Publishing on KDP: Upload, Royalties, Pricing, and the Tax Interview

KDP is free to use. The constraints are tax status, file format, and price thresholds.

You pay nothing to publish on Kindle Direct Publishing. Amazon recoups its costs from your royalty on each sale — not from an account fee, not from a listing fee, not from a monthly charge. The friction sits in three places: the one-time tax interview (which blocks publishing entirely if it shows Incomplete), the manuscript and cover file specs (EPUB or DOCX for ebooks; print-ready PDF interior and full-wrap PDF cover for print), and the royalty math (35% vs. 70% on ebooks; 60% vs. 50% on print, with a $9.99 USD threshold that flips the tier on Amazon.com). This spoke walks the entire path from account creation to live listing, owns the royalty and printing-cost arithmetic, and explains why the tax interview is the single most common reason a new publisher's manuscript sits in Draft for a week.

Open the account, then do nothing else until the tax interview is Complete.

Create your account at kdp.amazon.com using your existing Amazon login or a new email. There are no monthly fees and no upfront charges. The dashboard will flag three sections as incomplete: identity, bank, and tax. All three must read Complete before any title can be published or updated.

What you actually need at the keyboard

• Legal name, email, password, phone number (two-step verification is mandatory).
• Legal address on file with the IRS — must match what your TIN was issued under.
• US bank routing number and account number for royalty deposits.
• SSN, EIN, or ITIN for the tax interview.

Account type: Individual is the default

Select Individual for solo publishing without a registered business entity. You do not need an LLC, S-Corp, or DBA to publish. The tax interview accepts Individual classification; the 1099-MISC will issue to your SSN. An entity structure is a separate decision driven by income volume and liability, not by the platform.

ISBNs: free, locked, or your own

KDP assigns a free ISBN per format. That free ISBN is locked to Amazon — it cannot be ported to IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, Apple Books, or bookstore distribution. If your distribution plan ends at Amazon.com and Expanded Distribution, take the free ISBN. If you intend to push into IngramSpark or independent bookstores for the print edition, buy your own ISBN from Bowker at myidentifiers.com before uploading. The ISBN is permanent metadata on the book; you cannot retroactively swap a free KDP ISBN for a Bowker one.

One-time identity setup. Not your annual tax return.

The KDP tax interview is a guided online questionnaire that establishes your tax identity with Amazon. For US publishers it generates the functional equivalent of a Form W-9. It is completed once — it is not an annual filing — and a Complete status means 0% US withholding on royalties. An Incomplete status means 100% publishing block.

How to complete it

1. Sign in at kdp.amazon.com and finish two-step verification.
2. Go to Your Account → Tax Information → Complete Tax Profile.
3. Select classification (Individual or business) and confirm US person status.
4. Enter your legal name exactly as it appears on your SSN card (or IRS CP575A notice for EIN), then your SSN, EIN, or ITIN.
5. Electronically sign and submit. Refresh and verify status shows Complete.

What each status actually means

What the interview does not do

The tax interview does not file your taxes. It establishes your identity with Amazon so the 1099-MISC issues correctly and withholding is set to 0%. You still report royalty income on your annual return — Schedule C for sole proprietors, with self-employment tax owed on net profit. KDP issues a 1099-MISC (Box 2, Royalties) each January for any publisher who earned more than $10 the prior calendar year. The 1099 is informational; the filing is yours.

EPUB is preferred. Kindle Create is the free fallback.

KDP accepts EPUB, DOCX, DOC, HTML, RTF, TXT, and MOBI for ebook uploads. EPUB renders most reliably across e-readers, phones, and tablets. If you are working from a Word document, Kindle Create (free download from KDP) will convert DOCX to a KDP-optimized EPUB and let you preview chapter breaks, table of contents, and image placement before upload.

