KDP Walk-Through
Kindle Direct Publishing, also known as KDP, is a self-publishing platform for indie authors. On this page, I'll run you through how to go about publishing both paperbacks and ebooks. If you're confused about any of this information or want me to expand on any of these points, please reach out and I'll clarify! Note that some parts are a bit technical.
Paperbacks
Paperback Details Page
This page is pretty self-explanatory. You select the language your book will be in, what your book title is, whether it's part of a series (it will redirect you to a "series" page if so, where you can manage your books more easily than in the past), the author, and other contributors (please give credit to those who helped you).
Now, an important part of getting your book "out there" is through the description and keywords. You want to include "keywords" in the description, without making it obvious that you're doing it. If your book is about magic, mention magic in the description. If it includes LGBTQ+ people, find a way to throw that in. The description also needs to be eye-catching. Make it compelling and draw readers in. Ask questions, perhaps share a tiny excerpt. I recommend keeping it short, as people don't want to read a block of text.
In the keyword section itself, you get to choose a total of seven keywords. Unlike your title information (which cannot be altered later), you can edit keywords later on. This means you can try out many different keywords. You don't want to go too broad with keywords (like "fantasy" is way too broad), but you don't want to go too specific where nobody will search the word(s). Something like "LGBTQ+ fantasy" could work out. You can go to Amazon and specifically search keywords, perhaps even including your target audience ("for teens"). NOTE: For the keywords, you canNOT reference other authors or books.
The next section is categories, and you're only allowed to choose two from a select few categories. If you want to include more categories, you have to wait for your book to be published, then reach out to KDP support and request that the book be added to another (more niche) category. You can again search categories on Amazon, to choose the one that's less competitive for your book to have a better chance of reaching the bestseller's list in that specific category. Once you get the bestseller's badge, that stays with your book, even if it's no longer a bestseller in that niche category. The key is to get the book into a less-competitive category where it can be seen and make sales.
Paperback Details Page
This page is pretty self-explanatory. You select the language your book will be in, what your book title is, whether it's part of a series (it will redirect you to a "series" page if so, where you can manage your books more easily than in the past), the author, and other contributors (please give credit to those who helped you).
Now, an important part of getting your book "out there" is through the description and keywords. You want to include "keywords" in the description, without making it obvious that you're doing it. If your book is about magic, mention magic in the description. If it includes LGBTQ+ people, find a way to throw that in. The description also needs to be eye-catching. Make it compelling and draw readers in. Ask questions, perhaps share a tiny excerpt. I recommend keeping it short, as people don't want to read a block of text.
In the keyword section itself, you get to choose a total of seven keywords. Unlike your title information (which cannot be altered later), you can edit keywords later on. This means you can try out many different keywords. You don't want to go too broad with keywords (like "fantasy" is way too broad), but you don't want to go too specific where nobody will search the word(s). Something like "LGBTQ+ fantasy" could work out. You can go to Amazon and specifically search keywords, perhaps even including your target audience ("for teens"). NOTE: For the keywords, you canNOT reference other authors or books.
The next section is categories, and you're only allowed to choose two from a select few categories. If you want to include more categories, you have to wait for your book to be published, then reach out to KDP support and request that the book be added to another (more niche) category. You can again search categories on Amazon, to choose the one that's less competitive for your book to have a better chance of reaching the bestseller's list in that specific category. Once you get the bestseller's badge, that stays with your book, even if it's no longer a bestseller in that niche category. The key is to get the book into a less-competitive category where it can be seen and make sales.
Paperback Content Page
For the ISBN, I always recommend you just have Amazon assign you one for free. This is the barcode on the back of the book, which allows your book to be found easily online.
The publication date is a bit of a funny thing. You can't select a date if your book hasn't been published before, but if you edit your book and publish it again, you're able to choose the date it was originally published--if it let's you. Sometimes it won't let you, in which case I recommend reaching out to support.
Print options allows you to select the color paper of your book, trim size, bleed, and cover finish.
Black-and-white with cream paper is the most-seen paper option, and it's the one I personally use. Black-and-white with white paper looks a lot like actual-printed paper. The page is bright white and a bit thicker; I don't personally care for it. Premium color interior allows you to put colored images inside the book--BUT this makes your book REALLY expensive! A 100-page book can easily be up to $30, and I believe you can't select expanded distribution for colored books. I do not recommend this option, unless you are publishing a children's book.
