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From Books to Electronics: The Evolution of Amazon’s Shopping Empire

In the realm of online shopping, Amazon has undoubtedly become a household name. What started as an online bookstore in 1995 has since transformed into a global marketplace that offers everything from books to electronics. This article delves into the evolution of Amazon’s shopping empire, exploring how it has expanded its offerings and reshaped the way we shop.

The Birth of Amazon: A Book Lover’s Paradise

When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1995, his vision was to create an online bookstore that would offer an extensive selection of titles to customers worldwide. At a time when physical bookstores were the primary source for readers, this concept was revolutionary. With its user-friendly interface and vast inventory, Amazon quickly gained traction among book lovers.

Amazon’s success can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the convenience it offered allowed customers to browse and purchase books from the comfort of their homes. Additionally, its competitive pricing and customer reviews helped build trust among consumers. As a result, Amazon became synonymous with buying books online.

Expanding Horizons: From Books to Everything

As Amazon solidified its position as a leading online bookstore, it began expanding its offerings beyond literature. In 1999, it introduced the “Electronics” category, marking its entry into selling consumer electronics such as computers, cameras, and audio equipment.

This expansion was driven by customer demand for a wider range of products conveniently available on one platform. Recognizing this opportunity, Amazon leveraged its existing infrastructure and logistics network to incorporate new product categories seamlessly. This move allowed the company to tap into new markets while retaining loyal book-buying customers.

The Rise of Third-Party Sellers: A Marketplace Revolution

One significant turning point in Amazon’s evolution was the introduction of third-party sellers in 2000. Instead of solely relying on selling products directly from their own inventory, Amazon opened its platform to independent sellers and small businesses. This move transformed Amazon from an online retailer into a vast marketplace.

The introduction of third-party sellers benefited both Amazon and the sellers themselves. Sellers gained access to a massive customer base and the infrastructure provided by Amazon, while the company greatly expanded its product offerings without having to invest heavily in inventory. This shift allowed Amazon to become a one-stop-shop for consumers, offering an unparalleled selection of products.

The Age of Innovation: Alexa, Prime, and Beyond

In recent years, Amazon has continued to innovate and diversify its offerings. One notable example is the introduction of the voice-activated assistant, Alexa, along with smart home devices like Echo. This move has positioned Amazon at the forefront of the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution, further enhancing its presence in consumers’ lives.

Another game-changer was the launch of Amazon Prime in 2005. With benefits such as free two-day shipping and access to streaming services like Prime Video, Prime membership has become immensely popular. It not only fosters customer loyalty but also drives sales across various product categories.

Furthermore, through acquisitions like Whole Foods Market in 2017, Amazon has ventured into grocery retailing. This move demonstrates its commitment to expanding into new markets while leveraging its existing e-commerce infrastructure.

In conclusion, what began as an online bookstore has evolved into a shopping empire that offers virtually anything one could desire. Through strategic expansions and innovations over the years, Amazon has reshaped consumer behavior and disrupted traditional retail models. As it continues to push boundaries and redefine e-commerce standards, it’s evident that Amazon’s shopping empire shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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Last updated on Jun 14, 2023

How to Publish a Book on Amazon in 6 Simple Steps

After much time and effort, you’re finally done writing your book 一 congratulations! Now it’s time to make it available for your audience to buy, starting with publishing it on Amazon. While the process is relatively simple, it can still be stressful to go through it alone. But don't worry: we're here to help!

How to publish a book on Amazon:

1. Start an account on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

2. create a new title and enter your book description, 3. select your keywords and amazon categories, 4. upload your epub and book cover files, 5. set a price between $2.99 and $9.99, 6. publish your book.

The first step is to set up a KDP account, which is quick, free, and easy. Hop over to Kindle Direct Publishing and either sign in with your existing Amazon account or sign up for one. 

Once you’re logged in, you will notice a message at the top saying that your account is incomplete — before you can upload your book, you’ll need to tell Amazon how to fulfill your payments.

Click on Update now and fill in the following information: 

• Business Type, Date of Birth, and Country : tick off ‘Individual’ or ‘Corporation’ depending on whether you’re publishing as an author or a company, then select your birth date and country of residence. 
• Payment information: insert your bank account details for receiving your sweet, sweet royalties from sales across all Amazon marketplaces. For American accounts, you’ll need to provide the account holder's name, number, and routing number 一 the first nine digits on the bottom of your checks. 
• Tax information : complete the quick tax interview to establish your tax identity. 

Once you’ve provided all the information, click “Save” and “Bookshelf” from the top menu to start publishing your book. 

You’ll be asked whether you want to publish a Kindle ebook , paperback , hardcover , or a Series page . This guide will focus on the ebook format, though the process including Print-on-Demand services is pretty similar. 

💡Believe it or not, hardcover printing was introduced to KDP as late as 2021. Find out all about it in our step-by-step guide .

Next, it’s time to customize your book page to make sure Amazon customers will be persuaded to hit “Buy now” when they land on it.  

The KDP dashboard is divided into three sections: Details, Content, and Pricing, which we’ll cover one by one. 

As a first step, you’ll be asked to provide the following information: 

• The language of your book;
• Your book title and/or subtitle;
• Whether it’s part of a series;
• Whether it’s a new edition of an existing book;
• Your author name ( pen names allowed);
• The names of other contributors (e.g. a book illustrator , or the editor if it’s an anthology)

Right after, you’ll need to provide a product description 一 a blurb similar to those on the back of a book . There’s an art to writing a compelling book description , so take your time with it and refine it to the last detail. 

Pro-tip: Want to write a book description that sells? Download this free book description template to get a headstart. 

FREE RESOURCE

Book Description Template

Learn to write a book description that will make readers click “buy.”

Most importantly, make sure your first line is intriguing, since Amazon only shows an abbreviated preview of your blurb, relying on readers to click “Read more” to expand it. Take advantage of Amazon's bold, italic, and bullet list options to make your description is visually appealing — but don't go overboard, of course.

Now that your book is ready to stand out, it’s time to position it on the right shelfs of Amazon’s bookshop. 

Keywords and categories are crucial for boosting your book's chances of success, since they help you ensure that your book is found by the right readers, depending on what they search for. KDP lets you select two categories and up to seven keywords for your book. Select the ones that best describe your book — and remember, you can make changes later, so don’t be afraid to experiment. 

