How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon: The 2026 KDP Author Guide

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) represents over 80% of English-language digital book sales and an overwhelming share of print-on-demand consumer purchases. For an independent author, learning how to self-publish on Amazon is the single most critical commercial skill in your publishing career.

Yet many first-time authors find the KDP dashboard intimidating. Between tax withholding paperwork, trim sizes, bleeds, delivery fee calculations, ISBN choices, and the 70% vs. 35% royalty thresholds, it is easy to make simple errors that delay your launch or depress your profits.

This guide provides a comprehensive, sequential walkthrough of self-publishing a book on Amazon KDP in 2026, based strictly on Amazon's official platform rules.

1. Setting Up Your Amazon KDP Account Correctly

To publish on Amazon, visit kdp.amazon.com and sign in using your existing Amazon retail account or create a new dedicated business account.

Before you can publish your first title, Amazon requires you to complete three critical onboarding steps on your Account page:

1. Author/Publisher Information: Enter your legal name (or registered company/LLC name), legal address, and phone number. Note: this is strictly for administrative and tax purposes; it does not dictate the public pen name that appears on your book cover.
2. Banking & Payout Details: Select your bank's country and enter your account and routing numbers. Amazon distributes royalties via direct electronic funds transfer (EFT) approximately 60 days after the end of the calendar month in which sales occurred.
3. Tax Information Interview: Complete the IRS-mandated digital tax interview. US citizens supply their Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN) for Form W-9. International authors supply their local tax identification number to claim applicable treaty tax withholding reductions under Form W-8BEN (reducing the default 30% US withholding tax to as low as 0%, depending on your home country).

2. Preparing Your Files for Upload: eBook vs. Print Specifications

Amazon evaluates eBook and print uploads through two entirely separate processing pipelines. Uploading files with improper dimensions or formatting is the most common reason for manuscript rejection.

Kindle eBook File Standards

• Manuscript File: Provide a clean .epub file. While Amazon accepts .docx and .kpf (Kindle Create), professional EPUB files guarantee reliable typography and responsive reflow across all Kindle devices and mobile apps.
• Front Cover: Upload as a high-resolution .jpg or .tiff file. Amazon recommends dimensions of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels (an ideal 1.6:1 aspect ratio) with a minimum width of 1,000 pixels in sRGB color space.
• No Price or Barcodes on eBook Covers: Unlike physical books, eBook covers must never contain a barcode, price tag, or retail promotional sticker.

Paperback and Hardcover Print File Standards

• Interior File: Must be uploaded as a single, print-ready PDF with all fonts 100% embedded. Text should be CMYK or 100% black (for grayscale interiors), and all interior images must be at least 300 DPI.
• Trim Sizes: Standard trim sizes include 5.5" x 8.5" and 6" x 9". Choose your trim size before formatting your interior; changing trim sizes later alters your page count, which invalidates your spine width.
• Page Count Limits: Standard black-ink paperbacks require a minimum of 24 pages (up to 828 pages). Hardcovers require a minimum of 75 pages. Note that printing text on the spine requires a minimum of 79 pages per Amazon KDP Print Options.
• Full-Wrap Cover PDF: Unlike an eBook cover, a print cover must be submitted as a single flattened PDF that includes the back cover, spine, and front cover in one continuous canvas, including a 0.125 inch (3.2 mm) bleed on all outer edges.

3. Creating Your Title: The 3 KDP Dashboard Tabs

On your KDP Bookshelf, click the + Create button and choose whether to create a Kindle eBook, Paperback, or Hardcover. The publishing workflow is organized into three sequential tabs:

flowchart LR
    A["Tab 1: Details & Metadata"] --> B["Tab 2: Content & Files"]
    B --> C["Tab 3: Pricing & Royalties"]
    C --> D["Publish to Amazon Store"]

Tab 1: Kindle eBook / Paperback Details

1. Primary Language: Select the language your book is written in.
2. Book Title & Subtitle: Enter your title exactly as it appears on your cover. Amazon strictly enforces metadata parity: if your cover says Deep Work in Practice, your KDP title field cannot say Deep Work in Practice: The Ultimate Guide to Focus. Any discrepancy between the cover and dashboard text will trigger a manual review rejection.
3. Series Information: If your book is part of a series, create a Series entry. This enables Amazon to display a "Book 1 of 3" series widget on your product page, dramatically increasing backlist read-through.
4. Primary Author / Contributors: Enter your author name or pen name. You can also credit illustrators, translators, editors, and foreword contributors.
5. Description: You have up to 4,000 characters. Use basic HTML tags (<b>, <i>, <h3>, <ul>, <li>) to create clean paragraphs, bold hooks, and bulleted benefit lists.
6. Publishing Rights: Confirm that you hold the necessary publishing rights (you own the copyright).
7. Primary Audience & Age Range: Indicate whether your book contains sexually explicit images or content, and set minimum reading ages if applicable.
8. Categories: Select up to three BISAC categories. Choose specific niche categories rather than broad top-level classifications.
9. 7 Search Keywords: Enter seven distinct keyword phrases (up to 50 characters per box, per Amazon KDP Keyword Guidelines). Do not use commas; do not repeat your title or author name. Use our free KDP 7-Slot Backend Keyword Formatter to verify your 50-character limits.