Trim size is pretty self-explanatory; it's the size of your book. I often use 5x8, though I have used 6x9 before (the book was definitely on the larger size, so I now use 5x8 again). Download a pre-formatted template from KDP for the correct-sized book here. If you know how to resize your document on the program you use to write, that's good too, but it's honestly way easier to get a pre-formatted document already. The page numbers are all there too, and they give you pre-made sample pages at the front of the book, like a Table of Contents. If you have no use for those pages, you can always delete them. I recommend you download one of these templates in the first place and write your book on it from the start, as copy-pasting from a different format or program (like Google Docs) can really mess up the formatting. Trust me, I know.
Bleed is referring to if you have any images that take up the whole page/go past the margins of your document. If you want the pictures to take the whole page, you need to use Bleed. Otherwise, resize them to fit in the margins. This is VERY important if you are including images in your book! If you select the "Bleed" option, you have to make your own document size and figure out the proper margins yourself. I honestly gave up when I was trying to do this option, as I couldn't download the proper size (nor did it tell me which size to even use). I HIGHLY recommend that you just use the "No Bleed" option and just resize your images to fit within the margins. If you don't know where your margins are, you can go into your document program and select "View" and click on "Margins" (or something similar). Make sure your image is 100% withIN the margins!
Cover finish just gives you two options, of "matte" and "glossy"--for this, I always choose matte. I don't like the glossy look, but that's my personal preference.
In the next section, you upload your manuscript. I know they say you can upload different files, but I recommend a PDF from the start. You get a PDF by just exporting/saving your document as a PDF. Make sure that your book is fully edited by this point, as you'll have to make a new PDF each time you want to make changes.
Cover is a frustrating area. Back when it was Createspace, there were plenty of templates to choose from, and you could even put a back cover image on. Now, however, if you try to use KDP's Cover Creator, all they have to offer are very few and very ugly designs (pictured below). I therefore do NOT recommend you use Cover Creator, and instead download a template. You plug in your book's information (paper type, size, and overall page amount), and then it'll give you a template that you can insert your cover images on. You have to make your own spine and text too, but you don't have to put the barcode on yourself (KDP will thankfully do that for you).
Sometimes, when you upload the cover file and launch the Previewer, though, there's an issue. Even though you use their own template, the size might be too small. If this is the case, it will show an error on the left side of the Previewer. It will say your cover is X size, when it needs to be Y size. Use your art program (whether it's Photoshop, FireAlpaca, etc.) to the Y size they give you. Then, copy-paste the cover template, resize it to the Y size canvas, and put your covers on there again. When you export it, it should be the proper size.
Another note with the cover: They want the cover in a PDF format. If you're on a Mac, you open the image file, go up to File, and Click "Export"--do NOT click "Export to PDF" as it will show blank space on the top and bottom of the image file once it's a PDF format. So click "Export" and THEN click to make it a PDF, and it will be the proper size. I'm not sure how this might go for Windows people, but that's the method I've found which works on Macs.
One more note about covers, but you'll want to make sure your cover art is VERY saturated. When it turns into a PDF and is uploaded to KDP, it loses color saturation for whatever (annoying) reason. So just up the saturation a whole lot before you turn it into a PDF.
For the ISBN, I always recommend you just have Amazon assign you one for free. This is the barcode on the back of the book, which allows your book to be found easily online.
The publication date is a bit of a funny thing. You can't select a date if your book hasn't been published before, but if you edit your book and publish it again, you're able to choose the date it was originally published--if it let's you. Sometimes it won't let you, in which case I recommend reaching out to support.
Print options allows you to select the color paper of your book, trim size, bleed, and cover finish.
Black-and-white with cream paper is the most-seen paper option, and it's the one I personally use. Black-and-white with white paper looks a lot like actual-printed paper. The page is bright white and a bit thicker; I don't personally care for it. Premium color interior allows you to put colored images inside the book--BUT this makes your book REALLY expensive! A 100-page book can easily be up to $30, and I believe you can't select expanded distribution for colored books. I do not recommend this option, unless you are publishing a children's book.
Trim size is pretty self-explanatory; it's the size of your book. I often use 5x8, though I have used 6x9 before (the book was definitely on the larger size, so I now use 5x8 again). Download a pre-formatted template from KDP for the correct-sized book here. If you know how to resize your document on the program you use to write, that's good too, but it's honestly way easier to get a pre-formatted document already. The page numbers are all there too, and they give you pre-made sample pages at the front of the book, like a Table of Contents. If you have no use for those pages, you can always delete them. I recommend you download one of these templates in the first place and write your book on it from the start, as copy-pasting from a different format or program (like Google Docs) can really mess up the formatting. Trust me, I know.
