How to self-publish a book on Amazon: the complete KDP walkthrough for first-time publishers

Create the account at kdp.amazon.com with the Amazon login you intend to keep — merging KDP accounts later is painful and Amazon allows one account per person. Complete the three setup blocks immediately: author/publisher information, payment details (direct deposit to your bank), and the tax interview.

The tax interview matters more than it looks. Non-US publishers fill the W-8BEN form during the interview; if your country has a tax treaty with the US, entering your local tax identification number reduces the default 30% US withholding on royalties — for most of Europe, to 0%. Five minutes here is worth percentage points of income forever.

Account approval is usually instant, but payment and tax validation can take days. Do the setup before launch week, not during it.

The first of three publishing screens carries the metadata that decides discoverability. Language, title and subtitle must match the cover exactly. The author name can be a pen name — see our pen-name guide — but pick it permanently; it cannot be edited after publishing.

The description (up to 4,000 characters) is a sales page, not a summary: lead with the promise, structure with short paragraphs, close with what the reader will be able to do. The seven keyword slots should carry search phrases buyers actually type — not single words, not repeats of the title, which already counts as searchable text.

You choose up to three categories. Pick the most specific subcategories that genuinely fit: specificity lowers the bar for the orange best-seller flag and matches the book to browsers most likely to buy. Our keyword research and categories guides cover the method in depth.

KDP's preferred ebook format is EPUB; a clean DOCX also converts well for text-driven books. Upload the manuscript, then a separate cover image — 2,560 x 1,600 px JPEG at a 1.6:1 ratio is the sweet spot — or use the basic cover creator if you must.

The DRM question is asked once and locked: most indie publishers choose no DRM, since DRM annoys legitimate readers without stopping piracy, but either answer is defensible. ISBNs are unnecessary for Kindle ebooks — Amazon assigns its own ASIN identifier.

Run the online previewer before continuing. Check the table of contents jumps correctly, images render, and chapter starts look clean on phone-size and tablet-size previews. Conversion artifacts caught here cost minutes; caught in reviews, they cost stars.

The paperback flow adds physical decisions: accept Amazon's free ISBN unless you want your own imprint name on the listing (then bring a purchased ISBN), choose trim size, paper and ink — 6 x 9 inches, black ink on cream is the standard for text books — and upload a print-ready PDF interior with embedded fonts.

The cover is a single wraparound PDF: back cover, spine and front cover in one file, sized by trim and page count. Spine text needs at least 100 pages. Our paperback formatting guide has the exact margin and spine math; automated pipelines like DraftToDone generate this file with the dimensions already computed.

Use the previewer, then order a physical proof copy before enabling distribution. A proof costs the printing fee plus shipping and is the only way to catch real-world issues: cover darkness, margin tightness, font size that felt fine on screen.

Ebooks have two royalty plans: 70% for prices between $2.99 and $9.99 (minus a small delivery fee), 35% outside that band. The practical consequence: $2.99–$9.99 is where ebooks belong unless you have a strategic reason — a $0.99 launch week, a free series starter.

Paperback royalty is 60% of list price minus printing cost on Amazon's own stores (50% at low list prices in some marketplaces), so page count directly sets your floor price. A 250-page book printing at ~$4 needs a list price near $10 just to clear $2 per copy.

Publish to all territories unless you have rights constraints, and let Amazon auto-convert prices — then round the converted prices to natural price points per marketplace (€7.99, not €7.43). KDP Select enrollment (90-day Amazon exclusivity for the ebook in exchange for Kindle Unlimited inclusion) is a separate strategic choice covered in our dedicated guide.

Pressing publish sends the book to Amazon's review — typically under 24 hours for ebooks, up to 72 for paperbacks. You will get an email at approval or with file issues to fix; rejections name the problem and resubmission is normal, not fatal.

Once live, claim the book on your Author Central profile, check the listing on the actual store page (formatting of the description, look of the cover thumbnail at search size), and verify ebook and paperback editions are linked on one page.

The first month sets the algorithm's impression of the book. Focus on three controllables: honest early reviews from real readers, a launch price that lowers the trial barrier, and refreshing keywords or categories if impressions exist but clicks do not. Publishing is an iteration loop, not a single event — and the publishers who win run that loop across many books.