If you want to better understand this topic, read our follow-up guides on Amazon keywords and categories , or enroll in our free course on Amazon algorithms by author and Reedsy co-founder Ricardo Fayet. 

FREE COURSE

Amazon Algorithms for Authors

Learn to optimize your book description, pick categories, and sell more books.

Before moving on to the next section, you’ll be asked if your book is ready for sale or if you wish to make it available for pre-order at a particular date. Once that’s cleared out, it’s time to upload the actual book files. 

In the next tab, you’ll need to upload your book file onto your KDP account. Simply click the friendly yellow “Upload eBook manuscript” button, select the final copy of your EPUB file, and click “OK.”

Amazon will accept a range of file formats, but they strongly recommend having your file formatted as an EPUB , which will also give you better control over what it looks like on Kindle. Slapping a Word document in and trusting Amazon to do the rest never works out well. 

Make sure your formatting is up to standard

Readers can tell who’s professionally formatted their book, and who hasn’t — and cutting corners will come back to bite you. Hiring a typesetter will definitely pay for itself over time, but if you’re on a tight budget, you can use the Reedsy Book Editor to format and export a beautiful ebook for free.

Once you’ve selected your manuscript, you’ll see a message saying it’s processing your book. Do not refresh or click off of this page! Amazon can take a few minutes to upload your book and verify it.

After formatting your book to Amazon’s satisfaction, you’ll see a little green message saying that your manuscript has been uploaded successfully. Take a moment to celebrate, but don’t get too distracted — there are still a few very important steps to go.

Upload an enticing book cover

A book won’t sell without an attractive cover. Your cover designer should have provided you with a JPG or TIFF version of your front cover, sized to Kindle’s suggested resolution of 2,560 x 1,600px. To add it, simply select the option to use a pre-existing cover, and click “Upload your cover file”. 

Like when you upload the book, this process can take a minute. When it’s done, you’ll get another green notification.

After you’ve uploaded the content and cover, you can use the “Ebook Preview” tool to see how it will look page by page. Take a minute to ensure that everything is correct: that the whole cover shows up, that the interior looks the way it does on your computer, etc. 一 if anything is wrong, double-check your files, then upload again.

At the end of this section, you’ll be asked if you have an ISBN number , and who you want to list as “Publisher.” Both pieces of information are optional but worth paying attention to. To upload your ebook, you don’t need an ISBN barcode, Amazon will assign one to your book for free. Nevertheless, we recommend you always buy your own ISBN if you can afford it since you can register your name as the publisher and retain ownership in case you want to “ go wide ” and publish on other retailers in the future.

Do you need an ISBN number?

It'll only take a minute!

Now that you’ve created a strong book page, it's time to price your work correctly to reap the most royalties.

The first thing to know about pricing your book is that Amazon offers a 70% royalty rate on ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 35% on anything outside that range.

There will be times when you want to sell a book outside this price range. Perhaps you will sell the first in a series at a lower price to drive sales for the rest of the books. But as a general rule, it’s best to stick to something that will get you that sweet 70%.

As you set your price, Amazon calculates your estimated royalties . It deducts a small “delivery rate” based on the file size of your book and then shows you how much money you’ll make per sale.

You can also expand the pricing section to set different prices for each country you want to sell in. If you genuinely don't care about international sales, you can just set it to auto, but you'll get much better results if you do it manually. Selling internationally can really help boost your sales, so we recommend keeping an eye on your international sales trends and nurturing those that develop. 

Our free course can tell you all you need to know about international pricing. Just sign up here!  

You'll be asked a few other important questions in this section, starting with whether you want to enroll in KDP Select, a program that may help your book reach a wider audience on Amazon.

Decide whether you’ll enroll in KDP Select

To decide, assess the pros and cons of KDP Select : on one hand, it will help you market your ebook through special promotions, on the other hand you’ll renounce exposure to a significant share of the international ebook market. 

For example, is selling box sets through Apple Books or Google Play a big part of your marketing strategy? Or do you want to take advantage of regular price promotions on the platform (and even the occasional “free” weekend for your book)? Whether you choose to enroll will depend on your goals as an author and what kind of business plan you have for your work.

Wondering whether you should give all your ebook distribution rights to Amazon?

Answer these 5 questions to find out!

You’ll also be asked to select the territories for which you hold distribution rights (e.g. worldwide) and your primary market, the country where you expect to sell most of your books (just go with Amazon.com if you’re unsure).

Once you’ve given your answers, get your champagne ready: the time to hit “Publish” has come. 

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for! Before rushing in, take a moment to click back through the previous tabs and ensure everything is set up exactly the way you want it 一 you can do that by clicking “Back to Content” on the left. 

Although you can correct a mistake after you’ve published, it’s better to ensure the information is right before you hit that button. If you’re not quite ready, a “Save as Draft” button will allow you to come back and finish later. If everything looks good, there’s nothing left to do but hit “Publish your Kindle ebook”.

Congratulations, you did it! As you see, publishing a book on Amazon isn’t nearly as scary as it seems. Your book will appear on Amazon bookshelves soon 一 it may take up to 72 hours for Amazon.com, and up to five days for country-specific Amazon sites. Now you can focus all your energy on publicity and marketing.

If you want to go deeper into KDP best practices and Amazon algorithms, check out the rest of this guide — next up, we’ll be looking at Amazon’s Algorithms .

10 responses

19/10/2019 – 01:52

Do I need to get a ISBN number if I choose to e-publish?

↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:

23/10/2019 – 09:46

Most times, the distributor (Amazon, et al) will assign you with their own unique codes. So in short, not really.

12/04/2020 – 23:44

This is helpful, Thank you for this resource.

Stephen James says:

27/05/2020 – 11:22

Is it still possible, likely, or practical to sign with a traditional publisher, through pursuing agents with query letters, after self-publishing with Kindle on Amazon?

03/06/2020 – 10:20

For future books, very practical. For the book you've already self-published: incredibly difficult unless it's been a MASSIVE hit already.

27/05/2020 – 11:24

Assuming I would buy my own ISBN from Bowker, at what point would I insert it into the copyright page?