Bleed is referring to if you have any images that take up the whole page/go past the margins of your document. If you want the pictures to take the whole page, you need to use Bleed. Otherwise, resize them to fit in the margins. This is VERY important if you are including images in your book! If you select the "Bleed" option, you have to make your own document size and figure out the proper margins yourself. I honestly gave up when I was trying to do this option, as I couldn't download the proper size (nor did it tell me which size to even use). I HIGHLY recommend that you just use the "No Bleed" option and just resize your images to fit within the margins. If you don't know where your margins are, you can go into your document program and select "View" and click on "Margins" (or something similar). Make sure your image is 100% withIN the margins!
Cover finish just gives you two options, of "matte" and "glossy"--for this, I always choose matte. I don't like the glossy look, but that's my personal preference.
In the next section, you upload your manuscript. I know they say you can upload different files, but I recommend a PDF from the start. You get a PDF by just exporting/saving your document as a PDF. Make sure that your book is fully edited by this point, as you'll have to make a new PDF each time you want to make changes.
Cover is a frustrating area. Back when it was Createspace, there were plenty of templates to choose from, and you could even put a back cover image on. Now, however, if you try to use KDP's Cover Creator, all they have to offer are very few and very ugly designs (pictured below). I therefore do NOT recommend you use Cover Creator, and instead download a template. You plug in your book's information (paper type, size, and overall page amount), and then it'll give you a template that you can insert your cover images on. You have to make your own spine and text too, but you don't have to put the barcode on yourself (KDP will thankfully do that for you).
Sometimes, when you upload the cover file and launch the Previewer, though, there's an issue. Even though you use their own template, the size might be too small. If this is the case, it will show an error on the left side of the Previewer. It will say your cover is X size, when it needs to be Y size. Use your art program (whether it's Photoshop, FireAlpaca, etc.) to the Y size they give you. Then, copy-paste the cover template, resize it to the Y size canvas, and put your covers on there again. When you export it, it should be the proper size.
Another note with the cover: They want the cover in a PDF format. If you're on a Mac, you open the image file, go up to File, and Click "Export"--do NOT click "Export to PDF" as it will show blank space on the top and bottom of the image file once it's a PDF format. So click "Export" and THEN click to make it a PDF, and it will be the proper size. I'm not sure how this might go for Windows people, but that's the method I've found which works on Macs.
One more note about covers, but you'll want to make sure your cover art is VERY saturated. When it turns into a PDF and is uploaded to KDP, it loses color saturation for whatever (annoying) reason. So just up the saturation a whole lot before you turn it into a PDF.
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The next section is Previewer, which I went over a bit in the Cover section. Note that it sometimes takes a LONG time to load, while other times it will go really fast. If it seems to be taking too long, you can always refresh the page.
Previewer is where you get to see your book and make sure everything is in the right spot. This is also where any issues that you might have will pop up. The issues I've gotten before are cover size, incorrect margins, and images being outside of the margins. If you've included a website link in your book, KDP will just say they "removed" non-printable markup, and there's nothing further you have to do. If you have any of the other errors, you canNOT hit the "Approve" button and continue with the publication process.
Sometimes, they will allow you to hit "Approve" despite there still being an issue, such as with the pictures being outside the margins. In this case, they'll send you an email stating that there are still issues with your book. You'll need to go in and fix these issues, then resubmit the file. This is why I have my margins visible on my document, so I ensure all images are within the margins.
Paperback Rights and Publishing Page
Under Territories, I recommend you select "All Territories" so you can get your book out as much as you can.
Pricing and Royalties is where you can choose the price of your book. Select "Expanded Distribution" to get your book out on all marketplaces. It only shows Amazon marketplaces, while at one time, it showed that the book would go to libraries and other bookstores (like Barnes & Noble). I'm not entirely sure if the book still goes to these places since it does not specifically say so, but I would still select the distribution option to get the book out as much as possible. Pricing will be determined by how many distribution channels you select, so it WILL go up. There's a minimum price you can't go below, but you can otherwise choose what price you want. I recommend keeping it close to the minimum price.
The last section is just the Terms and Conditions which you just select you agree to. You can then hit that "Publish" button! The book will show up within 24 hours on Amazon, and it will take longer to appear on other Amazon sites. If you want to publish your book on a certain day, get all the above done, and just wait to hit "Publish" until the specific day arrives. I always recommend you get everything set up and ready to go ahead of time, in case you run into issues along the way.
