How To Self-Publish A Book With Amazon KDP

Emerging authors listen up, this one's for you.

Self-publishing and selling on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) might seem daunting at first, but with a little guidance and research it can be a very satisfying process. Having been through it myself with my first poetry collection, I thought I might share a little about what I learned along the way.

Read on to find out how to register as an author, what the heck an ISBN is and why you need one, how to format your manuscript, and how to list your book on Amazon.

The first step in self-publishing with Amazon is to create a KDP account. This requires creating an Amazon account (if you don't already have one) then registering with KDP.

If you’re publishing a physical paper-based book, your next step is to obtain an ISBN. An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique 13-digit number that identifies a book to the publishing industry and will appear above the barcode on the back cover. You can purchase an ISBN from an official ISBN agency, such as Thorpe-bowker, or alternatively you can purchase an ISBN directly through Amazon as part of the publishing process. There are pros and cons to both options, and I'd advise you to do some additional research here to see what will work best for your needs.

Note that if you're publishing an eBook you do not require an ISBN. Amazon will assign its own numbering system known as an ASIN instead.

Once your ISBN is registered, you can start designing your book. There are heaps of software programs available such as Canva (my personal favourite) or Adobe InDesign that make it simple to lay out your manuscript and design an eye-catching cover yourself, or you can hire a designer to do this for you. Jump on the KDP website to see what sizing options are available for books and download templates to guide you.

Once you're happy with your design, save the content of your book as a PDF, and the cover art as a separate file. Now you're ready to upload to Amazon KDP. Log in and fill out the required fields including your book title, author name, and book description. You'll also need to choose appropriate categories and tags for your book at this stage. Upload your internal content and cover design files and launch the previewer. This will show you exactly how your book will look once published so you'll want to make sure it's perfect. If there's anything you're not happy with, simply exit the previewer, edit your PDF files and re-upload them.

When you're happy with how the preview looks, click through to select your primary market (eg: USA, Australia, UK) and set the retail price for your book. If you're unsure, check out similar books already listed in your marketplace and compare pricing. You can adjust this up or down at any stage, so don't stress too much.

Now for the fun (and just a little scary) part.... With your prices and market set you're ready to publish, so go right ahead and hit that publish button.

And that's pretty much it! You're now a listed author on Amazon, which means you can order sample copies of your book and start promoting it on your website, blog, social media – anywhere and everywhere! Make sure you complete your Author Profile on Amazon Author Central as well – this helps readers learn more about you and your writing from a central profile.

Happy publishing!

~ prb x