Bert de Korte says:

30/06/2020 – 14:09

Hi I already self published 2 books in holland trough Bruna. I want to publish them in ebook format at amazon. Is that possible? Already have isbn numbers.thx Albert

Sandra Bailey says:

14/07/2020 – 13:13

If my book is already published and is a Kindle book, how can I update the book with a new section directly through Amazon and republish the book?

28/07/2020 – 10:43

You can do! Here's the relevant help page from KDP: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202176900

Lorie Eubank says:

18/08/2020 – 23:47

If I self published a book several years ago primarily for print purposes for personal use and distribution, can I republish using the KDP format? I have all rights to the book. And I know from the publisher that I would just need to get a new ISBN number

Comments are currently closed.

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Welcome to Kindle Direct Publishing

Amazon self-publishing is a simple option if you’re an indie author looking to publish an eBook or paperback book (through Amazon’s print-on-demand service) with less hassle normally found throughout the publishing industry. It won’t cost you anything directly to publish on KDP, though Amazon does deduct the cost to print your book from your royalties if you’re selling paperback versions.

But if you blindly follow the technical steps to publish your book on Amazon without taking the time to do it right, you’ll end up with a book you won’t be proud of.

You  deserve better than that.

Your  book  deserves better than that.

How Long Does it Take to Publish a Book on Amazon

Some articles promise that if you follow their steps, you can be published by the end of the day. That’s true, I guess. But rushing through it will usually make your book, and thus you, look bad.

So I wrote this guide to accomplish two things:

• Lay out the technical steps to publishing on KDP
• Walk you through the  right  way to do that so that you look as good as possible

Note: Amazon offers two types of publishing options. These steps are specifically for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and not Amazon traditional publishing (Amazon Publishing).

Doing each step the right way might take a few extra hours. In some cases, it might take a few extra days. But it’s worth it to end up with a book you’ll be proud of, and a book that will sell.

I won’t promise that you can be published by the end of the day. Here’s my promise:

If you follow this guide, you’ll end up with an exceptional Amazon listing, a solid marketing plan, and a book you’ll be proud to call your own.

How to Publish a Book on Amazon KDP (Amazon Self-Publishing)

Step 1. create an amazon kindle direct publishing (kdp) account.

Visit kdp.amazon.com and choose “Sign in” or “Sign up.”

If you already have an Amazon account, use it to sign into the KDP system. If not, create a new KDP account.

Because it’s your first time signing in with KDP, you’ll need to accept the terms of use.

Once you do that, you’ll see your Amazon Author dashboard.

Step 2. Add a new Kindle ebook (a “new title”)

Since this is your first book on Amazon, you won’t have any titles listed yet. Click the box that says “+ Kindle eBook” to add a new Kindle book.

As you start entering information, choose “Save as Draft” at the bottom of the page if you have to stop in the middle.

Step 3. Set Your Primary Language

Choose your eBook’s primary language (the language in which the book was written).  Learn more about languages supported on Kindle .

Step 4. Enter your book title and subtitle

Your book title is critically important:

Readers start judging your book the instant they see the cover, and the title is the first thing they read.

It has to be magnetic.

So before you choose your book title , read my article on how to do that and watch Chapter 4 of our free publishing course, in which I walk you through the whole process.

Step 5. Enter the Author name

For the Author name, enter the name you want to publish under—the name you’ll use on the book cover.

This can be your own name or a pen name .

If there is more than one Author, enter the other names using the Contributors box.

Step 6. Enter your book description

Amazon lets you enter up to 4,000 characters for your book description. This is the write-up that will appear on your book’s detail page.

Your book description is a sales pitch for readers .

It’s a key part of your book’s marketing materials. Write it carefully. For guidance, read my step-by-step guide to writing a great book description .

Amazon’s description box accepts the old html tags for bold and italics . Use them wisely.

For even more control over your book’s detail page, join Author Central once your book is listed on Amazon.

Step 7. Verify your publishing rights

If you are the Author of the book, choose the radio button that says: “I own the copyright and I hold the necessary publishing rights.”

Under US copyright law , you own the right to your work the moment you first write it in any form.

Step 8. Choose your keywords

Think about these carefully. When you fill in these boxes, what you’re really saying is:

When people enter these words in an Amazon search, I want my book to come up .

They should relate directly to the reader’s pain that your book can solve (hint: reread your book introduction ).

Step 9. Choose two categories for your book

Use the Categories popup box to choose two categories for your book. Use the “+” buttons to drill down as far as you can.

This is another critical marketing decision. It determines where readers will find your book, what other books it’s competing against, and even how hard it is to get a bestselling flag .

For help thinking through these issues, read my post on Amazon categories .

To add more categories to your book listing, contact Amazon through Author Central after your book is published.

Step 10. Choose the right age range (if this applies)

Do not do anything with this box unless your book is for teens or younger readers. If it is, choose each minimum and maximum that applies.

Step 11. Choose your book release option

Unless you already have thousands of people lined up to buy your book, you’ll need a marketing plan before you’re ready to publish. Especially for a non-fiction book.

Book sales are driven by media coverage, book blurbs , advance reviews , email lists, and more. That kind of buzz is a lot easier to generate for a new book, so this is very important:

Do not publish first and figure out the marketing later.

Create your plan for a full book launch before you set a publishing date.

No matter what you choose as your publishing date for now, you can keep entering your book’s info by choosing “Save and Continue.” Just remember to come back to this and set your real date before you publish your book.

There used to be a significant limit on KDP pre-order dates, but now they can be up to a year in advance.

Step 12. Select DRM rights

Make sure you enable DRM.

Digital Rights Management prevents people from copying your book and sending it to other people for free .

Even with DRM turned on, people can still loan the book to friends for a short time through Kindle’s lending system. They just can’t steal it.

Once you publish your book, you can not change the DRM setting.

Step 13. Upload your book

Despite the options provided (like pdf or doc files), turn your eBook into a well-formatted epub file before you upload it.

Always use the current Kindle format so your book will look good in every e-reader .

Formatting a book isn’t easy, but doing a good job is critical if you want your book to look professional. And eBooks need to be formatted a bit differently for Amazon than for any other eBook retailer.

If you have an epub file ready and you want to see how it will look as an Amazon book, upload it here. You can preview it after you load the cover file.