Previewer is where you get to see your book and make sure everything is in the right spot. This is also where any issues that you might have will pop up. The issues I've gotten before are cover size, incorrect margins, and images being outside of the margins. If you've included a website link in your book, KDP will just say they "removed" non-printable markup, and there's nothing further you have to do. If you have any of the other errors, you canNOT hit the "Approve" button and continue with the publication process.
Sometimes, they will allow you to hit "Approve" despite there still being an issue, such as with the pictures being outside the margins. In this case, they'll send you an email stating that there are still issues with your book. You'll need to go in and fix these issues, then resubmit the file. This is why I have my margins visible on my document, so I ensure all images are within the margins.
Paperback Rights and Publishing Page
Under Territories, I recommend you select "All Territories" so you can get your book out as much as you can.
Pricing and Royalties is where you can choose the price of your book. Select "Expanded Distribution" to get your book out on all marketplaces. It only shows Amazon marketplaces, while at one time, it showed that the book would go to libraries and other bookstores (like Barnes & Noble). I'm not entirely sure if the book still goes to these places since it does not specifically say so, but I would still select the distribution option to get the book out as much as possible. Pricing will be determined by how many distribution channels you select, so it WILL go up. There's a minimum price you can't go below, but you can otherwise choose what price you want. I recommend keeping it close to the minimum price.
The last section is just the Terms and Conditions which you just select you agree to. You can then hit that "Publish" button! The book will show up within 24 hours on Amazon, and it will take longer to appear on other Amazon sites. If you want to publish your book on a certain day, get all the above done, and just wait to hit "Publish" until the specific day arrives. I always recommend you get everything set up and ready to go ahead of time, in case you run into issues along the way.
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Kindle/Ebook
Kindle eBook Details Page
This page is just like the one for the paperback, so please refer to the above guide for how to fill it out. The only difference is that you can choose the age and grade range of your audience. You can also select if you want your book to be available for pre-order, so you can get the hype up for your book and allow people to "buy" it early; they don't actually receive the book right away, of course, but if a lot of people buy your book ahead of its release date, your book's sales ranks will go up.
Kindle eBook Content Page
Under the Manuscript section, there's a part about "Digital Rights Management"--this will inhibit unauthorized distribution of your book. There's a little popup box which explains it more, but I just leave this setting alone. You can't change it after publication though.
For uploading the actual manuscript, I recommend you use the .epub file. You can get an .epub in several ways. If you're on a Mac, all you have to do is export your complete manuscript into a .epub file--it's that easy. The other way you can achieve this is to download the "Kindle Create" app, and upload your book as a .docx file into the system. I actually recommend you use Kindle Create, since it allows you to choose where your chapters headings are, and create an actual Table of Contents. You can structure your book for easier Kindle reading, basically.
Now, if you have images in your book, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for guidance. I wasn't able to figure this out and I was honestly sick of all the issues I had with KDP, so I didn't include any images in the ebook version. I didn't mind cutting the images out, though, since the ebook version is already much cheaper than the paperback, so might as well give bonus content to those who get the paperback itself. When I tried inserting images, I only seemed able to get one image in, and the rest I was unable to move around (they literally landed on top of one another or halfway through the text). I'm sure there are tutorials out there, but I personally just didn't care at that point.
Note that you can always go in and change the manuscript too, so if you want to add bonus content (or if I figured out how to layout images correctly), you CAN change it. HOWEVER, people who already bought your ebook will NOT get the updated version. So don't go changing a major story plot, and make sure your book is fully edited. This is more for if you see a spelling or grammar error and want to fix it.
The cover image is usually taken from the paperback version (if that version is complete already), or you can just upload your own. Unlike the cover in the paperback section, you don't need to use a PDF file, and the cover will remain true to its colors and actually be at the right saturation levels.
You can launch the Previewer if you'd like to, and I recommend it if you included images. But if you used Kindle Create to set up the book, it should be good to go. I still check just a few pages, and click on the titles to make sure that the Table of Contents is correct and works as needed.
I leave the ISBN part blank; I know you get an ISBN from your paperback version, but just leave this section blank as KDP will assign it an ASN on its own anyway, and an ISBN for a Kindle is not necessary.
Kindle eBook Pricing Page
"KDP Select Enrollment" is a program that allows your book to be shared among readers (like Kindle Unlimited and Book Lending [which is another section below]). I recommend you put your book in these programs, for more distribution.
