How to Self-Publish on Amazon

By Nick Caya, Word-2-Kindle founder — content last reviewed May 2026.

This guide is the long-form companion to the Word-2-Kindle Amazon self-publishing service page. It covers what Amazon’s self-publishing platform actually is, how the publishing process works end-to-end, the royalty math, and the points where most first-time self-publishers either lose money or lose time. The team behind this guide has formatted thousands of KDP titles since 2013, so the recommendations below come from production experience, not from copy-pasting Amazon’s help center.

What Amazon self-publishing actually means

Amazon’s self-publishing platform is called Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Through KDP an author uploads a finished manuscript and cover, sets a list price, and lists the book for sale on Amazon’s worldwide storefronts. There is no gatekeeper: no editor at a traditional publishing house has to accept the book before it goes live. Amazon’s review checks for technical compliance (file format, copyright, content guidelines) but not for editorial quality. The author keeps full ownership of the rights and the title.

KDP publishes two kinds of book: Kindle ebooks and KDP Print editions (paperback and hardcover, printed on demand when an order arrives). The same KDP account handles both. A separate Amazon-owned platform called ACX handles audiobook self-publishing for North American titles; ACX is outside the scope of this guide.

The end-to-end process, in eight steps

Step 1: Finish the manuscript

This sounds obvious but it is the step most aspiring self-publishers underestimate. Amazon will publish anything that meets file specs and content guidelines — including books that are not ready. A manuscript ready for KDP has been through at least one full editorial pass (proofread at minimum, ideally copyedit) and one or more rounds of beta-reader feedback. Editing tier definitions and pricing are listed on our editing services page.

Step 2: Format the interior

Kindle ebooks need a reflowable EPUB file: text that adapts to any screen size, with a working table of contents, properly tagged headings, and no hard page breaks. KDP Print paperbacks need a print-ready PDF sized to the chosen trim (5 × 8, 5.5 × 8.5, 6 × 9 are common), with embedded fonts, 0.125-inch bleed where images run to the edge, and a fixed page count. The same Word document does not become both files automatically — ebook and print are separate exports with different constraints. Authors can format DIY with software like Atticus, Vellum, or Reedsy Studio, or hire a formatter like Word-2-Kindle. Our Amazon book formatting service handles both files in one job.

Step 3: Design the cover

The Kindle cover is a single front-only JPEG at 1,600 × 2,560 pixels minimum (1.6:1 aspect ratio). The KDP Print cover is a wraparound PDF combining front, spine, and back, sized to the trim plus bleed plus the calculated spine width. Spine width depends on the formatted interior page count and paper weight, so the print cover is finalized after the interior is locked. Most ebook readers see a cover first as a 90-pixel thumbnail on the Amazon results page, so design legibility at thumbnail size matters more than design at full size. Our cover design service handles ebook, print, and hardcover covers.

Step 4: Set up the KDP account

A KDP account is free to open at kdp.amazon.com. Setup requires a US tax interview (W-9 for US residents, W-8BEN for everyone else — this is what tells Amazon how to handle royalty taxation), bank account details for payouts, and an author profile. Authors outside the US should pay attention to the tax interview: filling it out incorrectly can result in 30% withholding on royalties that should have been 0% or 10% under a tax treaty.

Step 5: Upload, set metadata, and choose categories

The upload itself is a guided form: book details (title, subtitle, series, edition number, author name), description (4,000 character limit, supports limited HTML), language, ISBN choice, publisher imprint, age range. The category and keyword selections decide which Amazon shelves the book appears on. KDP allows up to two categories at upload, plus seven keywords per book; authors can request additional categories via KDP support after launch. Choosing categories with reasonable competition (top-100 sellers under ~5,000 monthly sales) gives a new release a realistic chance at the orange “#1 New Release” or “Bestseller” badge.

Step 6: Set price and choose royalty plan

For Kindle ebooks, KDP offers two royalty options:

• 70% royalty applies to ebooks priced $2.99 to $9.99 sold to readers in major markets (US, UK, EU, Japan, etc.). Amazon also subtracts a small delivery fee per sale based on file size, typically 5–15 cents.
• 35% royalty applies to ebooks priced outside the $2.99–$9.99 band, or sold in markets outside the 70% list. No delivery fee is deducted on the 35% tier.

For KDP Print paperbacks, the royalty is 60% of list price minus print cost. Print cost depends on page count and color: a 250-page black-and-white paperback prints for around $3.65, so a $9.99 paperback nets about $2.34 per sale. For hardcovers, royalty is also 60% minus a higher print cost.

Step 7: Decide on KDP Select

KDP Select is an optional 90-day program that grants:

• Kindle Unlimited (KU) — subscribers read the book for free; authors earn per page read (~$0.004–$0.005 per page from a shared global fund).
• Kindle Countdown Deals — time-limited price drops with the original price visible.
• Free promotional days — up to five days per 90-day enrollment where the book is free.

