How Amazon KDP Works

How Amazon KDP Works, Explained Plainly

KDP — Kindle Direct Publishing — is Amazon's free self-publishing platform. You upload your book, Amazon handles printing, distribution, and payments, and you earn royalties on every sale. No gatekeepers, no advance, no permission needed. Here's the plain-English version.

What it costs

Nothing to publish. KDP charges no setup fees. For print books, Amazon deducts the printing cost from your royalty on each sale — you never pay out of pocket. Your only real costs are optional: editing, cover design, formatting help.

How royalties work

For ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99, you can earn 70% royalties (35% outside that range or in some territories). For paperbacks, it's 60% of the list price minus printing costs. You set the price; KDP shows you exactly what you'll earn per sale before you publish.

What KDP handles for you

Printing on demand (no inventory), worldwide distribution through Amazon, payment processing, and monthly royalty payouts. You handle the writing, the files, and the marketing.

What about KDP Select?

KDP Select is an optional program that makes your ebook exclusive to Amazon for 90-day periods in exchange for promotional tools and Kindle Unlimited royalties. It's a tradeoff — exclusivity for visibility. You can start without it and enroll later.

Ready to walk the whole path? Start here: How to Self-Publish a Book