Publish Your Book on Amazon and Beyond

Uploading to KDP is free. Our one-time setup fee runs from $249 for an Amazon-only ebook to $999 for Global. Outside costs go straight to the vendor: your own ISBNs ($125 each from Bowker in the US, free in Canada), printed proofs (Global includes one free), and the US Copyright Office fee if you register. Stores take their share only when a book sells. The Amazon self-publishing cost calculator gives a tier-by-tier estimate in under a minute.

A finished, edited manuscript with a print-ready cover and formatted interior files. Publishing tiers check and upload those files but do not create them. If you have only the manuscript, Publish-Ready Bundles add cover design and interior formatting. If it still needs editing, Author-Polished Bundles add that too. We check what you have on the first call. Not sure what you need? Book a call and we’ll design a custom package.

KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon’s free publishing platform, and KDP self publishing and Amazon self-publishing mean the same thing. Amazon doesn’t publish your book: you are the publisher, and Amazon is the store and printer. You upload your files, and KDP says a new book can take up to 3 business days to go live (as of October 2026). See how long KDP review takes. No one at Amazon edits your manuscript or offers a contract. KDP checks that your files meet its guidelines, not that your book is ready.

Set up two editions in one free KDP account: a Kindle ebook (a tested EPUB file) and a paperback (a print-ready PDF sized to your page count). Do it yourself at kdp.amazon.com with our guide on how to self-publish on Amazon, or let us: the Amazon tier at $249 covers the Kindle ebook, Online Stores at $549 adds four ebook stores and a paperback, and Global at $999 adds bookstores and libraries.

Amazon takes 5 to 10 business days from contract to live, Online Stores takes 10 to 15, and Global takes 15 to 30, because it adds bookstores, libraries, hardcover, and audiobook. Printed sample copies add shipping time. Within each range, speed depends on how fast you approve each step: your book details, your printed sample copy, and the final check of each store page. Reply within 24 hours and you land at the fast end.

On Amazon, ebooks priced $2.99 to $12.99 earn 70% after a small delivery fee, and 35% outside that range. Paperbacks earn 60% of list price minus printing at $9.99 and above, and 50% below. As of October 2026, a $4.99 Kindle ebook earns $3.28 (2 MB file), and a 250-page, $14.99 paperback earns about $4.99. Rates for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, and IngramSpark are compared in our platform comparison.

It depends on your genre, because KDP Select keeps your ebook on Amazon only and puts it in Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited), which often pays well for romance, thriller, and fantasy. Non-fiction and books that sell well in libraries often earn more on every store, so read what KDP Select is before you enroll.

An ASIN is Amazon’s own product ID and works only on Amazon. An ISBN is the book number every store, library, and wholesaler uses, and one registered in your name lists you as the publisher. Global registers your own ISBN for every format, because IngramSpark and libraries need one. You buy ISBNs from your country’s agency: Bowker in the US ($125 each or $295 for ten, as of October 2026), free in Canada.

Through print on demand: a copy is printed only when a reader orders it, so there’s no print run and no inventory. Amazon KDP Print produces your Amazon paperback and pays you more per copy on Amazon orders. IngramSpark produces the same book for bookstores, libraries, and the wholesalers Amazon doesn’t reach. The Online Stores tier sets up KDP Print, and Global adds IngramSpark. Hardcover is included in Global, or an Amazon hardcover can be added to Online Stores for $79.

On Global, yes: any bookstore can order your book through IngramSpark, but orderable isn’t the same as on the shelf. Many stores expect a 55% discount and the right to return unsold copies, which lowers your earnings per copy. Self-published books rarely sit on shelves without local promotion, but readers can always order them at the counter.

Either works. KDP is free and not hard to use; the time goes into categories, keywords, descriptions for each store, print sizing, and pricing choices that are hard to undo. If that work interests you, do it yourself and keep the fee. Either way, avoid any Amazon self publishing company that takes a royalty share or registers accounts in its own name.

Nothing changes for you. The account is registered with your email, your tax info, your bank account, and your bio. You have the password, and nothing locks you in. If you want to manage the account yourself, you log in and do that. If you want to hire a different service to run promotions or add formats later, you give them access to the same account. We are a contractor for the setup, not a co-owner of the publication.

No. You can publish on KDP, IngramSpark, Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble as an individual, using your legal name, personal bank account, and own tax details. Some authors form an LLC to keep book income separate, to list a business as the publisher of record, or for liability and tax reasons, but none of that is required. An accountant or attorney can tell you whether one fits, and we register your accounts to match whichever structure you choose.

Yes. KDP, Apple Books, Kobo, B&N, and IngramSpark all support pen names. Your accounts stay registered to your legal name and bank account for tax and royalty payments, while the cover, listings, and Author Central profile show the pen name, and we set up both sides. For full privacy, such as ISBNs and royalties held by a separate business entity, you will need an accountant or IP lawyer, and we can refer you.

Only if AI generated the actual content. KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated text, images, or translations when you publish, even if you edited them heavily afterward. AI-assisted work, such as brainstorming, outlining, grammar checks, or editing your own writing, does not need disclosing. Skipping a required disclosure can get a title removed, so when in doubt, disclose. We check KDP’s current wording before we submit your book.

Amazon sometimes holds a book for a manual check, often over the cover, price, or category. On Global, our 30 days of support covers it, and we deal with Amazon support for you. On Amazon and Online Stores, you contact Amazon directly. No one can guarantee a book won’t be flagged, because Amazon’s review system is not public.

It depends on where it is now. Adding stores to a book already on KDP is simple. Hybrid publisher contracts often make leaving hard, so check the exit clause. If you used a vanity press, your rights may need an IP lawyer’s review. On the discovery call, we tell you honestly how easy your book is to move.

Marketing is a separate service. Every publishing tier includes an Amazon Author Central profile, and Global adds 30 days of support after launch plus Goodreads and BookBub author pages. Those are setup work, not promotion. Our Book Marketing Services build things you own, such as your author website and newsletter, from $199. Ads are optional and always in your name, and we never promise sales, reviews, or rankings.