Ebook upload steps

1. From Bookshelf, click "+ Kindle eBook" (or the ellipsis "…" → Edit eBook content on an existing draft).
2. Fill in title, subtitle, author, description, keywords, and categories. Description and keywords drive on-Amazon discovery — that work belongs in the listings/categories spoke.
3. Click Upload eBook manuscript, select your file, wait 5–7 minutes for conversion confirmation.
4. Upload your cover separately. JPG or TIFF, minimum 1,000 px on the short side, recommended 2,560 × 1,600 px, under 50 MB. Do not embed the cover inside the manuscript file — Amazon strips it and uses the separately-uploaded cover as the listing image.
5. Click Launch Previewer and check rendering on the simulated e-reader, phone, and tablet views. Resolve every Quality side-panel flag before proceeding.
6. Proceed to Pricing.

KDP Select: the 90-day exclusivity decision

KDP Select is optional 90-day Amazon exclusivity for the ebook. While enrolled, you cannot distribute the same ebook through Draft2Digital, Google Play, Apple Books, your own site, or any other channel. The trade is access to Kindle Unlimited page-read royalties, Kindle Countdown Deals, and Free Book Promotions. The term auto-renews unless you opt out before each renewal. Whether to enroll is a discoverability decision — that math sits in Spoke 6 (Listings, Keywords & Categories), not here.

PDF interior, full-wrap PDF cover, proof copy before publish.

Print requires more file discipline than ebook. The interior must be a PDF with embedded fonts and 300 DPI images, matched exactly to the declared trim size and page count. Download KDP's free templates for your chosen trim size and ink type before exporting — the templates set margins and bleed correctly for the printer.

Paperback upload steps

1. From Bookshelf, click "+ Paperback" (or the ellipsis → Edit paperback content).
2. Fill in book details, then select trim size, bleed setting, paper color (white or cream), and ISBN.
3. Click Upload paperback manuscript and wait for "Manuscript uploaded successfully."
4. Upload your cover as a single PDF containing back cover + spine + front cover (full wrap). Minimum 300 DPI, embedded fonts, no crop marks, file under 650 MB. Spine text requires at least 79 interior pages.
5. Click Launch Previewer (Print Previewer) and fix every flagged error — bleed warnings, low-resolution images, spine text outside safe area.
6. Order a proof copy. The proof is charged at printing cost + shipping with no royalty deducted, and lets you physically verify margins, spine, color, and image clarity before clicking publish.
7. Proceed to Rights & Pricing.

Hardcover: identical setup, two exceptions

Hardcover uses the same flow under Edit hardcover content. Two differences matter: hardcover is not available on KDP Japan, and hardcover is not eligible for Expanded Distribution. If your distribution plan depends on either, hardcover is the wrong format choice for that channel.

Ebook: 35% or 70%. Print: 60% above $9.99, 50% below.

KDP royalties are tier-based, not negotiated. Your job at the Pricing page is to land in the right tier on purpose.

Ebook royalties

You choose 35% or 70% per title on the Pricing page. The choice is changeable.

• 35% royalty: Available at any US list price $0.99–$200.00. Formula: 0.35 × (list price − applicable VAT) = royalty. No delivery cost is deducted.
• 70% royalty: Available only when the US list price is $2.99–$9.99. Formula: 0.70 × (list price − applicable VAT) − delivery cost = royalty. Delivery cost averages $0.06 per unit on Amazon.com ($0.15/MB of file size). For Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India, the book must also be enrolled in KDP Select. Books primarily composed of public domain content are ineligible.

Within the $2.99–$9.99 window, 70% always pays more than 35%, even after the delivery fee. There is no list price in that range where selecting 35% generates more royalty than selecting 70%.

The price-matching trap

If Amazon matches a lower price from a third party or runs its own promotion, your 70%-tier royalty is calculated on Amazon's actual sale price, not your list price. If you list at $4.99 and Amazon matches a $2.99 competitor, your royalty is calculated on $2.99. You cannot prevent this; you can only avoid it by not having a cheaper version of the same content available elsewhere.

Print royalties (paperback and hardcover)

As of June 10, 2025, KDP pays 60% for paperbacks and hardcovers priced at $9.99 USD and above, and 50% for those priced at $9.98 USD and below. Same tiers apply to hardcovers. Thresholds vary by marketplace (£7.98 GBP on Amazon.co.uk; €9.98 EUR on EU marketplaces).

