyword fields. These are backend search signals — not visible on your product page but indexed by Amazon. Think in reader search phrases, not single words.

Categories

Select two BISAC categories during upload. You can request up to ten total after publication by contacting KDP support with your ASIN and the full category path for each additional category you want. Research categories on the Amazon retail side before publishing — find top-selling books in your genre, check their product pages, and note the specific subcategories they occupy. Always select the most specific subcategory available, not a broad parent category.

Step 4: eBook Content Page

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

DRM encrypts your ebook to prevent unauthorized copying. This decision is permanent — you cannot change DRM settings after publishing. As of January 2026, Amazon allows readers to download DRM-free ebooks in ePub or PDF format, giving readers more device flexibility. Most authors enable DRM; authors who value reader flexibility sometimes disable it. Decide deliberately before publishing.

Manuscript Upload

Click Upload eBook Manuscript and select your file. KDP converts your file to Kindle format and shows a conversion report flagging formatting issues. Always use the Kindle Previewer after conversion to see exactly how your book will appear on Kindle devices and apps.

Cover Upload

Upload your cover image. Requirements: JPEG or TIFF, minimum 2,560 × 1,600 px on the long side, ideal dimensions approximately 2,560 × 1,600 (1.6:1 height-to-width), maximum 50 MB, RGB color mode (not CMYK). Your cover must show the same title you entered in the Title field.

KDP Select Enrollment

KDP Select enrollment commits your ebook to 90 days of Amazon exclusivity — it cannot be on any other ebook platform during the enrollment period. It auto-renews every 90 days unless you turn it off.

Step 5: Pricing Page

Territories

Select 'All territories (worldwide rights)' unless you hold rights only in specific countries.

Royalty Plan and Pricing

The 70% royalty is calculated on list price minus a delivery cost of approximately $0.015 per MB. For a typical novel-length ebook, this is under $0.15 per sale. You can also set prices manually in other currencies for individual Amazon marketplaces rather than relying on automatic exchange-rate conversion.

Step 6: Publish

Click Publish Your Kindle eBook. Review typically takes 24–72 hours. Status shows 'In Review' in your Bookshelf, then 'Live' once approved. You receive an email confirmation when the book is published.

After publishing, claim your book on Amazon Author Central (authorcentral.amazon.com) to set up your author page, biography, and photo. Author Central is separate from KDP and must be managed there.

After Publishing: Key Ongoing Settings

KDP Select Auto-Renewal

If enrolled, check your auto-renewal setting from the KDP Select dashboard for your title. Turn off auto-renewal now if you want the option to go wide when your term expires — do not wait until close to the expiration date.

Updating Metadata

Update description, keywords, categories, or pricing at any time via the ellipsis (…) next to your title in Bookshelf > Edit eBook Details or Edit eBook Content. Metadata updates take 24–72 hours to propagate to the storefront.

KDP Content Guidelines: What You Cannot Publish

• Content that infringes another party's copyright or trademark

• Misleading titles, covers, or descriptions that do not match actual content

• Explicit sexual content not flagged as adult content during upload — check 'adult content' for explicit material

• Public domain content reprinted without added editorial value

• AI-generated content published without disclosure — Amazon requires disclosure if content is primarily AI-generated

• Content promoting illegal activity, inciting violence, or containing defamatory statements about real individuals
  
  

Take the time to complete the tax interview, research your categories, craft your keywords as actual reader search phrases, review your Kindle preview before going live, and make a deliberate decision about KDP Select enrollment. These are the steps that separate an author who published a book from one who published it well.

-Randall Wood