Step 14. Upload your book cover

People do judge books by their covers . Like it or not, this is 100% true, and there’s a ton of marketing research to back it up.

If you want your book to sell, the cover design has to be professional.

Do not design your own book cover . Even something as simple as the cover font can ruin your cover if you don’t know what you’re doing.

If you want to be taken seriously as a published Author, hire a professional cover designer (and listen to them.)

Step 15. Preview your book

Once you’ve uploaded your manuscript and cover, you can preview your book using the Kindle Previewer.

Do not use the “Launch Previewer” button. Instead, click “Preview on your computer” and install the current previewer app for Mac or Windows. Then download and open your book file through the “ MOBI ” link.

Do not rush through your preview. Read and test everything.

Check the cover image. Make sure the navigation works. Try every external link. Look at every single page.

Reading your own book over and over isn’t fun, but that’s the price of DIY publishing.

Why “DIY publishing”? Because you can self-publish a book and still get help.

DIY publishing is doing it completely on your own. I don’t recommend it.

Step 16. ISBN and Publisher

You don’t need an ISBN or a publisher for a Kindle eBook. If you intend to publish only on Amazon , you can leave these blank.

From here, choose “Save and Continue” if you want to keep going. Amazon won’t publish your book until you click “Publish Your Kindle eBook” at the bottom of the next screen.

Step 17. Skip KDP Select for now (You can add it later)

You can always add your book to KDP Select , even after it’s published. But once it’s in the program, you have to leave it there for at least 3 months.

KDP Select enrolls your book in Kindle Unlimited and gives you additional marketing options, like Kindle countdown deals, but the digital version of your book has to be exclusive to Amazon.

Make this decision as part of your overall book marketing plan .

Step 18. Choose your territories

Choose “All territories (worldwide rights)” unless you have a good reason not to.

This will make your book available in all of Amazon’s global territories once you’re ready to publish it.

Step 19. Choose your royalty and pricing

Choose between 35% and 70% for your royalty. For most Authors, the 70% royalty will pay more. That seems obvious, but it does add some pricing limitations as well as a slightly different royalty calculation .

Choose Amazon.com as your primary marketplace, then set the list price. The price in other marketplaces will be set according to exchange rates, but you can set each one manually if you want to.

Step 20. Add the book to matchbook and book lending

These options are up to you, but you’ll have to enroll in book lending if you want the 70% royalty.

Step 21. Save to draft until you’re ready

Choose “Save as Draft” until you’re ready to choose a publishing date and launch your book.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to think through every aspect of your book’s marketing before you publish . That goes beyond your book’s cover, layout, pricing, and marketing plan.

It also includes your Author branding.

The moment your book goes live, you’ll need to set up your Amazon Author page with your Author photo and bio . You’ll also need to add any blurbs to your book’s detail page.

Get those ready now.

Finally, pay attention to your gut. No matter how impatient you’re feeling to see your book on the Kindle store, your gut will tell you if something isn’t ready. If you’re feeling pulled to wait and fix anything, do it.

Step 22. Self-publishing your print book (formerly CreateSpace)

CreateSpace used to be Amazon’s print-on-demand publishing arm, but now print books go through KDP.

You can use the same KDP account to add the print version of your book, but that’s a whole different project.

Your cover needs a spine and a back, and it needs to be in a different format. Interior formatting is completely different and much harder. The pricing is different, depending on both the market and print costs.

Publishing eBooks on your own is hard. DIY print books are much harder.

If you want a print book, I strongly recommend getting some help .

That said, there are a lot of excellent reasons to publish a print book.

• Advance reviewers prefer them
• Most serious media outlets require them
• You can hand them to potential clients
• You can put them in gift bags at speaking engagements
• They can expand your business in ways an eBook just can’t

For many Authors, they’re worth the investment .

If you want a print book, have it ready to go before you publish your eBook so you can include it in your marketing plan.

Other Frequently Asked Questions about Self-Publishing on Amazon

Can you use a traditional publisher after being on amazon.

Yes, so long as you retained the rights to your book. However, it can be difficult for a few reasons. If your book hasn’t produced the kinds of sales a traditional publisher wants to see (usually because you haven’t marketed and promoted your book well), they’re far less likely to be interested unless something unique convinces them it still has great commercial potential.

Amazon Book Publishing Software

Amazon recommends Kindle Create, their free interior formatting tool available for desktop on both Mac and PC. Kindle Create can be used to create novels, essays, memoirs (Reflowable); textbooks, travel books, and cookbooks (Interactive Print Replica); and Comics (Comics with Guided View).

Interactive Print Replicas maintain the look and feel of a print edition but your readers won’t be able to resize text and they may not work on some devices. Be sure to review the full system requirements and supported features for Kindle Create .

Final Thoughts on Amazon and Self-Publishing

Publishing is a skill in its own right, entirely separate from writing.

It’s tempting to rush your manuscript to market, but then you might as well throw away all the hard work you put into writing it.

Publishing a book that looks unprofessional makes you look unprofessional. You’d be better off not publishing at all.

But if you take your time and do it right, publishing that book can be the best thing you ever did—for yourself and for your career.

The Scribe Crew

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How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon: Formatting, Royalties, & More

Last Updated: August 5, 2023 Fact Checked

Writing and Formatting Your Book

Creating a listing for your book, submitting your book, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Grant Faulkner, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Savannah Vold . Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story, a literary magazine. Grant has published two books on writing and has been published in The New York Times and Writer’s Digest. He co-hosts Write-minded, a weekly podcast on writing and publishing, and has a M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.  There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 294,773 times.

You’ve just completed your first book and can’t wait to present it to the world. Now what? Self-publishing on Amazon seriously couldn’t be easier, so if you’ve got a fabulous book just waiting to get out there, this is by far the most convenient publishing method around! In this article, we’ll walk you through how to browse Amazon’s publishing options to find the format that works best for you, enter key details, set a price, boost royalties, and perform other tasks that will put your book into immediate circulation and help you jumpstart your career as a writer. Read on to learn how!