Formula (as of June 10, 2025):

(royalty rate × list price) − printing cost = your royalty

Royalty tier table — Amazon.com channel

Expanded Distribution royalty

For paperbacks distributed through Expanded Distribution (third-party wholesalers, libraries, non-Amazon bookstores), the royalty is 40% of list price minus printing cost — twenty points below the Amazon channel rate. The trade is reach for margin. Expanded Distribution is paperback-only; hardcover is not eligible.

Format royalty summary

USD, Amazon.com. All royalty figures are estimates — re-verify with KDP's Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator before setting prices.

The print royalty is a subtraction problem. Page count drives the subtraction.

The print formula is (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost = your royalty. The list price and royalty rate are decisions you make at the Pricing page. The printing cost is dictated by your manuscript before you ever open the page — by page count, ink type, and trim size.

Printing cost formula

Fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost) = printing cost

Black-ink paperback (Amazon.com)

• 24–108 pages: $2.30 fixed, $0 per page.
• 110–828 pages: $1.00 fixed + $0.012 per page. A 300-page example = $1.00 + (300 × $0.012) = $4.60.

Black-ink hardcover (Amazon.com)

• 75–108 pages: $6.80 fixed, $0 per page.
• 110–550 pages: $5.50 fixed + $0.012 per page. A 300-page example = $5.50 + (300 × $0.012) = $9.10.

What changes printing cost — and what doesn't

Minimum list price formulas

KDP enforces a minimum list price equal to the price at which your royalty would be exactly zero. Below that price, the system refuses to publish.

• 60% tier: printing cost ÷ 0.60 = minimum list price
• 50% tier: printing cost ÷ 0.50 = minimum list price

For a 300-page B&W paperback at $4.60 print cost: the 60%-tier minimum is $7.67, the 50%-tier minimum is $9.20. The only way to reach the 60% tier on Amazon.com is to price at $9.99 or above. Pricing at $8.99 puts you in the 50% tier and generates near-zero royalty after the printing cost subtraction.

Maximum list prices

$250 USD for paperback and hardcover; $200 USD for ebooks. Above those ceilings, the listing cannot be saved.

Expanded Distribution: more reach, twenty points less royalty.

Expanded Distribution makes your paperback available to third-party distributors, who supply booksellers and libraries worldwide. Enrollment is free.

Eligibility

• Paperback only — hardcover is not eligible.
• Book must already be live on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
• You must hold distribution rights for the US or UK.
• The ISBN cannot already be submitted through another distribution service for the same territory.
• Hebrew, Yiddish, and Japanese paperbacks are not eligible.

Content restrictions

KDP explicitly excludes journals, notebooks, planners, coloring books, public domain content, cookbooks, how-to books, word searches, sudoku, and dozens of other categories from Expanded Distribution. Review the full exclusion list at kdp.amazon.com/help/topic/GQTT4W3T5AYK7L45 before enabling the option. Enrolling excluded content gets the title rejected at the distributor stage — the Amazon listing is unaffected, but the Expanded channel never goes live.

Royalty, timeline, enrollment

• Royalty rate: 40% of list price minus printing cost (20 points below the Amazon channel rate).
• Timeline: Up to 8 weeks to become available, and up to 8 weeks for price or content changes to propagate. Royalty reports update ~30 days after month end; payment ~60 days after month end.
• Enrollment: In Edit paperback rights & pricing, check the Expanded Distribution box for each available territory.

The decision is straightforward: if your title is in an eligible category and you want library and independent-bookstore reach, enroll. If your title is on the exclusion list (most low-content books, planners, journals), do not. The 40% rate is meaningful only when the unit volume exists to offset the lower per-copy royalty.

The five-step publish sequence. In order.

This is the operator-direct version of How to Publish a Book on Amazon KDP. Each step has to be completed before the next is possible — KDP enforces the order through the dashboard.

Step 1 — Create your account and complete the tax interview

Register at kdp.amazon.com, add your bank account, go to Your Account → Tax Information → Complete Tax Profile, enter your SSN, EIN, or ITIN, electronically sign, and confirm the status reads Complete before doing anything else. An Incomplete status blocks publishing entirely; a TIN mismatch with IRS records gives you 30 days to correct it before the account is suspended.

