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Publishing a book on Amazon can be an exciting journey, but the process requires careful planning and effort to ensure success. After completing your writing, it’s time to make it available to your audience so they can buy it with ease. While the steps are relatively simple, many authors find it stressful to navigate the platform alone. But congratulations—you’re not on your own! We’re here to help you every step of the way, making your self-publishing experience smooth and efficient while saving you valuable time.
How to Publish a Book on Amazon:
Here’s quick recap before we dive into details:
- Sign up for an account on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
- Add a new book title and write a compelling description.
- Choose relevant keywords and the best Amazon categories.
- Upload your EPUB file along with a professionally designed cover.
- Set your book price within the range of $2.99 to $9.99.
- Click publish and make your book available to readers.
1: Start an Account on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Creating a KDP account is a quick, free, and easy way to start your journey in self-publishing. Head over to Kindle Direct Publishing, where you can either sign in with your existing Amazon credentials or sign up for a new one. Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a message at the top of the page stating that your account setup is incomplete—before you can upload your book, you need to tell Amazon how to fulfill your payments.
Click on Update Now and enter the required details.
Business Type, Date of Birth, and Country: Choose either Individual or Corporation, depending on whether you’re publishing as an independent author or a company. Then, select your birth date and country of residence.
Payment Information: Provide your bank account details to receive royalties from sales across all Amazon marketplaces. If you’re using an American account, you’ll need to enter the account holder’s name, account number, and routing number (found as the first nine digits at the bottom of your checks).
Tax Information: Complete a quick tax interview to verify your tax identity.
You’ll then be asked to choose whether you want to publish a Kindle ebook, paperback, hardcover, or a Series page. This guide focuses on the digital format, though the process for POD services is quite similar.
Now, it’s time to personalize your book page to ensure that Amazon customers are encouraged to click “Buy Now” when they visit it.
2: Create a New Title and Enter Your Book Description
The KDP dashboard is organized into three main sections: Details, Content, and Pricing, which we’ll explore step by step.
As the first step, you’ll need to provide the following information:
- The language of your book
- Your book’s title and/or subtitle (tips for choosing a great one can be found here)
- Whether it’s part of a series;
- Whether it’s a new edition of an existing book
- Your author name (pen names are allowed)
- The names of other contributors (e.g., cover designers, illustrators, or editors for anthologies)
Next, you’ll need to craft a product description—a blurb much like what you’d find on the back of a book. Writing an engaging description is an art, so focus on making it compelling by taking your time, refining it carefully, and polishing every last detail to ensure it captures readers’ interest.
Most importantly, ensure your first line is intriguing, as Amazon displays only a preview of your blurb, prompting readers to click “Read more” for the full text. Utilize Amazon’s bold, italic, and bullet list features to enhance visual appeal, but keep it balanced to maintain a clean and engaging look.
3: Select Your Keywords and Amazon Categories
Choosing the right keywords and categories is crucial to ensuring your book gets found by the right readers on Amazon. When setting up your KDP listing, you can select up to two categories and seven keywords that best describe your content. A well-optimized selection boosts your search visibility and increases the chances of success.
Aim for a mix of broad and niche selections—think Travel as a general category and Hikes & Walks as a more specific one. Your title and description should complement your choices, and it’s smart to experiment with different options over time. Additionally, defining an age and grade range helps target the right audience, especially if writing for younger readers. If your book files are ready, you can list them for sale immediately or set a pre-order date before the final upload. Understanding algorithms can further refine your approach, making your listing as effective as possible.
4. Upload Your EPUB and Book Cover Files
In the next step, you’ll need to add your book file to your KDP account. Just click the inviting yellow “Upload eBook manuscript” button, choose the finalized EPUB file, and confirm by clicking “OK.”
Amazon supports multiple file formats, but they highly recommend using EPUB for better control over your book’s appearance on Kindle. Simply uploading a Word document and relying on Amazon to format it properly is unlikely to give you the best result.
Readers can easily spot whether a book has been professionally formatted or not, and taking shortcuts can hurt its success. While hiring a typesetter is a worthwhile investment, those on a tight budget can use the Reedsy Book Editor to format and export a polished ebook at no cost.
Once your manuscript is selected, a message will appear indicating that Amazon is processing your book—be patient and avoid refreshing or leaving the page. The upload and verification process can take a few minutes. Once Amazon approves the formatting, a green confirmation message will signal that your book has been successfully uploaded. Take a moment to celebrate, but stay focused—there are still crucial steps ahead!
A book won’t sell without eye-catching packaging, so ensure your cover designer provides a JPG or TIFF file at Kindle’s recommended resolution of 2,560 x 1,600px. To add it, choose the pre-existing cover option and hit “Upload your cover file.” Like the upload process for the manuscript, this may take a moment, followed by a green confirmation message. Once both content and cover are uploaded, use the “Ebook Preview” tool to check every page for accuracy—ensure the interior and cover appear correctly. You’ll then be prompted about an ISBN number and the Publisher name. While Amazon provides a free ISBN, purchasing your own grants full ownership and flexibility to publish on other retailers later
5. Set a price between $2.99 and $9.99
The key to pricing your book effectively is understanding Amazon’s royalty structure: 70% for ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 35% outside that range. Sometimes, you may want to sell below this price—perhaps to boost a series—but staying within the 70% bracket is generally best. As you set your price, Amazon estimates your royalties, deducting a delivery rate based on file size to calculate earnings per sale. You can also adjust pricing for different countries instead of relying on auto settings, which helps maximize international sales. Lastly, consider KDP Select, a program that can increase your book’s visibility and audience on Amazon.
When considering KDP Select, weigh its pros and cons carefully. It offers exclusive promotions and sales opportunities, but at the cost of losing access to a broader international ebook market. If platforms like Apple Books or Google Play are crucial for your marketing strategy, exclusivity might not be ideal. However, if you want to leverage Amazon’s promotional tools, including free weekends, discounts, and increased visibility, KDP Select can be a powerful tool. Ultimately, the choice depends on your business plan and long-term goals as an author.
6. Publish Your Book
The moment you’ve been anticipating is finally here! Before you hit the publish button, take a quick moment to review the previous tabs and make sure everything is exactly how you want it. You can do this by clicking “Back to Content” on the left.
While it’s possible to fix errors after publishing, it’s always best to get everything right before you proceed. If you’re not quite ready, you can use the “Save as Draft” option to come back later. But once everything looks perfect, just hit “Publish your Kindle ebook.”
Congratulations, you did it! As you can see, publishing a book on Amazon is not as daunting as it may seem. Your book will soon be available on Amazon—within 72 hours for Amazon.com and up to five days for international Amazon sites. Now, it’s time to shift your focus to marketing and promotion!
