What is KDP?

A Beginners Guide to Self Publishing & Earning Money on Amazon KDP

CONTENTS:
Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)
What type of books are published through KDP?
What is no & low content publishing?
How can I earn money with KDP?
How do I upload my book to KDP?
Common publishing terms
KDP useful links

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)

KDP allows you to self-publish eBooks, Paperbacks and Hardcover books for free.
The books are then available for sale Worldwide across the Amazon platform.
Self-published printed books can be purchased using ‘print-on-demand’ technology, where the books are only printed & produced in response to a purchase.
Unlike traditional publishing houses, KDP allows you to own all rights to your book.

What Types of Books Are Published Through KDP?

With KDP, you can publish eBooks (Kindle), Paperbacks, and, more recently, Hardcovers.
KDP does not allow the creation of magazines, periodicals, calendars, or spiral bound books.
Content types typically published using KDP can include:
• Novels
• Book Series
• Children’s Books
• Comics
• Cookbooks
• Journals
• Poetry
• Textbooks

What Is No & Low Content Publishing?

No and Low-content books are physical books that contain little to no text or images.
The pages are generally repetitive and designed to be filled in by the reader.
Self-publishing of these types of books is increasing in popularity due to the ability to create them in less time than a typical book would take to produce, and then being able to sell these books on Amazon for a profit.

Typical examples of No and Low-content books include:
• Journals (blank or with prompts)
• Planners
• Logbooks
• Sketchbooks
• Colouring Books
• Worksbooks etc

How Can I Earn Money with KDP?

When people buy your books, Amazon takes care of the printing, packing and delivery.
Amazon deducts these costs automatically and takes a share of the purchase price.
All remaining profit is yours!

How do I upload my Book to KDP?

To publish on Amazon KDP two separate PDF files are required:

• Your book Interior (usually black & white)
• Your book Cover (usually colour)

These files are uploaded separately as they are different in size:

Go to: https://kdp.amazon.com/ & sign in with your Amazon account or create a new one.

You will then be taken to the main Bookshelf page where you can Create a New Title.
This is also where all your draft & published books will be kept (it’s your virtual Bookshelf!).

Work through all the prompts for Details, Content and Pricing.
You can Save as Draft at any time to complete later.

Once you hit Publish your book needs to be reviewed & approved by Amazon before being available for sale.
This process can take a number of days.

There’s lots to think about when creating a new book for KDP…
(margins, trim size, bleed or no-bleed, number of pages etc)

I try to help people by creating a range of pre-sized Templates

Visit my Etsy store to view the full range of Covers and Interiors…

Some Common Publishing Terms

BLEED SETTINGS:
Setting your interior to “bleed” allows printing at or off the edge of a page
(this is used for images/illustrations which are designed to go over the page edge).
No Bleed is selected as default, but this is easily changed.
Note: Bleed interiors are sized slightly bigger than Non-Bleed.

TRIM SIZE:
This refers to the physical size of the book, i.e. 6×9″

MANUSCRIPT:
Another name for the book’s Interior.

KDP Useful Links

Your Amazon BOOKSHELF:
https://kdp.amazon.com/bookshelf

Amazon have an extensive help library
KDP HELP CENTER HOME:
https://kdp.amazon.com/help/

To view low-cost ready-made Interiors & Covers
Check out my ETSY STORE:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/kermeliadigidesigns/

Cover design #4

Visit my Etsy store for a full range of KDP Covers, Interiors & Templates

Save time & frustration by using a pre-sized template!

Wide variety of popular trim sizes, with & without bleed…