In the next section, you'll see that there's an option where you can get either 35% or 70% of your book's royalty. If you select to only get 35%, this allows your book to be priced at $0.99--which a lot of Kindles are priced at, and which bring in lots of people to get your book since it's so cheap. If you choose the 70% option, your book's minimum price is $2.99, meaning you can't go any lower than that. You get a lot more of the book's sales, but people might not be as likely to buy the book (especially the higher the price is). It's up to you on what you'd like to get, but you ARE able to change the royalty option and pricing after publication (same with the paperback, though the paperback always has that same minimum price).
You then agree to the "Terms and Conditions" and hit the "Publish" button! Again, if you want to publish your book on a certain day, then don't hit "Publish" until that day; however, you can still get everything set up way ahead of time, in case any issues come up. From my experience, publishing the ebook version is a lot nicer than publishing the paperback version.
Kindle eBook Details Page
This page is just like the one for the paperback, so please refer to the above guide for how to fill it out. The only difference is that you can choose the age and grade range of your audience. You can also select if you want your book to be available for pre-order, so you can get the hype up for your book and allow people to "buy" it early; they don't actually receive the book right away, of course, but if a lot of people buy your book ahead of its release date, your book's sales ranks will go up.
Kindle eBook Content Page
Under the Manuscript section, there's a part about "Digital Rights Management"--this will inhibit unauthorized distribution of your book. There's a little popup box which explains it more, but I just leave this setting alone. You can't change it after publication though.
For uploading the actual manuscript, I recommend you use the .epub file. You can get an .epub in several ways. If you're on a Mac, all you have to do is export your complete manuscript into a .epub file--it's that easy. The other way you can achieve this is to download the "Kindle Create" app, and upload your book as a .docx file into the system. I actually recommend you use Kindle Create, since it allows you to choose where your chapters headings are, and create an actual Table of Contents. You can structure your book for easier Kindle reading, basically.
Now, if you have images in your book, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for guidance. I wasn't able to figure this out and I was honestly sick of all the issues I had with KDP, so I didn't include any images in the ebook version. I didn't mind cutting the images out, though, since the ebook version is already much cheaper than the paperback, so might as well give bonus content to those who get the paperback itself. When I tried inserting images, I only seemed able to get one image in, and the rest I was unable to move around (they literally landed on top of one another or halfway through the text). I'm sure there are tutorials out there, but I personally just didn't care at that point.
Note that you can always go in and change the manuscript too, so if you want to add bonus content (or if I figured out how to layout images correctly), you CAN change it. HOWEVER, people who already bought your ebook will NOT get the updated version. So don't go changing a major story plot, and make sure your book is fully edited. This is more for if you see a spelling or grammar error and want to fix it.
The cover image is usually taken from the paperback version (if that version is complete already), or you can just upload your own. Unlike the cover in the paperback section, you don't need to use a PDF file, and the cover will remain true to its colors and actually be at the right saturation levels.
You can launch the Previewer if you'd like to, and I recommend it if you included images. But if you used Kindle Create to set up the book, it should be good to go. I still check just a few pages, and click on the titles to make sure that the Table of Contents is correct and works as needed.
I leave the ISBN part blank; I know you get an ISBN from your paperback version, but just leave this section blank as KDP will assign it an ASN on its own anyway, and an ISBN for a Kindle is not necessary.
Kindle eBook Pricing Page
"KDP Select Enrollment" is a program that allows your book to be shared among readers (like Kindle Unlimited and Book Lending [which is another section below]). I recommend you put your book in these programs, for more distribution.
In the next section, you'll see that there's an option where you can get either 35% or 70% of your book's royalty. If you select to only get 35%, this allows your book to be priced at $0.99--which a lot of Kindles are priced at, and which bring in lots of people to get your book since it's so cheap. If you choose the 70% option, your book's minimum price is $2.99, meaning you can't go any lower than that. You get a lot more of the book's sales, but people might not be as likely to buy the book (especially the higher the price is). It's up to you on what you'd like to get, but you ARE able to change the royalty option and pricing after publication (same with the paperback, though the paperback always has that same minimum price).
You then agree to the "Terms and Conditions" and hit the "Publish" button! Again, if you want to publish your book on a certain day, then don't hit "Publish" until that day; however, you can still get everything set up way ahead of time, in case any issues come up. From my experience, publishing the ebook version is a lot nicer than publishing the paperback version.
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