If you want to know how to publish a book on Amazon and make money, the short answer is: it's free to start, the royalty rates are genuinely competitive, and the main variable is how well you choose your niche and execute your launch. This guide walks through every step — from setting up your KDP account to understanding exactly what you'll earn per sale.
What Is Amazon KDP?
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon's self-publishing platform. You upload your manuscript and cover, set a price, and Amazon distributes your book across its stores worldwide. KDP supports publishing in more than 10 countries across over 45 languages. There's no gatekeeper, no agent required, and no upfront cost — KDP account setup is completely free.
You can publish Kindle ebooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers through the same dashboard. Royalties are paid monthly, and you retain your rights (with one exception around KDP Select exclusivity, covered below). It's the most accessible publishing path available, and for nonfiction authors especially, it's a legitimate income stream when approached systematically.
Step 1: Create Your KDP Account
Go to kdp.amazon.com and sign in with your existing Amazon account or create a new one. The account itself costs nothing. Before Amazon will process any royalty payments, you'll need to submit your tax information — this is mandatory, so handle it before you publish your first book. Once your account is live, you're ready to start a new title from your KDP Bookshelf.
Step 2: Write Your Book
For nonfiction beginners, a focused book in the 10,000–20,000 word range is a practical starting point. It's long enough to deliver genuine value, short enough to actually finish. The key decision here isn't length — it's topic selection. You want a niche with real search demand but limited quality competition on Amazon.
Use the KDP niche pages to explore categories with solid buyer intent before you commit to a topic. Strong niche research before you write saves you from publishing into a vacuum. Look at BSR (Best Sellers Rank) numbers on existing books in your target category — low BSR means strong sales, and several books under 100,000 BSR signals a healthy market. The BSR Sales Calculator can translate those rank numbers into estimated monthly sales.
Step 3: Format Your Manuscript
KDP accepts Microsoft Word (DOC/DOCX), EPUB, Kindle Package Format (KPF), HTML, RTF, TXT, and PDF (for select languages). MOBI is no longer accepted for fixed-layout ebooks as of March 2025, so skip it. For most authors, DOCX is the easiest starting point.
Amazon's free Kindle Create tool is worth using — it converts your Word document into a KPF file with automatic typesetting across all Kindle devices, customizable themes, table of contents generation, and image optimization. It removes a lot of the formatting headaches that trip up first-time publishers. KDP also limits new title creation to 10 titles per book format per week, so if you're planning a volume approach, pace your uploads accordingly. See the KDP how-to guides for formatting walkthroughs.
Step 4: Design Your Cover
Your cover is your primary marketing asset — it's what readers see in search results before they ever read your title. KDP's specifications for ebook covers: ideal dimensions are 2,560 × 1,600 pixels (height × width), with a minimum of 1,000 × 625 pixels. The height-to-width ratio must be at least 1.6:1. Accepted formats are JPEG or TIFF, maximum file size 50 MB, and the color profile must be RGB.
If you're not a designer, tools like Canva have KDP-specific templates at the right dimensions. Alternatively, a professional designer from Fiverr or Reedsy can produce a genre-appropriate cover for a reasonable flat fee. Don't cut corners here — a poor cover tanks conversion rates regardless of how good the content is.
Step 5: Set Up Your KDP Listing
Your listing is how Amazon's algorithm — and readers — find your book. Fill in your title, subtitle, and book description carefully. KDP gives you seven keyword fields for search optimization and allows you to select two subcategories per listing. Use all seven keyword slots with specific phrases your target reader would actually search, not generic single words.
Category selection matters more than most new authors realize. Choosing the right two subcategories determines which bestseller lists you appear on — and ranking in a list drives organic visibility. Research which subcategories your competition is using, and look for niches where the top books have achievable BSR numbers for a new release.
Step 6: Choose Your Price and Royalty Plan
This is where the money decisions happen. For Kindle ebooks, KDP offers two royalty tiers:
- 70% royalty: Available when your ebook is priced between $2.99 and $9.99 on eligible territories (including Amazon.com). You earn 70% of the list price minus a delivery cost that averages $0.06 per unit sold. This is the tier most authors should target.
- 35% royalty: Applies outside the $2.99–$9.99 range, in non-eligible territories, or for public domain works. This is the only option available in all territories.
For most nonfiction ebooks, $2.99–$9.99 is both the royalty-optimal and market-appropriate range. Price higher and you drop to 35%; price below $2.99 and you do the same, plus you signal low value to buyers. Use the KDP Royalty Calculator to model exact earnings at different price points before you commit.
For paperbacks, the royalty formula is: (royalty rate × list price) minus printing costs. The rate is 60% when your price meets or exceeds the marketplace threshold (for example, $9.99 on Amazon.com), 50% below that threshold, and 40% for expanded distribution — all minus printing costs. Printing costs vary by page count, ink type, and marketplace, so run the numbers before setting your paperback price.
Step 7: Publish and Go Live
Once you submit your book for review, Amazon's team typically approves it within 24 to 72 hours. You'll get an email confirmation when it goes live. After that, your book is available across Amazon's global stores.
The first two weeks after launch matter disproportionately. Amazon's algorithm watches new releases closely — sales velocity, reviews, and click-through rate in this window influence your early ranking. Line up any launch support (an email list, social posts, friends who can leave honest reviews) before you hit publish, not after.
KDP Select: Is the Exclusivity Worth It?
KDP Select is a free 90-day enrollment program for Kindle ebooks. In exchange for giving Amazon exclusive digital distribution rights (you cannot sell the ebook elsewhere digitally during enrollment), you get access to:
- Kindle Unlimited (KU): Your book is included in the KU subscription library. You earn a share of the KDP Select Global Fund proportional to pages read, tracked as KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages). In May 2026, total KU author earnings from this fund were $70.3 million.
- Free Book Promotion: Up to 5 free promo days per 90-day enrollment period. Useful for rank-boosting and review generation at launch.
- Kindle Countdown Deals: Time-limited discounts on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk that display a countdown timer on your listing.
KDP Select also unlocks the 70% royalty tier in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India — markets where it's otherwise unavailable. Whether exclusivity is the right call depends on whether you have meaningful sales on other platforms. For most new authors, KDP Select is worth enrolling at least for the first term.
What You'll Actually Earn (And When)
Royalty math is straightforward once you know your tier and price. A $4.99 ebook at 70% earns roughly $3.43 per sale after the average delivery cost. A $9.99 ebook at 70% earns roughly $6.93 per sale. Paperback earnings depend heavily on page count and printing costs — the royalty formula is transparent, so always calculate your minimum viable price before publishing.
Realistic traction timeline: expect 60–90 days before organic Amazon traffic starts building meaningfully, assuming solid keyword targeting and a competitive cover. Sponsored Products ads (Amazon's internal PPC system) can accelerate this — running ads at launch is one of the most effective ways to feed the algorithm early sales signals. BSR is the clearest indicator of momentum; track it regularly to understand which marketing activities are moving the needle.
If you want to see live BSR, estimated monthly sales, and niche data on any Amazon book page without leaving the browser, the Pubscout Chrome Extension surfaces all of that instantly — useful for competitor research and tracking your own books after launch.
Final Thoughts
Publishing on Amazon KDP in 2026 is genuinely accessible — free to start, global distribution, and royalty rates that hold up well for independent authors. The authors who make consistent money aren't necessarily the best writers; they're the ones who research their niche before writing, execute a real launch plan, and treat it as a business. Start with one focused book in a researched niche, get the fundamentals right, and build from there.