What is Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)?
Kindle Direct Publishing, or KDP, is Amazon's self-publishing service. It lets an author publish eBooks, paperbacks and hardcover books for free and pays royalties on sales. You upload the files and enter the details, and KDP reviews the book before it goes on sale.
What it means in practice
For each book, KDP asks for its details, the interior, a cover and a price. Details include up to 7 keywords, 3 categories, and an answer on AI-generated content.
Since 21 September 2026, an account can create 2 new titles per format each week, as our guide to the weekly limit explains. eBook royalties come in two bands, 35% and 70%, and a list price from $2.99 to $12.99 can qualify for the second. The royalty calculator works out a sale at any price.
How Chapbook uses it
Chapbook prepares what KDP asks for, and you submit it. The KDP listing lays out the launch kit in the order of KDP’s eBook form. A nonfiction book, workbook or guide also gets a paperback interior and a full-wrap cover, both KDP-sized, each with a preflight report.
The EPUB is the file for the eBook. Chapbook makes no hardcover files. For the AI question, it shows what a book’s history records beside KDP’s own definitions, and the answer stays yours.
In a real book
The Pricing Playbook
How founders set a price they can defend, by Jane Founder
Nonfiction book, 9,862 words, 43 pages
The outline the planner proposed from its brief, chapter by chapter:
- 01 Introduction 620 words
- 02 Why Guessing Fails 1,014 words
- 03 What You Are Actually Selling 1,004 words
- 04 Interview Ten Customers 1,088 words
- 05 Choose the Value Metric 979 words
- 06 Draft Three Tiers 1,076 words
- 07 Set the Numbers 1,130 words
- 08 Say the Price Out Loud 1,063 words
- 09 Revisit Every Quarter 994 words
- 10 Conclusion 384 words
- 11 Appendix: The Interview Script 475 words
Related terms
- What is print-on-demand? Print-on-demand means a book is printed only after someone orders it, with no stock to buy or store. How KDP's version charges for it, and where Chapbook fits.
- What is an ASIN on Amazon? An ASIN, Amazon Standard Identification Number, is the identifier Amazon gives each book it lists. How it differs from an ISBN, and what you do with one.
- What is KENP on Amazon KDP? KENP, Kindle Edition Normalized Pages, is how KDP counts pages read in Kindle+. How it is measured, its per-customer cap, and how it differs from a sale.
- AI-assisted vs AI-generated: what is the difference? On KDP, AI-generated content is created by an AI tool, even if edited later. AI-assisted content is created by you and improved with AI. Only the first must be declared.
Make one
Questions people ask
Is KDP free to use?
Yes. KDP's help page, checked on 30 October 2026, says it lets you self-publish eBooks, paperbacks and hardcover books for free. KDP subtracts printing costs from a print book's royalties rather than charging up front.
Can Chapbook publish my book to KDP?
No. Chapbook makes the files and the listing's text, and you publish on KDP yourself. Its files are KDP-sized, not KDP-approved: KDP reviews every book, and Chapbook can't promise acceptance.
Read a chapter of your own book before you pay for it.
The outline, one sample chapter up to 2,500 words and a watermarked cover are free: 60 Book Credits on sign-up, no card.