Things You Should Know

• Ensure your book is well written and thoroughly edited for grammar and spelling errors. Kindle Digital Publishing may reject a book with many mistakes.
• Create a Kindle Direct Publishing account. There, you can format your book , create a listing, set your price, publish your book , and more.
• Authors on KDP may receive a royalty of 40-60% on print books and up to 70% for ebooks. Any ebook not within the $2.99-$9.99 price range will drop to 35%.

• Thorough editing is key to publishing good literature. The easier it is to read your book, the better it will be received.
• Amazon has a strict set of content quality standards, so if your book has lots of mistakes, it could be rejected.

• Books on unique niche topics tend to fare better in the self-publishing market. For example, a book on jewelry making with silver clay is targeted to a hyper-specific, niche audience.

• KDP will also collect basic tax information, including your social security number and Individual Taxpayer Identification, to manage taxes and royalty payments once you start to make sales.
• If you already have an account with Amazon, you can use your login info to create a separate KDP profile.

• Authors on KDP should expect a 40-60% royalty on print books and up to 70% for ebooks (in specific territories). Keep in mind that any ebook not within the $2.99-$9.99 price range will immediately drop to a 35% royalty rate. [5] X Research source
• Amazon will claim a small percentage (around 5%) of each sale to recoup the printing costs of paperback books. [6] X Research source

• You also have the option to choose from multiple premade templates if you’re publishing a paperback.
• Using a format like PDF or MOBI will preserve the formatting of your original composition when it comes time to upload it, along with any graphics or additional text elements you’ve included.

• At this stage, you can pick up to 7 identifying keywords and categories to help market to your intended audience. KDP suggests using keywords that include your book’s setting (California), character types (single mom, teenage daughter), character roles (strong female lead), plot themes (coming of age, motherhood), and story tone (drama). [10] X Research source
• Choosing accurate, engaging keywords is critical to bringing traffic to your book, as they help your book listing appear in focused search results like “Coming of age love story,” etc.
• To maximize your keyword’s effectiveness, think like a reader and use your chosen keywords to do a book search on Amazon. If the results are similar to your book, then you’re good to go, but if they’re inaccurate, you might want to switch out one or more of your keywords for more accurate results.
• Take your time filling out each item—the more complete your listing is, the better chance your book will have of getting noticed. And remember, you can change these over time. So feel free to experiment with different strategies!

• Amazon recommends that images uploaded as cover art have a height/width ratio of 1.6:1. This means that for every 1,000 pixels in width, the image should be 1,600 pixels in height. [12] X Research source
• Consider hiring a professional graphic designer or cover artist to design an original cover for your book. Professional-looking cover art will make your book more attractive to potential buyers!
• A catchy, intriguing title will stick in the reader’s mind, making them want to learn more.

• KDP accepts most major digital file formats, including DOC, PDF, HTML, and MOBI. [14] X Research source
• Don’t forget to convert your file to Kindle format before moving on if you’re publishing an eBook.

• At this final stage, you’ll be able to choose whether you want to publish your book immediately or set a pre-release date. Pre-releases tend to be a better option, as they give you time to amp up publicity by marketing your book on social media, etc.
• Make sure to select “All Territories” so your book will be available everywhere possible, and enable DRM (Digital Rights Management) before submitting your book. This feature prevents people from downloading and/or distributing your book for free. [16] X Research source
• Keep in mind that eBooks will be displayed differently on different screens. It's worth previewing your book on several devices like an iPad, iPhone, and computer to get an idea of how it will look across the board.

• You’ll have a couple of royalty options: 70% and 35%. In most cases, a rate of 70% will net you more money per sale. However, there's no delivery charge for physical copies if you only claim the 35% rate, and it may be your only option if you live in a smaller market or set a price lower than $2.99 to encourage sales. [18] X Research source
• Amazon deducts a small percentage from each sale (around 5%) as a “distribution fee” (even for eBooks) for publishing your work online.

• It will take up to 72 hours for your book to become available for purchase through Amazon.
• You can continue to update your listings even after your book has been officially published. [20] X Research source

• Create an Amazon author page where readers can go to find out more about you and if you have any other available titles.
• Royalty statements are sent out approximately every 60 days. That means that if your book is a success, you’ll have a steady stream of revenue trickling in. [22] X Research source

Video . By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube.

• Select the keywords and categories for your listing carefully. These will be instrumental in making sure your book shows up in search results. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0
• Getting a book published has never been easier, but you should still make an effort to produce quality work that you can be proud of. Solid writing will help you build a devoted reader base. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 3
• If you want your book to reach more eyes, consider signing up for KDP Select . In return for giving Amazon exclusive rights to your title for 90 days, they’ll use more resources to advertise it on and off the site. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1

• Your book will not be sold in stores when you self-publish online. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 4
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions or make a complaint if something goes wrong during publication. Amazon will also make money off your book, so they should be willing to work with you to ensure the process goes smoothly. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/smarter-living/how-to-edit-your-own-writing.html
• ↑ Grant Faulkner, MA. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 8 January 2019.
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/A1OYOT0ESBAU69
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200735480
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634500
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/04/25/how-to-self-publish-your-book-through-amazon/#1b79d56244d3
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/A17W8UM0MMSQX6
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/A37Z49E2DDQPP3
• ↑ http://mfishbein.com/how-to-self-publish-a-book-on-amazon/
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201298500
• ↑ https://readwrite.com/2013/07/22/10-simple-steps-to-self-publishing-your-book-on-amazon/
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202187860
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201723080
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/A2FPLK18PMRY0Q
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201488550
• ↑ https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/AE24XS35AM53P

About This Article

To publish a book on Amazon, start by creating a Kindle Direct Publishing account and formatting your book according to Amazon's standards. Then, decide whether you want to publish a digital book or a paperback book, or both. Next, log into your Kindle Direct Publishing account, and upload your book and some cover art. Finally, set a price your book, and publish it through your account. For tips on how to set a price for your published book on Amazon, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Home / Guides / Book Publishing / How to Publish a Book on Amazon: The Full Step-by-Step Guide

How to Publish a Book on Amazon: The Full Step-by-Step Guide

• What You Will Need: Publishing Essentials
• Setting up Your Amazon KDP Account
• How to Publish an Ebook on Amazon
• How to Publish a Paperback on Amazon
• How to Publish a Hardcover on Amazon
• How to Create a Series Page
• How to Publish to Kindle Vella

We talk a lot about self-publishing on this site, everything from beginner strategies to advance tactics.

