# Self-publishing checklist for a nonfiction ebook

Before you publish a nonfiction ebook, finish five things: an edited and fact-checked manuscript, a file you have previewed, a cover at the store’s size, a complete listing, and your decisions on exclusivity, price and AI disclosure. On KDP, also check your weekly slot: 2 new titles per format since 21 September 2026.

Last reviewed 30 October 2026. Web page: https://chapbook.ink/guides/self-publishing-checklist-nonfiction-ebook/

## The manuscript

- It has been edited by you, line by line, and read by one other person.
- Every number, name, quotation and citation has been traced to a source. See [how to fact-check an AI-drafted book](/guides/fact-check-an-ai-drafted-book/).
- The title page, copyright page and contents are in place.
- The last page tells readers what to do next: a link to your site, your list or your next book.

## The files

- You have an EPUB or DOCX for KDP. Other ebook stores generally take an EPUB, so check each store’s own list.
- You have opened it in Kindle Previewer, which KDP describes as a free desktop app to “make sure it looks as intended”.
- The contents links work, the headings look alike from chapter to chapter, and tables and pictures are readable at phone size.
- Your file size is small enough for your price. A large file costs more to deliver in the 70% band; [how to price a short ebook](/guides/how-to-price-a-short-ebook/) has the sums.

## The cover

- It meets KDP’s rules: JPEG, PNG, GIF or TIFF, at least 500 pixels on the longest side, at most 10,000 on each side and 50 MB.
- It matches KDP’s recommended 2,560 × 1,600 pixels, as a JPEG.
- The title can be read at thumbnail size.
- If AI made any of the art, you know how that affects your answer to KDP’s AI question.

The [ebook cover checker](/tools/ebook-cover-size-checker/) measures your file against these rules.

## The listing

KDP’s limits, as checked on 29 October 2026:

| Field | Limit |
|---|---|
| Title and subtitle | Fewer than 200 characters together |
| Description | Up to 4,000 characters, counting HTML tags |
| Keywords | 7 boxes of up to 50 characters |
| Categories | 3 |

Write the description for a reader who has never heard of you: what the book helps them do, what is in it, and who it is for. Choose keywords your reader would type, and categories where your book truly belongs.

## The three decisions

**KDP Select.** Enrolling makes the ebook exclusive for 90 days at a time: “the Kindle eBook can only be distributed through KDP and public libraries”. Print can still go elsewhere. The term renews automatically unless you opt out, and you have 3 days from the start of the term to cancel. If you plan to give the book away as a lead magnet or sell it on your own site, don’t enroll it.

**Price.** Set it with the royalty bands in view. The 70% band runs from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, and the [royalty calculator](/tools/kdp-royalty-calculator/) shows what one sale pays at your price.

**AI disclosure.** KDP’s rule, in its own words: “We require you to inform us of AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book through KDP. AI-generated images include cover and interior images and artwork. You are not required to disclose AI-assisted content.” The [AI-generated or AI-assisted helper](/tools/kdp-ai-disclosure-helper/) walks through its definitions. The answer is yours to give.

## Timing

KDP says it takes 3 business days for a book to go live, and gives up to 72 hours for an ebook’s detail page to appear. It calls these estimates, so leave some margin. Count your weekly slots too: KDP allows 2 new titles per format per week, as [our guide to the limit](/guides/kdp-weekly-title-limit/) explains. Plan any announcement for after the book is live.

## Where Chapbook fits

Chapbook covers most of this list but not the last step. It exports a PDF, an EPUB, a Word document and a 1,600 × 2,560 cover JPEG, runs checks before you can mark a book finished, and lays out your listing in the order of KDP’s form with the limits above. It also shows what the book’s history records for KDP’s AI question, beside KDP’s own definitions. You paste the fields in and upload the files yourself, and KDP still reviews the book. Chapbook can’t promise it will be accepted.

