Here’s what Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is and how it works.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (also known as Amazon KDP ) is the free platform created by Amazon for self-publishing . If you’ve heard of Amazon KDP and would like to learn more, read on to find out what it is and how it works to self-publish a book.
In recent years, a new possibility of publishing has been introduced for writers, which differs from the classic one : self publishing . This type of publication sees the author publish his work without a publisher and bear the entire cost of the book, taking care of it at 360 °. Many platforms provide useful tools for authors who wish to self-publish and among the most famous and used is Amazon KDP . After telling you about the best platforms for self-publishing a book , in this article we want to focus specifically on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing , to explain in detail what it is and how it works .
What is Amazon KDP
Amazon KDP ( Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing ) is the Amazon.com platform made available for authors who want to self-publish their book.
With Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing , you can publish eBook and paper books in a completely free and reach millions of readers by distributing world on the e-commerce giant. The books published with Amazon KDP , in fact, can be purchased in the Kindle Store , in ebook version, and on Amazon in paper version.
In addition, Amazon KDP gives you the opportunity to register your books on Amazon KDP Select and thus reach more readers thanks to distribution on the Kindle Prime catalog ( Prime Reading ) and the Kindle Unlimited catalog .
Publishing with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is completely free , the platform requires no expense to the author, and allows you to earn up to 70% royalties for each copy sold.
How Amazon KDP Works
Amazon KDP is very simple to use and allows you to publish in less than five minutes . After uploading your book to the platform, reachable at kdp.amazon.com , it will be available in the Kindle Store in about 24/48 hours .
Thanks to the guides made available by Amazon , which explain step by step the operation of the platform in detail, self-publishing is really very simple.
Here are the steps to follow to start self-publishing a book on Amazon KDP :
- Go to kdp.amazon.com,
- Click on the Login button and enter your Amazon account credentials or, if you do not have an account yet, click on the Register button ,
- Enter the information requested by the platform (tax information, payment information and author information),
- Prepare the cover and layout of your book so that they are compatible with the formats required by Amazon KDP (on the platform it is possible to access the formatting guides, the pre-set templates to layout the book, the creation tool of the cover , the Kindle Create tool for preparing ebooks and much more),
- Go to your Library ,
- Under the option found under the heading create new title choose in which format you want to publish,
- Enter the required information (title, description, keyword, author’s name, collaborators, etc),
- Upload the file containing your book and its cover (in this step you can preview the inside and outside of your book to verify that everything is correct before proceeding with publication),
- Choose the cover price of your book ( Amazon allows you to choose it freely starting from a fixed threshold),
- Choose the territories in which you own the distribution rights,
- Publish your book and wait for it to be available on Amazon and the Kindle Store .
Once the book is published, Amazon KDP also offers the author various tools to promote his work, including the ability to register the title in the Kindle Unlimited catalog or to create promotions with which to distribute the ebook for free.
In addition, with Amazon KDP , you have the ability to constantly monitor your sales and earnings, and to purchase proofs of the print book and copies for the author at print price.
Now that you know in detail what Amazon KDP is and how it works , here are also 5 useful tips for self-publishing and where to find cover images for your book .