But how exactly do you publish a book on Amazon? What is the actual process of taking this book that you wrote, turning it into something publishable, then actually getting it out into the world?

That is what we will cover in this article.

• What you need in order to publish a book on Amazon
• How to publish an eBook through Amazon
• How to publish a paperback or hardcover on Amazon
• How to set up your series page

Unfortunately, we cannot simply open up Amazon and immediately start publishing books. We have to have a few assets already prepped and ready to go. In this section, we'll go over the most important ones.

Let's walk through a few of the essentials:

1. The Title and Subtitle

It may seem obvious, but choosing your title and subtitle may involve more than you think.

There are a few considerations, such as the genre that you are targeting, keywords you want to include, etc.

We recommend you pick a title that matches your genre (especially if you are writing fiction) and that you do keyword research ahead of time to know which keywords to include in your title or subtitle.

See our articles about how to title a book , and how to choose a subtitle that sells .

2. Your Author Name

You should also know whether you want to use your real name, or if you want to use a pen name. Many authors start with their real name, but there are multiple reasons why a pen name they might also be a good idea.

See our article about how to choose a good pen name .

3. Your Book Description

A book description is more than just a summary of your book, in fact it should never be that.

Instead, a book description is a piece of copywriting, i.e. a tool to sell books.

Your book description should hook your reader, make them feel emotionally invested, and spur them to action.

See our article about how to write a fantastic book description .

4. Your Keywords

I've already mentioned keywords for your title and subtitle, but Amazon also allows you to input seven more keywords, which is handy if there are keywords you wanted to target but weren't able to fit them into your title or subtitle.

Doing proper keyword research is a great way to get people to organically find your book on Amazon. But you want to make sure you have good keywords, not just anything. You will want to choose keywords with low competition, but still have a lot of people searching for them.

See our ultimate guide to selecting the best Kindle keywords .

See also our guide for selecting keywords based on fiction or nonfiction books.

Side Note: Use Publisher Rocket for Keywords and Categories

Keyword research is difficult if you don't have a good tool. It is possible, but requires a lot of work. Additionally, researching categories (see below) is equally difficult without help.

That is why we recommend Publisher Rocket as the best way to find low competition keywords and categories that are regularly searched by potential readers.

5. Your Categories

Amazon allows you to select two BISAC categories. BISAC stands for Book Industry Standards And Communications, and these are the main categories used by professionals throughout the publishing industry.

However, you don't need to worry about these too much. Simply select the two that best match your book, and move on.

Instead, you want to pay close attention to Amazon categories. You cannot select these during the publishing process, but you will want a list of 10 Amazon categories that best fit your book. Why? Because Amazon automatically picks your categories based on the BISAC categories you selected, and they are not always accurate.

So you want to contact Amazon after you have published to make sure that your book appears in those categories.

Like keywords, you want to pick categories that are low in competition but still get a lot of use. It's possible to do this manually, but a program like Publisher Rocket will make the process much easier.

See our in-depth article about selecting your categories .

6. Your Ebook File

In order to publish your book on Amazon, the single most important asset you need is your eBook file. Amazon accepts multiple file types, but the one you want is the EPUB.

If you don't have a good formatting software, you can use Microsoft Word, and then use a converter to switch your DOCX file to an EPUB file. Be sure to look it over, however, because doing a conversion in this way will often lead to mistakes. 

See our article on eBook file types here.

Side Note: Use Atticus for Formatting Ebooks

Formatting an eBook can be a tedious process if you don't have a good formatting software. It is possible in Microsoft Word or Scrivener , but very difficult.

That is why we recommend Atticus as the best formatting software around. It will not only help you create amazing ebooks, but will also help you format print books (see below).

Atticus is an all-in-one software that works on virtually every platform, including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chromebook. Plus, it is over $100 cheaper than the leading alternative.

7. Your Print File

In addition to an eBook file, if you want to have a paperback or hardcover version of your book, you will need a print-ready file as well. This will need to be formatted as a PDF.

Formatting for print is even more complicated than formatting for eBooks, which is why we recommend using Atticus to do so. Atticus will make this process a whole lot simpler, and give you a print file that is ready-made to pass all of Amazon's inspections.

Read our in-depth guide to how to format a book for eBook or print.

8. Your Book Cover

Besides your manuscript file, the book cover is another of the most important assets that you will need ahead of time.

Ideally, most authors will need to hire someone to create their book cover, and they can provide it in the sizes that Amazon recommends .

Additionally, you will need separate files for your eBook cover, and for your print cover. The eBook file only includes the front portion of the cover, whereas the print cover will also need a back cover and spine.

If this portion seems overwhelming, I recommend speaking to your book cover designer to help you determine what you need.

See also our complete guide to book covers .

9. Your ISBN (Optional)

Many authors choose not to have their own ISBN, as Amazon will provide one for you. However, if you want to show up as the publisher of your book instead of Amazon, you will need your own ISBN.

Does this give you any advantage? Not really, but it can be nice to have.

See our two articles about what an ISBN is , and how to get one .

10. Your Price

While this is something that doesn't take as much time to prepare, it is good to have an idea of the price you want to set.

Many authors choose to price their book at $0.99 or $2.99 at launch, later raising their price. But the price you have on your book can vary anywhere from $0.99 to $9.99 (we don't recommend more than this, since Amazon gives you lesser royalties on anything over $9.99)

The best way to know what an appropriate price is, is to look at other books in your genre, and other books with a similar length to yours, and analyze their prices. Chances are, you want to do something in that same range.

Before we can actually start publishing, you will need to create an Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account. Thankfully, this is an easy process, especially if you already have a regular Amazon account.

Start by following these steps:

• Start by visiting the Kindle direct publishing website.
• Sign in to your Amazon account, or create one
• Input your author and publisher information , which should include your full legal name (not your pen name), as well as your address and phone number
• Input your bank account information so Amazon can pay you when you earn royalties
• Input your tax information so that Amazon can correctly send you the tax forms you need at the end of the year

Once all of this is in order, you should be able to log into Amazon KDP, and see your KDP dashboard. There, you will see a big button labeled Create .

From here, we can start publishing books!

