How to publish an eBook on Amazon KDP

Have the finished pieces ready: a manuscript in a supported format (EPUB or DOCX from the studio, or KPF from Kindle Create), a cover file at KDP's recommended size, a description written for the reader rather than the algorithm, seven keyword phrases the reader would actually type, and two categories. Decide the author name, because KDP notes that some detail fields cannot be modified after publishing. And know your answer to the AI question: if AI created the text, images or translations, KDP requires you to say so when you publish; if you wrote it and used AI only to edit or check, no declaration is needed.

KDP's "Create a Book" page walks through the sequence. Details: title, subtitle, series, author, description, keywords, categories, and the content declarations. Content: upload the manuscript, upload the cover, and preview the result on the device views — read the first chapter in the phone view before going on. Pricing: choose the territories, choose the royalty option (35% or 70%, the latter tied to a list price band and a delivery cost), and set the list price. Save each screen; the book sits as a draft until you publish, and you can return to the draft as often as you like.

The book goes through review before it appears in the store, and the listing can take a while to fill in completely — the description, the look-inside, the categories. Use the wait to prepare the launch: the people to tell, the reviews to ask for, the guide on your site that links to the listing. Once live, changes to the manuscript or cover go through the same content screen and a republish; changes to price take effect from the pricing screen. Keep the source files — the studio draft, the EPUB, the cover JPEG — because every later edition starts from them.

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