The upload itself is a form that takes twenty minutes. Nearly every problem people have with it comes from starting the form without the things it asks for, then improvising them in the box — which is how books end up with a placeholder description and a category nobody browses.
So: what to have ready, then the steps.
Have these before you start
| Thing | Spec | Where it is decided |
|---|---|---|
| Manuscript | Reflowable EPUB | Markdown to Kindle |
| Cover | ~1,600 × 2,560 JPEG | Ebook cover dimensions |
| Title + subtitle | Final | How to title a book |
| Description | Written, not drafted | Writing a book description |
| Categories | Two, chosen | Book metadata and categories |
| Keywords | Seven phrases | Same |
| Price | Decided | How to price an ebook |
| Tax and bank details | Real ones | KDP account setup |
Validate the EPUB before you upload it. KDP will accept files that then render oddly on a device, and EPUBCheck errors are cheaper to read than a one-star review about formatting.
The steps
- Create a KDP account at kdp.amazon.com and complete the tax interview and bank details first. Without them the book cannot go on sale, and the interview is the slowest part of the whole process.
- Bookshelf → Create → Kindle eBook.
- Language, title, subtitle. These are the fields to get right now — the title is awkward to change after the book has reviews attached to it.
- Series and edition, if either applies. Series consistency matters more than it looks; the series field is what groups them on Amazon.
- Author and contributors, spelled exactly as you will spell them on every future book.
- Description. Paste the one you wrote. It accepts basic HTML for bold and line breaks, and a wall of unformatted text is the most common self-published tell.
- Publishing rights — you own it, or it is public domain.
- Keywords, seven boxes. Phrases a reader would type, not single words, and nothing already in your title or categories; repeating those wastes the slot.
- Categories. Two narrow ones beat one broad one. This is the field most worth spending ten minutes on, because it decides which charts you can realistically appear in.
- Age range, if relevant, and the low-content declaration.
- Upload the manuscript. EPUB. KDP also accepts DOCX and its own KPF, and EPUB is the file that travels everywhere else too.
- Upload the cover, or build one in their Cover Creator. Use your own.
- Open the previewer. Do not skip this.
- ISBN — leave it blank and Amazon assigns a free one, unless you have your own. Do you need an ISBN?
- Next → territories, royalty and price.
- Publish. Review takes up to 72 hours, usually far less.
The previewer is the whole quality check
Step 13 is where problems are cheap to fix and after publishing they are not. Page through it and look specifically at:
- Chapter starts. Each one on a new page, not halfway down the previous.
- The table of contents, which should be generated from headings and should work — markdown table of contents.
- Images. Present, right way up, not enormous.
- Tables, which is where EPUB most often falls apart — tables in books.
- The first page. Not a blank one, not the copyright page.
- Special characters, quotes and dashes — smart quotes and dashes.
Check on both a phone-sized preview and a tablet one. Reflowable means the layout you approved is not the layout everyone gets.
The two decisions inside the form
KDP Select. A tickbox with real consequences: the ebook becomes exclusive to Amazon for 90-day periods, entering Kindle Unlimited. Good for genre fiction with a series behind it, usually poor for non-fiction sold to a professional audience, and it forecloses every other channel including your own website. Draft2Digital vs KDP is that decision in full.
The royalty band. 70% applies between $2.99 and $9.99 and 35% outside it, and the 70% band also carries a delivery fee based on your file size — which is the one reason to care about reducing file size for image-heavy books.
After it is live
- It takes a few hours to appear properly and up to 72 for everything to settle.
- Fixing the file later is normal. Upload a new manuscript, it re-reviews, existing buyers can get the update.
- Changing the title or author is not. Treat those as permanent.
- Add the paperback from the same Bookshelf entry, which links the editions on one product page. That needs a print PDF rather than an EPUB — print-ready PDF and print cover, spine and bleed.
Where the EPUB comes from
The step this page assumes you have already done is the one that actually takes the time. If your manuscript is in Word, expect to clean it up first; if it is in a layout application, expect to export and check.
The version that stays cheap on the second upload is keeping the manuscript as plain text: bukpress takes a Markdown source and exports the reflowable EPUB that KDP wants and the print PDF the paperback needs, from the same file — so a typo found in the previewer is one edit and one rebuild rather than a formatting session. Markdown to Kindle is that path, and how to self-publish a book is where this step sits in the whole sequence.
Frequently asked questions
What file format does KDP want? A reflowable EPUB is the best answer. It also accepts DOCX and its own KPF, and EPUB is the one every other store takes as well, so producing it once serves everywhere.
How long does KDP take to review a book? Up to 72 hours, usually much less. A first-ever book sometimes takes longer than later ones.
Can I change my book after publishing? The file, the description, the categories, the keywords and the price, yes — upload and it re-reviews. The title, subtitle and author are effectively permanent once reviews are attached.
Do I need an ISBN for a Kindle book? No. Amazon assigns a free ASIN. Use your own ISBN only if you want to be the named publisher of record.
Why was my book blocked or delayed? Most often a metadata mismatch — a title that differs between the cover and the form — or a cover that includes a price. Both are quick fixes and both re-trigger the review.