Tab 2: Book Content

1. Digital Rights Management (DRM) for eBooks: Choose whether to apply DRM. Most indie publishers disable DRM to prevent reader frustration when moving legitimate purchases across personal devices.
2. Upload Manuscript: Upload your EPUB or print PDF. KDP will validate the file structure automatically.
3. Upload Cover: Upload your front cover image (for eBooks) or your full-wrap cover PDF (for print).
4. Launch Previewer: KDP provides an in-browser previewer. For print books, you must open the print previewer and inspect every single page. The previewer will check:
   • Text falling outside the minimum margin boundaries.
   • Bleed issues on full-bleed images.
   • Low-resolution images (under 200 DPI).
   • Hidden text on the spine.
5. ISBN Details (Print only): Select whether to assign Amazon's free KDP ISBN or provide your own purchased ISBN from Bowker/Nielsen.

Tab 3: Pricing and Royalties

This tab determines how much money you earn on every sale.

4. Understanding Amazon KDP Royalties: 70% vs. 35% Rules

Amazon KDP offers two royalty plans for digital eBooks. Choosing the right plan is vital for maximizing author profit.

Calculating eBook Royalties:

Under the 70% royalty option, your payout formula is: $$\text{Author Payout} = (\text{List Price} - \text{Delivery Fee}) \times 70%$$

Example: You price a typical non-fiction eBook with clean typography (file size: 1.5 MB) at $6.99:

• Delivery fee: $1.5 \text{ MB} \times $0.15 = $0.23$
• Net royalty: $($6.99 - $0.23) \times 0.70 = \mathbf{$4.73}$ per copy sold.

If your book contains hundreds of high-resolution full-color photography images resulting in a 50 MB file, your delivery fee under the 70% plan would be $7.50, wiping out your profit! In that specific case, choosing the 35% royalty option ($6.99 \times 0.35 = $2.45$ with zero delivery fees) yields a higher net profit.

Calculating Paperback and Hardcover Royalties:

Amazon print royalties use a fixed 60% distribution rate minus physical printing manufacturing costs: $$\text{Print Royalty} = (\text{List Price} \times 60%) - \text{Print Manufacturing Cost}$$

Example: You publish a 300-page black-and-white paperback priced at $14.99:

• Amazon KDP base print cost for 300 pages (US): $$1.00 \text{ fixed} + (300 \times $0.012) = $4.60$
• Your royalty: $($14.99 \times 0.60) - $4.60 = $8.99 - $4.60 = \mathbf{$4.39}$ per physical copy.

You can simulate your exact page counts and print formats using our interactive KDP Revenue Calculator.

5. The KDP Select Decision: Should You Enroll?

On the pricing tab, Amazon asks whether you want to enroll your eBook in KDP Select.

• The Commitment: You grant Amazon exclusive digital distribution rights for auto-renewing 90-day periods. During enrollment, you cannot sell your digital book on Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or your personal website.
• The Tools You Unlock:
  • Kindle Unlimited (KU): Your book is available to millions of active subscribers. You are paid per page read from the monthly KDP Global Fund.
  • Free Book Promotions: You can schedule up to 5 days per 90-day period where your book is offered at $0.00 to drive reviews and visibility.
  • Kindle Countdown Deals: You can run time-limited discounted promotions with a countdown clock on your Amazon page while retaining the 70% royalty rate.

Strategic Recommendation: For fiction genres where Kindle Unlimited subscribers dominate (Romance, Thriller, Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi), enrolling in KDP Select is generally the fastest way to gain traction as a debut indie author. For non-fiction, business, and academic titles, wide distribution across global libraries and aggregators often yields better long-term catalog value.

6. Ordering Author Proofs and Hitting Publish

Before releasing a paperback or hardcover edition to the public, Amazon allows you to order an Author Proof.

• A proof is a physical copy of your book printed with a "Not for Resale" watermark stripe across the cover and barcode.
• You pay only the direct manufacturing print cost plus shipping.
• Always order a proof copy. Digital previewers on computer screens cannot replicate how your book feels in the hand. Physical proofs allow you to verify font readability, gutter comfort, paper opacity, and cover color saturation under natural daylight.

Once you have verified your proof copy, return to the KDP pricing tab, click Publish Your Kindle eBook or Publish Your Paperback, and your book status changes to "In Review."

Within 24 to 72 hours, your book will transition to "Live" status and become purchasable by readers worldwide.

Next Steps

Before clicking submit on KDP, run your metadata through our KDP Listing Checker to verify that your title, subtitle, and formatting conform strictly to Amazon's latest guidelines and avoid manual review delays.