Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
To publish a book on Amazon, you use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) — a free platform that gets your ebook or paperback live on Amazon within 72 hours. But a handful of decisions inside KDP quietly determine your royalties, your reach, and how much control you keep over your own book.
In this video, we walk you through the entire Amazon KDP self-publishing process end-to-end: setting up your KDP account, writing a book description that sells, selecting categories and keywords, uploading your manuscript and cover in the right formats, deciding whether KDP Select's 90-day exclusivity is worth it, pricing your ebook inside Amazon's 70% royalty window, and adding a print-on-demand paperback alongside your ebook.
You can read our full written guide to self-publishing on Amazon here: reedsy.com/blog/guide/kdp
🔗 Links mentioned:
IRS Tax Identification Number: irs.gov/tin/itin/how-to-apply-for-an-itin
Reedsy's free book description template: mailparrot.reedsy.com/subscriptions/new?list_id=b1707666da
How to Market a Book (free ebook): reedsy.com/blog/books/how-to-market-a-book
Reedsy Studio (free EPUB + print-ready PDF formatter): reedsy.com/studio
🖊️ Find a cover designer, formatter, or book marketer on Reedsy: reedsy.com
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:59 Setting Up Your KDP Account
01:56 Book Details and Writing Your Amazon Description
03:51 How to Choose KDP Categories and Keywords
05:51 Uploading Your Manuscript, Cover, and ISBN
08:28 Is KDP Select Worth It?
10:25 How to Price Your Kindle eBook (and the Royalty Cliff)
12:10 Hitting Publish (and How Long It Takes)
12:44 How to Publish a Paperback with Amazon
Tools, platforms and programmes discussed in this video: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), KDP Select, Kindle Unlimited (KU), Amazon print on demand, Reedsy Studio, Reedsy marketplace, EPUB format, MOBI format, print-ready PDF, Digital Rights Management (DRM), ISBN (Bowker in the US, Nielsen UK, Library and Archives Canada), Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk.
#selfpublishing #amazonkdp #kindledirectpublishing #publishingadvice #indieauthor #amwriting #reedsy
To publish a book on Amazon, you use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) — a free platform that gets your ebook or paperback live on Amazon within 72 hours. But a handful of decisions inside KDP quietly determine your royalties, your reach, and how much control you keep over your own book.
In this video, we walk you through the entire Amazon KDP self-publishing process end-to-end: setting up your KDP account, writing a book description that sells, selecting categories and keywords, uploading your manuscript and cover in the right formats, deciding whether KDP Select's 90-day exclusivity is worth it, pricing your ebook inside Amazon's 70% royalty window, and adding a print-on-demand paperback alongside your ebook.
You can read our full written guide to self-publishing on Amazon here: reedsy.com/blog/guide/kdp
🔗 Links mentioned:
IRS Tax Identification Number: irs.gov/tin/itin/how-to-apply-for-an-itin
Reedsy's free book description template: mailparrot.reedsy.com/subscriptions/new?list_id=b1707666da
How to Market a Book (free ebook): reedsy.com/blog/books/how-to-market-a-book
Reedsy Studio (free EPUB + print-ready PDF formatter): reedsy.com/studio
🖊️ Find a cover designer, formatter, or book marketer on Reedsy: reedsy.com
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:59 Setting Up Your KDP Account
01:56 Book Details and Writing Your Amazon Description
03:51 How to Choose KDP Categories and Keywords
05:51 Uploading Your Manuscript, Cover, and ISBN
08:28 Is KDP Select Worth It?
10:25 How to Price Your Kindle eBook (and the Royalty Cliff)
12:10 Hitting Publish (and How Long It Takes)
12:44 How to Publish a Paperback with Amazon
Tools, platforms and programmes discussed in this video: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), KDP Select, Kindle Unlimited (KU), Amazon print on demand, Reedsy Studio, Reedsy marketplace, EPUB format, MOBI format, print-ready PDF, Digital Rights Management (DRM), ISBN (Bowker in the US, Nielsen UK, Library and Archives Canada), Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk.
#selfpublishing #amazonkdp #kindledirectpublishing #publishingadvice #indieauthor #amwriting #reedsy
