How To Publish Your First Book On Amazon KDP

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon's free self-publishing platform. You upload a manuscript and cover, set a price, and Amazon lists your book worldwide as a Kindle ebook, print-on-demand paperback, and print-on-demand hardcover. There's no upfront cost, no inventory, and no warehouse — print books are printed only when someone orders one.

Go to kdp.amazon.com, sign in with your Amazon account, and complete three things: author/publisher details, bank account for direct-deposit royalties, and the tax interview (W-9 in the US, W-8 international). You can't be paid until the tax interview is done, so finish it first. The whole setup takes about 15–20 minutes.

Most beginners start with ebook + paperback. Ebook captures digital readers and impulse buyers at a low price; paperback satisfies readers who want a physical copy. Add a hardcover for premium or gift editions. Low-content books (journals, planners, notebooks) are almost always paperback only. You can publish all three formats of the same title from one dashboard.

Ebooks earn 70% royalty in the $2.99–$9.99 band (minus a small $0.15/MB delivery fee) or 35% outside it. Print earns 60% of list price for books $9.99 and above, 50% below $9.99 — minus the printing cost, which depends on page count, trim, and ink. A 300-page B&W paperback prints for ~$3.65–$4.60; premium color is much higher.

Ebook manuscripts: DOCX, EPUB, or KPF; keep file size small (delivery fee), use proper styles for reflow, and include front matter. Print manuscripts: a print-ready PDF formatted to your exact trim (6×9" is a safe default), with correct interior margins and bleed if images run to the edge — use KDP's templates. Covers: ebooks need ~2,560 × 1,600 px JPG/TIFF; print needs a single PDF covering front, spine, and back at your exact trim and page count.

Run your price through a royalty calculator before publishing — the difference between $8.99 and $9.99 on print is huge because of the 50%/60% threshold. Keep your ebook at least 20% cheaper than the print edition (a requirement for the 70% royalty). KDP Select gives Kindle Unlimited inclusion and promotional tools in exchange for 90-day ebook exclusivity — useful for some genres, restrictive for others.

Once you hit Publish, Amazon reviews the book — usually within 72 hours, often faster for ebooks. Print formats can take a few extra days to fully link and become searchable. After launch, you manage everything from the KDP dashboard: sales, royalty estimates, marketing tools, and edits to manuscript, cover, description, keywords, categories, and price (updates go through a brief review).