How to launch a book on Amazon KDP, step by step

This guide assumes you will publish through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) yourself. If a publisher is handling your listing, the same steps apply, but ask who does each one and when.

Step 1. Before you start: ISBNs and formats

Decide which formats you will launch with: ebook, paperback, hardcover, and later perhaps audiobook. Then decide on ISBNs, because the choice is hard to change later.

• Ebook: KDP's ISBN page says an ISBN is optional for ebooks.
• Paperback and hardcover: an ISBN is required. KDP offers a free one, but it can only be used on KDP, and the imprint shows as "Independently published."
• Your own ISBNs: in the US, Bowker sells one for $125 or ten for $295. Owning them lets you use the same number with other distributors and list your own imprint name.

If you want bookstores and libraries to be able to order the print edition, The Scribe Method's distribution chapter recommends using both KDP and IngramSpark. That is one reason many authors buy their own ISBNs.

Step 2. Set the release: ebook preorder and print date

Amazon treats the two formats differently, which surprises most first-time authors.

The ebook can take preorders

• KDP's preorder page allows ebook preorders up to 18 months ahead for preorders created on or after September 2, 2026.
• Preorders are for ebooks only, not paperbacks or hardcovers.
• The final manuscript must be uploaded at least 72 hours before the release date. Miss it and the preorder is canceled and customers are told. A second miss removes preorder privileges for six months.
• Preorders count toward sales rank and Kindle Store merchandising before release.

Print gets a scheduled release date

• KDP's release date page lets you schedule a paperback or hardcover up to 90 days ahead. It says plainly that KDP does not offer preorders for print books.
• The detail page stays hidden until release day. Five days before release, the book locks: no edits to files or details, and no change of date.

Set both formats to the same launch date so readers can find every edition on day one. The preorders guide covers when a preorder is worth it, and how IngramSpark and ACX handle the same question.

Step 3. Price it: royalties and ranges

Price decides your royalty rate, so check the bands before you pick a number.

Sources: KDP's ebook list price requirements, ebook royalties (average delivery cost $0.06 a unit, varying with file size) and paperback royalties. KDP's own example: a $15, 333-page black-ink paperback on Amazon.com earns (0.60 x $15) minus $5.00 printing, or $4.00 a copy.

For nonfiction, The Scribe Method's pricing chapter suggests $3.99 to $9.99 for the ebook, $10.99 to $19.99 for the paperback and $14.99 to $27.99 for the hardcover, lower in each range to sell the most copies and higher to signal value. A low launch price is a choice, not a requirement: if the book is mainly meant to bring you clients or speaking work, the number of readers usually matters more than the royalty.

Step 4. Build the book page

Your Amazon detail page is your storefront. Five parts of it are yours to control.

1. Title, subtitle and description. The description is the sales copy. The Scribe Method chapter on writing a book description that sells walks through it.
2. Categories and keywords. You choose three categories and up to seven keywords. The categories and keywords guide covers the rules, what is banned and how to choose.
3. A+ Content. The images and text modules below the description. KDP's A+ Content page says you build it from the KDP Marketing page, approved content appears within eight business days, images should be at least 300 DPI, and each Amazon store needs its own version. Build it before launch so it is live in launch week.
4. Author Central. Author Central at author.amazon.com is free. Claim your book by ISBN, ASIN or name, add your bio, and add editorial reviews (a US-only feature).
5. The look inside. Make sure the opening pages of your file sell the book: a strong introduction, not ten pages of front matter.

Step 5. Launch day checks

Amazon does not switch everything on at once. KDP's timelines page gives these estimates, which tell you what to check and when to stop worrying:

On launch morning, open your book page from a browser where you are not signed in, and check:

• Every format is buyable, at the price you set.
• The cover, title, subtitle and description are right, with no formatting errors.
• Your categories show in the product details (rank in a category can take a day to appear, since KDP's sales rank page says rank updates at least once a day).
• Your Author Central page lists the book.
• The links in your launch email and posts go to the right page.

If formats have not linked after a week, contact KDP support. If something is wrong with the book itself, fix the file and resubmit; updates go through the same review. The launch week checklist covers the rest of the week day by day, including reviews from your advance readers, which can start once the book is live.

Rank can move a lot in a small category. Charles Daly's book reached #1 in Amazon's War & Peace category. That is one author's result in one category, not a typical one, and a category rank is a snapshot, not a sales total.

Step 6. What Amazon ads cost to try

You can launch without ads, and many authors should wait until the book has some reviews. If you want to test them, KDP lets you run Amazon Ads from your Bookshelf. The facts that matter for cost:

• You pay per click. Amazon's Ads FAQ says Sponsored Products use cost-per-click, auction-based pricing: you set the most you will pay per click, and a higher bid makes the ad more likely to show.
• The floor is low. The minimum daily budget for Sponsored Products is $1.
• Start with Sponsored Products. KDP's Amazon Ads page recommends them for new advertisers. Sponsored Brands need a pen name with three titles in Author Central.

Amazon does not publish an average cost per click for books, and what you pay depends on your bids and the competition. So set the cap yourself: for example, a $5 daily budget for 14 days can spend no more than $70. Watch which keywords get clicks and sales, and turn off anything that spends without selling. Amazon ads for books covers billing, a capped first campaign and how to read ACOS. The first 90 days guide covers when an ad test makes sense and what else to try, such as KDP Select promotions.

What most authors get wrong

• Expecting a paperback preorder. KDP does not offer one. Plan the print release date instead.
• Uploading the final ebook at the last minute. The 72-hour deadline is firm, and missing it cancels every preorder.
• Pricing an ebook above $12.99 and dropping to the 35% royalty without meaning to.
• Leaving A+ Content and Author Central until launch week, when each takes days to appear.
• Judging the launch by the first hour's rank. Rank updates at least daily and reflects sales relative to other books, so watch the week, not the hour.

Amazon handles the store; the readers still have to come from you. The free launch planner puts each KDP deadline in the right week for your launch date, next to the reader and review steps. Scribe Media, which makes this site, sells book publishing and marketing services; if you want a person to look at your launch plan, book a free consult.