Skip to content
Get started

Digital & audio

KDP

Kindle Direct Publishing

Also known as: Amazon KDP, Kindle Direct Publishing

Official source (opens in a new tab)

Amazon's self-publishing platform. It sells the Kindle ebook and prints the paperback or hardcover for Amazon when somebody orders one. Amazon's page says KDP gives you free tools to publish in more than ten countries, and that a book appears in Amazon stores within 72 hours. KDP also offers Expanded Distribution, a separate option that offers the print book to outside distributors so booksellers and libraries can order it.

When you’ll meet it
Self-publishing and Amazon distribution
Usually handled by
Author-publisher

Why it matters to you

For most self-published authors this is where the sales are, and it is the cheapest account to open. What it does not do is put the print book in the wholesaler catalog bookshops and libraries order from, unless you enroll it in Expanded Distribution, and it does not sell the ebook anywhere outside Amazon.