Click on Create , and it will take you to a new screen with several options:

• Kindle eBook
• Series page
• Kindle Vella

We will spend time breaking down each one of these.

We will spend the majority of our time discussing how to publish an eBook, as it is the most important, and publishing a paperback and hardcover follow many of the same steps.

The process of uploading a book to Amazon falls into three main steps:

• Ebook details
• Ebook content
• Ebook pricing

Let's break down each one…

Step 1: Input Your Ebook Details

Ebook details is the page where you input your title, subtitle, description, keywords, etc. Basically, it is all the metadata associated with your book. Let's walk through this page:

At the very top, you will see a place to select the language of your book. For most self publishers reading this article, you probably want English. However, if you are publishing a translation of the book, you will want to switch this to the appropriate language.

Here, you will input your book title and subtitle that you have prepared previously. Note that the subtitle is optional.

If your book is part of a series, input the series title here, as well as the number of your book in that series (i.e. 1 for the first book in the series, 2 for the second, etc.).

If you are uploading more than one book in a series, make sure that the series title matches exactly.

You can make adjustments to the series after the fact, which we will talk about below.

Edition Number

This is an optional field if your book is a specific edition. You are most likely to use this if you are writing nonfiction.

This is where you put your name, or your pen name. Like the series title, make sure that this is exactly the same as other books that use your same name.

Contributors

If your book was cowritten with someone else, you will want to put their name here as well, though this is an optional field. You can also put the name of your editor, book cover designer, etc.

Keep in mind that these names will show on the sales page for your book.

Description

If you have already written your book description, you can copy and paste it into this field.

However, make sure that the formatting is appropriate. You don't want to end up with too many spaces between paragraphs, bolded text when you don't want bolded text, etc.

Amazon provides some basic formatting tools like bolding, italics, underlining, list making, and basic headings. If you are familiar with HTML, you can also format the source code this way. See our book description generator for a great way to get the HTML code for your book description.

Publishing Rights

You will find two options under publishing rights: publishing work that you own, and publishing public domain work. Selecting public domain publishing rights will restrict some of your options later on, so only select it if the book you are publishing is in the public domain.

If you have done your prep work, you should have seven keywords to input in these spaces.

As mentioned above, we recommend using Publisher Rocket to do your research and come up with the best keywords to give your book maximum exposure.

This is where you select your two BISAC book categories. Simply browse through the list that Amazon provides, and select the two that best fit your book.

As mentioned above, you can select which Amazon categories you want for later, after your book has been published.

Age and Grade Range

This is an optional section that allows you to select your ideal readership age and grade range. I recommend leaving this blank unless:

• You are publishing a children's book
• You have explicit content for an 18+ audience

If you are publishing YA fiction, I recommend leaving this alone, since selecting an age range is likely to restrict where your book will show up.

In this space, you can select whether you want to hit publish as soon as you are done, or if you want the book to be published at a later date.

We typically don't recommend preorders, see this video for why , but it is often a needed tool. Use wisely.

Once you have completed this section, you can hit Save As Draft or Save and Continue to move onto the next step.

Step 2: Input Your Ebook Content

The Ebook Content page is where you upload the actual content of your book, making this a very important step.

Let's walk through each element of this page.

This is where you upload the actual written portion of your book. Ideally, this should be an EPUB file, although Amazon will also take DOCX and KPF files (KPF is what Amazon's own Kindle Create produces).

Hit the Upload eBook manuscript button, and select your file from your computer.

Kindle eBook Cover

This is the section where you upload your ebook cover. Amazon does offer a Cover Creator to create a rudimentary cover, but we do not recommend this in any situation. Always have your own book cover file.

You will need to upload either a JPG or TIFF file in this section.

Kindle eBook Preview

Once you have uploaded your ebook manuscript and cover, you can preview what it will look like on Kindle devices. I recommend you do this, as sometimes small formatting errors can arise that need to be addressed.

Kindle eBook ISBN

If you have an ISBN number that you want to use, you can input that here, and include the publisher name.

However, this is optional, and Amazon will provide an ISBN for you if you don't have one.

Once this is all complete, you can move on to the final step…

Step 3: Input Your Ebook Price

Like the last two pages, the eBook Pricing page is divided into various sections. Let's break down what they all mean:

KDP Select Enrollment

KDP gives you an option to enroll your eBook in the KDP Select program. This puts your eBook in Kindle Unlimited, which is a subscription service for books.

However, there is a big price to pay for enrolling your book in KDP Select. Your eBook must remain exclusive to this program, meaning you cannot publish an eBook on any other platform (i.e. Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.) if you are enrolled in KDP Select.

Thankfully, you can unenroll your book after a period of 90 days, so if you want to give it a try, you can do so without lasting consequences.

There is a lot of debate about whether it is better to enroll your book in KDP select, or to publish your ebook wide on all platforms. The true answer, however, is that it depends on your needs and those of your book. 

Enrolling in the KDP Select program can be quite lucrative for some authors, but so can publishing wide. 

If you are just starting out, KDP Select might be good for you, as it is simpler than publishing wide, and can lead to strong royalties.

However, I know many authors who choose to publish wide regardless of the financial circumstances, because they want to build an audience outside of just one platform, so not all eggs are in one basket.

What you choose is up to you, but this is where you choose whether to select it or not.

Territories

In most cases, you will want to select all territories so that your book is available anywhere Amazon books are sold.

However, if you only want to sell in specific regions, click on Individual territories and select your desired territory.

Primary marketplace

For many, this will simply be Amazon.com, although depending on where you live, you might want to pick something else such as Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.ca.

Pricing, royalty, and distribution

This is where you select the price of your ebook. First of all, you have the option of selecting 35% or 70% royalties. If you are selecting a price between $2.99 and $9.99, you should always select the 70% royalties.

However, there are situations where you will need to select 35% royalties, particularly if you are pricing your book at $0.99.

Next, select the price for your primary marketplace. This will automatically create an equivalent price for all of the other marketplaces, but you can adjust these on a case-by-case basis.

For example, as of this writing, if I input $4.99 in US Dollars, it shows a price of £4.27 in British Pounds, which is kind of an awkward number. I might want to change that to £4.99 in British Pounds instead.