## What to do

1. **Finish the manuscript.** Edit it, check every fact, and have one other person read it. Add a title page, a copyright page and contents, and end with what you want the reader to do next.
2. **Make and preview the file.** Export an EPUB or DOCX, then open it in Kindle Previewer. Check the contents links, headings, tables and pictures on a phone-sized view as well as a tablet.
3. **Make the cover.** KDP recommends 2,560 pixels high by 1,600 wide, as a JPEG. Shrink it to a thumbnail and check you can still read the title.
4. **Write the listing.** Title and subtitle under 200 characters together, a description of up to 4,000, 7 keyword boxes and 3 categories. Draft them in one document first.
5. **Make the three decisions.** Whether to enroll in KDP Select, what price to set, and how to answer KDP’s AI question. Each one affects what you can do next, so settle them before you open the form.
6. **Upload, then check it live.** Allow time for review, then open your live page. Read the description as it appears, buy or sample a copy, and confirm the links inside the book work.

## Made with Chapbook: The Pricing Playbook

The Pricing Playbook: How founders set a price they can defend, by Jane Founder. Nonfiction book, 9,862 words, 43 pages. A sample generated from one brief and exported unedited; it is not a customer's book. Read every page: https://chapbook.ink/examples/nonfiction/

The brief:

> A repeatable method for pricing software: customer interviews, a value metric, tiering, and setting numbers you can defend. Promise: A repeatable method for setting a price you can defend to customers, investors and yourself, validated by ten customer interviews in a week. Reader: A founder who priced by guessing or by copying a competitor and now has to defend or change the number. Voice: Direct second person with occasional first person; worked examples with fictional companies; tables where they clarify; no invented statistics or named studies: reason from mechanics and examples.

The outline the planner proposed:

1. Introduction (620 words)
2. Why Guessing Fails (1,014 words)
3. What You Are Actually Selling (1,004 words)
4. Interview Ten Customers (1,088 words)
5. Choose the Value Metric (979 words)
6. Draft Three Tiers (1,076 words)
7. Set the Numbers (1,130 words)
8. Say the Price Out Loud (1,063 words)
9. Revisit Every Quarter (994 words)
10. Conclusion (384 words)
11. Appendix: The Interview Script (475 words)

## Questions

### Do I need an ISBN for a Kindle ebook?

No. KDP says “eBooks and low-content books are the only formats where an ISBN is optional”, as checked on 30 October 2026. A paperback needs one, and KDP offers a free one for KDP use.

### How long does KDP take to publish an ebook?

KDP says it takes 3 business days for a book to go live, and up to 72 hours for an ebook’s detail page to appear. It calls these estimates, as checked on 30 October 2026.

### How many keywords and categories does KDP allow?

7 keywords and 3 categories, as checked against KDP’s help pages on 29 October 2026. Each keyword box on the eBook form takes up to 50 characters.

### Should I enroll my ebook in KDP Select?

Only if you won’t sell or give away the ebook elsewhere. KDP requires it to be exclusive to the Kindle Store for each 90-day term, and terms renew automatically unless you opt out.

### Do I have to tell KDP that I used AI?

You must tell KDP about AI-generated text, images or translations when you publish. You aren’t required to disclose AI-assisted content, under KDP’s definitions as checked on 29 October 2026.

### Does Chapbook publish to KDP for me?

No. Chapbook makes the files and lays out the listing in the order of KDP’s form. You upload with your own KDP account, and KDP reviews the book.

## Sources

- [Amazon KDP, “Metadata Guidelines for Books”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201097560)
- [Amazon KDP, “How do I add/change my keywords?”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201743260)
- [Amazon KDP, “KDP Categories”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200652170)
- [Amazon KDP, “Write a Book Description”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201189630)
- [Amazon KDP, “Cover Image Guidelines for Kindle eBooks”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G6GTK3T3NUHKLEFX)
- [Amazon KDP, “Kindle Previewer”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202131170)
- [Amazon KDP, “What is an ISBN and Imprint?”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201834170)
- [Amazon KDP, “KDP Select Enrollment”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GD9PMU58BV24QFZ7)
- [Amazon KDP, “Content Guidelines”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200672390)
- [Amazon KDP, “Timelines”](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202173620)
- [KDP Community, “Update on KDP Title Creation Limits – October 2026”](https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/KDP-Title-Creation-Limits-Update)