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GuideAmazon KDP

Publishing a Story Book on Amazon KDP

A finished story book can be sold on Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), as a Kindle eBook, a paperback, or both. Scholarly builds the files KDP asks for. You create the KDP listing, upload the files, set the price, and publish. Amazon prints the paperback and delivers the eBook.

Download the files

Open the story book on a computer and open its Download menu. The Publish on Amazon KDP section lists:

  • Kindle eBook (EPUB). A fixed-layout eBook with one story page per screen. Works for every story book.
  • Paperback interior (PDF). The pages, ready to print on an 8.5 x 8.5 inch square book with full bleed.
  • Paperback cover (PDF). One wraparound file: back cover, spine, and front cover.
  • How to publish. Opens this article.

Page images (.zip), higher in the same menu, has every page as a picture. page-01.jpg is the cover, which you need for the eBook.

Downloads need a paid plan. Viewing and sharing a link stay free. See Plans and Limits. The KDP section appears for the book's owner, on a computer.

Which story books work

  • The eBook works for any story book made since October 2026.
  • The paperback files need square pages. A story book with wide pages can still be an eBook. For a paperback, make the book again with square pages.
  • Older story books (made before October 2026) can't produce these files. Make the book again to get them.

Publish the paperback

  1. In KDP, create a Paperback and fill in the details: language, title, author, and description. Use the same title as the cover.
  2. On the content page, set Ink and paper type to Premium color on White paper.
  3. Set Trim size to 8.5 x 8.5 in.
  4. Set Bleed settings to Bleed (PDF only).
  5. Choose a glossy or matte cover finish.
  6. Under Manuscript, upload the Paperback interior (PDF).
  7. Under Book cover, choose Upload a cover you already have and upload the Paperback cover (PDF).
  8. Answer the AI-generated content question. Story book text and pictures are made with AI, so answer yes and describe them.
  9. Open Launch Previewer and read every page. Pictures should reach every edge.
  10. Set territories and price, then publish.

What the files already handle:

  • Page count. KDP prints at least 24 pages, always an even number. A shorter story gets blank pages at the end.
  • Spine. The cover's spine is sized for Premium color paper and this page count. If you pick another ink or paper, KDP will reject the cover.
  • Barcode. KDP adds the barcode to the back cover. Don't add your own.
  • Reading direction. A right-to-left story book, such as one in Hebrew, gets files for a book bound on the right, with the front cover on the left. Choose the same language and right-to-left reading direction in KDP. KDP doesn't print every right-to-left language yet.

Publish the Kindle eBook

  1. In KDP, create a Kindle eBook, or add one to the paperback's listing, and fill in the same details.
  2. Under Manuscript, upload the Kindle eBook (EPUB).
  3. Under Kindle eBook Cover, choose Upload a cover you already have and upload page-01.jpg from Page images (.zip).
  4. Answer the AI-generated content question, as for the paperback.
  5. Open Launch Previewer and turn every page. Each page should fill the screen.
  6. Set the price, then publish.

KDP recommends Kindle Create for picture books. If KDP won't accept the EPUB, open Kindle Create, start a comic or kids' book, add the page images in order (page-01.jpg first), and upload the file it exports instead.

Before you publish

  • Read every page. Amazon prints and sells exactly the files you upload.
  • Keep the interior and cover as two separate PDFs.
  • After you change the story book, download the files again.
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