Book Lending

Below the pricing is a checkbox to allow lending for this book. This will allow readers to temporarily lend their eBook to someone else for a 14-day period. Since more exposure is usually good exposure, and it is a good sign when someone wants to lend your book, I recommend you check this box.

Once your details are all ready to go, it is time to hit the Publish Your Kindle eBook button!

It is now time to start getting the word out about your books. But wait! What about the physical books? Well, that leads us to our next section…

If you have already gone through the ebook-publishing process, most of this will be very familiar to you.

In fact, if you have already published your eBook, you can simply find it in your dashboard, and select Create paperback to start, and it will automatically populate many of the fields.

The Book Details and Book Pricing pages are almost exactly the same as the ebook, and many of these fields should be filled out already, if you have already gone through the ebook publishing process.

However, it is in the Book Content page where things are slightly different.

Uploading your manuscript is very similar to uploading your eBook manuscript, except this time you specifically need a PDF manuscript that is formatted for print. We recommend using Atticus to create this, as it can be a long and difficult process with other programs.

Print Options: Book Interior

You will also notice a special section called Print Options . The first part of this section is where you select the ink and paper type. You have four options:

• Black & white interior with cream paper
• Black & white interor with white paper
• Standard color interior with white paper
• Premium color interior with white paper

Which one you choose depends on you and your needs. For me personally, I choose Black & white interior with white paper for most of my books, but that's me. A lot of people like the cream color, or require colored ink for their book (i.e. in comic books).

Print Options: Sizes and Finishes

Below the ink and paper type, you will see a section to select your trim size, bleed settings, and paperback cover finish.

Trim size is the actual width and height of your book. 5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, and 6 x 9 are the most common, but there are many more. See our article on trim sizes.

You only need Bleed if you have images that need to extend to the edges of the book.

Finally, you can choose between Matte and Glossy finishes for your book cover. Which you choose is up to you.

Finally, you have the option to upload your book cover. A paperback book cover is different than an ebook cover, as it includes the back cover and spine to wrap around the entire book.

The width of your spine will vary depending on the length of your book, so it is important that you select a paperback template , so you know exactly how to size your book. You can also provide this template to your cover designer, so they can create a wraparound cover that works.

If you would also like to create a hardcover of your book, you can do this as well. Start by finding your book in the Amazon KDP dashboard, and select Create hardcover.

This will walk you through almost the exact same process as the paperback book.

However, there are two key differences:

1. Limited Trim Sizes

For hardcover books, there are fewer trim sizes than for paperback books, so if you have selected a trim size that is different than your paperback, you will need to provide a different PDF file in that size.

Once again, you can use Atticus to quickly change your trim size and generate a new file.

2. A Different Cover Template

Your hardcover cover file will also need to be different than your paperback cover file. Thankfully, Amazon provides templates for these as well, which you can then send to your designer to create a hardcover-compatible version of your book cover.

See also our complete guide to publishing a hardcover book on Amazon.

If you have input your series into the series field of your ebook details, this automatically creates a new series that you can then adjust.

If you look at your book from the KDP dashboard, you will see a button called Manage series . Click on that, and you can make adjustments to your series from there.

However, you can also hit the big Create button from your KDP dashboard, then select Series page from the list of options.

Here is what you will find when you create a new series or manage an existing one:

Series title

In this field, you put the series title. Make sure this is consistent for all your books.

Reading order

In this field, you have the option to select and “ Ordered ” series or an “ Un-ordered ” series. Only select unordered if your series can be read in any order. This is common for nonfiction series, or a series of standalone novels.

Series image

Amazon has a section here for your series image, but this is not a field that you can influence. Your series image is automatically pulled from the first three books in the series.

You can have a description specific to your book series page, which I recommend you do. If you do not have this space filled out, Amazon will automatically populate it with the description from your first book, which is not always relevant to the series as a whole.

Once you have filled out your details, and have more than one book in the series, you can manage and edit the series from this window:

Thankfully, Amazon lets you adjust things like the order of the series, and other useful features.

From your KDP dashboard, you also have the option of creating a Kindle Vella story.

Kindle Vella is a way of serializing your stories in 500 to 5000 word increments. It is considerably different than publishing a book, although some authors have found a lot of success in serialized storytelling.

For a complete breakdown on how to publish a Kindle Vella story, see our article on the subject .

Video: How to Upload a Book to Amazon

For a nice summary of this article, along with a few personal thoughts on the subject, be sure to check out this video on how to format upload your book to Amazon.

Want more videos like this? Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly videos!

Go Publish Your Book!

Now that you have the basics down on how to publish your book on Amazon, it's time to get started!

Hitting publish for the first time is a thrilling adventure, and I wish you the best of luck in your publishing journey.

But what do you do next? Well, it is time to market your book. For a complete breakdown on how to do this, visit our Book Marketing 101 page.

Happy publishing!

Jason Hamilton

Related posts, how to write a nonfiction book in 2023: the ultimate guide for authors, black friday deals for writers 2023, launching a book: the ultimate step by step guide, sell more books on amazon, amazon kindle rankings e-book.

Learn how to rank your Kindle book #1 on Amazon with our collection of time-tested tips and tricks.

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• Main content

How to publish a book on Amazon and earn money for each sale

• You can publish a book on Amazon using Kindle Direct Publishing. 
• To get started, create a Kindle Direct Publishing account that's connected to your Amazon account. 
• You can upload a book in Word or PDF format, or use the Kindle Creator tool to convert a book for publishing.

Amazon isn't just an online retailer. It started as an online bookstore and, building on those roots, is a book publisher as well. Unlike a traditional book publisher, though, where you need to persuade an acquisitions editor to offer you a contract to get a book published, anyone can self-publish a book on Amazon. 

How to publish a book on Amazon

You need to create an account with Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing system, then upload and publish your completed book. Then anyone can purchase and download your book in Kindle format. Here is everything you need to know. 

How to track your book's sales and performance

After the book is published, you can edit it or follow its performance from the KDP website .

• Click the "Bookshelf" tab at the top of the page and then scroll down to "Your Books." Here you can see all your published titles, their status, price, and make changes to the listing. For example, this is where you go to update the description or keywords. 
• Click the "Reports" tab at the top of the page to see your historical earnings and book sales.