Step 2 — Format and upload your manuscript and cover

Format your ebook as EPUB or use Kindle Create to convert DOCX. Format your print interior as a PDF with embedded fonts and 300 DPI images, matched to your chosen KDP trim-size template. Upload via Bookshelf → "+ Kindle eBook" or "+ Paperback" and complete every book detail field. Upload the cover separately: JPG or TIFF (ebook), single full-wrap PDF (print).

Step 3 — Run the previewer and order a proof copy

Launch the Online Previewer (ebook) or Print Previewer (print) and resolve every flagged error. For print, order a proof copy to verify margins, cover wrap, spine, and image clarity on the physical object. The proof is charged at printing cost + shipping with no royalty deducted.

Step 4 — Price using the royalty calculator

On the Rights & Pricing page, open KDP's Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator. Enter your page count, ink type, and trim size. For print on Amazon.com, set the list price at $9.99 or above to land in the 60% royalty tier. For ebooks priced at $2.99–$9.99, select the 70% royalty option. If enabling Expanded Distribution, confirm the price still yields a positive royalty at 40%.

Step 5 — Publish and verify the live listing

Click Publish Your Kindle eBook or Publish Your Paperback Book. Monitor Bookshelf status until it moves from Publishing to Live — ebooks go live in 24–72 hours; paperbacks on the Amazon channel in approximately 72 hours; Expanded Distribution in up to 8 weeks. Once live, search for your title on Amazon and confirm the detail page, Look Inside or sample, and all linked formats render correctly.

The eight mistakes that cost royalty.

1. Doing the tax interview after uploading the manuscript

An Incomplete tax status blocks all publishing. Complete the interview immediately after account creation. A TIN mismatch with IRS records triggers a 30-day correction window; miss it and the account is suspended.

2. Pricing a print book below the $9.99 USD threshold

Books at $9.98 or below earn 50%, not 60%. A 300-page B&W book at $8.99 generates near-zero royalty after the $4.60 printing cost is subtracted. Use KDP's Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator to find break-even and confirm you clear the 60% threshold before setting price.

3. Selecting 35% royalty for an ebook priced $2.99–$9.99

The 70% option is always strictly better at every price in that range, even after the delivery fee. There is no case where 35% pays more within the $2.99–$9.99 window.

4. Uploading only the front cover for a print book

KDP requires a single PDF wrap: back cover + spine + front cover. Spine text requires at least 79 pages. Download the KDP cover template for your exact trim size and page count and design into the template, not against it.

5. Assuming a free KDP ISBN transfers to other distributors

A KDP-assigned ISBN is locked to Amazon. If you want IngramSpark or bookstore distribution for the print edition, buy your own ISBN from Bowker before publishing — the ISBN is permanent metadata and cannot be swapped after the fact.

6. Enrolling excluded content in Expanded Distribution

Journals, coloring books, cookbooks, how-to books, and dozens of other categories are explicitly barred. Review the full exclusion list at the Expanded Distribution help page before enabling the option.

7. Skipping the print previewer and using proof copies to find errors

The Print Previewer is free and flags formatting errors before you publish. A proof copy costs printing + shipping and takes days to arrive. Run the previewer first; use the proof only to verify physical feel and color accuracy.

8. Treating the tax interview as an annual event

The interview is a one-time identity setup. It does not replace your annual tax return. Report all royalty income on Schedule C each year and pay self-employment tax on net profit; KDP's 1099-MISC is informational only.

Frequently asked questions.

Next up: ads, page-reads, and scaling.

The manuscript is live, the royalty math is set, and the tax interview is Complete. The next spoke covers ongoing operation — Amazon Ads (sponsored product, lockscreen, category targeting), Kindle Unlimited page-read economics, the income-tax workflow once the 1099-MISC arrives, and how to scale from one title to a catalog without losing the per-title margin.

Spoke 8: Ads & Scaling → ↑ Back to KDP Publishing Guide