The exclusivity cost is real: while a book is in KDP Select, the ebook cannot be sold or distributed for free anywhere else — not Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, the author’s own website, or a publisher’s mailing list. Print and audiobook editions are unaffected. KDP Select is a high-leverage choice for genre fiction (romance, thrillers, cosy mystery) where readers are heavily KU-driven; it is a poor choice for authors who already sell across multiple ebook stores or whose readers prefer Apple/Kobo.

Step 8: Launch and gather reviews

After Amazon approves the upload (24–72 hours), the book is live for sale. Reviews are unsolicited social proof; Amazon prohibits paying for reviews and prohibits asking family or close friends to review. Legitimate paths: review-copy lists (BookSirens, NetGalley), launch-team groups built before publication, the back-of-book CTA asking readers to leave a review if they enjoyed the book. Most first-time authors should aim for 25–50 reviews in the first 90 days; this is the threshold at which Amazon’s algorithmic visibility starts compounding.

What it actually costs to self-publish on Amazon

The KDP platform is free. The optional production services that decide quality are not. Realistic ranges for a first novel:

• Editing — proofread $0.005–$0.012/word, copyedit $0.012–$0.025/word, line edit $0.025–$0.04/word, developmental edit $0.04–$0.10/word. A 70,000-word novel proofread costs $350–$840.
• Cover design — $99–$1,200 depending on complexity, originality (custom illustration vs stock photo), and whether print wraparound is included.
• Formatting — $49–$300 for ebook + print. DIY is free with Atticus or Vellum but takes a learning curve.
• ISBN — free if Amazon-assigned (locked to KDP); $125 for one or $295 for ten from Bowker (portable to other distributors).
• Marketing & ads — budget-driven; Amazon Ads can run from $5/day to $5,000/month. Most first-novel marketing budgets land at $200–$1,000 in the first 90 days.

A reasonable total budget for a polished first-novel launch is $800–$2,500. Authors who DIY everything except editing can launch for under $500. Authors who skip editing entirely typically end up paying for it later in lost reviews.

The 5 mistakes that cost first-time self-publishers the most

1. Skipping editing to “save money.” A novel with frequent typos collects 1- and 2-star reviews that destroy long-term sales. Amazon’s algorithm down-weights titles with poor review velocity.
2. Treating the cover as an afterthought. The cover is the conversion engine on Amazon’s results page. A cover that does not signal the genre at thumbnail size loses the click before anyone reads the description.
3. Choosing categories with no chance of ranking. Listing a 70-page novella under “Literary Fiction” puts it next to bestsellers selling 5,000+ copies a month. Pick narrower subcategories where 30 sales/week could earn the orange bestseller badge.
4. Pricing too low. A $0.99 ebook earns $0.35 per sale on the 35% tier. Pricing at $2.99 unlocks the 70% tier and earns $2.04 per sale — nearly 6× more revenue per copy. Most genre fiction prices in the $2.99–$5.99 band.
5. Launching with no email list or launch team. Amazon’s algorithm rewards velocity in the first week. A book that sells 50 copies on day one ranks higher for the next 30 days than a book that sells 50 copies over a month.

When DIY makes sense, and when hiring a service does

DIY everything is realistic when the author has time, technical patience, and a manuscript that is genuinely simple (a novel without footnotes, tables, or images). Atticus and Vellum produce competent ebook and print files. Canva can produce a competent cover for a non-illustrated genre. The KDP upload process is well-documented.

Hiring help is the right call when the manuscript is non-trivial (cookbooks, illustrated children’s books, books with footnotes, tables, or fixed-layout content), when the author’s time has higher value than the cost of formatting, or when the author has tried DIY once and the result was not retailer-spec. Word-2-Kindle’s Amazon self-publishing service bundles formatting, cover design, KDP upload, and metadata into a single fixed-price engagement starting at $149.

Frequently asked questions

Is Amazon self-publishing free?

The KDP platform is free. The optional services that decide a book’s quality — editing, cover design, formatting — are paid. Authors can publish for $0 in platform fees but should budget $500–$2,500 for production services for a competitive launch.

How long does it take?

Once the manuscript is finished, formatted, and the cover is final, the KDP upload itself takes 30–60 minutes and Amazon’s review takes 24–72 hours. From finished-but-unedited manuscript to launch-ready book is typically 4–8 weeks if editing, cover design, and formatting are all done in series.

What is the difference between KDP, KDP Print, and Kindle Direct Publishing?

They are the same platform with different names. Kindle Direct Publishing is the official name, KDP is the abbreviation, KDP Print refers specifically to the paperback and hardcover features within KDP. The login URL is kdp.amazon.com for all three.

Do I need an LLC or a publishing company name?

No. KDP allows individuals to publish under their own name with no business entity. Some authors create a publisher imprint name (e.g., “Caya Press”) at upload — this is purely cosmetic and does not require any legal registration. Tax handling is the same either way (the W-9 / W-8BEN tax interview).

Ready to publish?

The Word-2-Kindle Amazon self-publishing service handles the parts of this process that benefit most from professional production: editing, formatting, cover design, KDP account setup, metadata, categories, keywords, and the launch upload. Pricing starts at $149 with a 48-hour standard turnaround on the formatting component and unlimited revisions until the file meets KDP spec.