Amazon KDP is the largest single source of self-publishing sales. This article walks through connecting your KDP account, preparing your metadata, reviewing what Bellwether will submit, and publishing both ebook and paperback editions.
Before you start
Have the following ready:
- A KDP account at kdp.amazon.com (free to create)
- Your manuscript finalised in the editor
- A cover you've exported for KDP (see Exporting covers)
- Your book's final metadata: title, subtitle, description, categories, keywords
- ISBN if you have one (KDP assigns a free one if you don't)
- Pricing and territory decisions
Connect KDP
Go to Publish → Retailers → Amazon KDP and click Connect. You'll be redirected to Amazon's OAuth flow. Sign in with your KDP credentials there; Bellwether never sees them.
After authorising, you come back to Bellwether with KDP listed as connected. The connection covers both Kindle ebook and KDP Print.
If your KDP account is a company account or uses two-factor auth, the flow is the same. You may be prompted for a 2FA code on Amazon's side.
Prepare metadata
Click Publish → Metadata to fill in everything KDP will ask for. Bellwether pre-fills what it can from your book settings. You fill in the rest.
Fields KDP requires:
- Title. As it appears on the cover. Don't include "A Novel" unless your cover does.
- Subtitle. Optional. Keep it short; long subtitles clutter the listing.
- Author. The name on the cover. If you use a pen name, enter the pen name here.
- Description. Up to 4,000 characters. HTML allowed for basic formatting (bold, italic, paragraph breaks).
- Categories. Up to two on KDP. Pick specific subcategories, not broad ones ("Cozy mystery" beats "Mystery").
- Keywords. Up to seven. See the metadata article for how to pick them.
- Age range. For kids and YA only.
- Publication date. Can be backdated if you previously released the book elsewhere.
- Language. The book's primary language.
- ISBN. Your own or KDP-assigned. If you use your own, enter it; Bellwether validates the format.
See the metadata article for how to write each of these well.
Review the submission
Click Publish → KDP → Review. Bellwether shows you exactly what will be sent to Amazon:
- The ebook file (EPUB)
- The ebook cover (2560×1600 JPG)
- The print PDF (if publishing print)
- The print cover (wraparound PDF)
- All metadata fields
This is a read-only view. To change anything, go back to the relevant settings page (Metadata, Format, Cover) and update there.
Pricing
Pricing happens on KDP's side, not in Bellwether. When you click Publish, you'll be handed off to KDP for the pricing step.
Two royalty options for ebook:
- 35% royalty. Available at any price. No territory restrictions.
- 70% royalty. Only on prices between $2.99 and $9.99, and only in specific territories (US, UK, EU, Japan, Brazil, India, Mexico, Canada, Australia). Outside those, you drop to 35%.
Print royalty is fixed: list price minus print cost minus Amazon's cut. Use KDP's print royalty calculator on the pricing page.
Territories
Default is All territories. You can restrict to specific countries if:
- You've granted print rights to a traditional publisher for specific markets
- You have a translation deal in a specific language
- You're testing a territory-specific price
For most self-published authors, "All territories" is the right answer.
Publish
Click Publish at the bottom of the Review page. You are redirected to KDP to finalise pricing and confirm. After you confirm on KDP's side, the book goes into review.
KDP review takes 6 to 72 hours. You'll get an email when the book goes live. Bellwether reflects the live status on the Publish page within a few hours of KDP's update.
Updating after publishing
To update an already-published book:
- Metadata only (description, keywords, categories, price). Go to KDP directly. Changes take effect within a few hours.
- Manuscript or cover. In Bellwether, click Publish → KDP → Update book. Bellwether uploads the new files and KDP re-reviews (same 6–72 hour window). Readers who bought the ebook get a notification offering the new version.
Don't upload updates to KDP directly if you've published through Bellwether; future Bellwether updates will overwrite yours.
Unpublishing
From Publish → KDP → Manage, click Unpublish from KDP. This removes the book from Kindle and paperback within 24 hours. Customers who already bought it keep their copy and reviews remain on the product page.
Unpublishing is reversible. You can republish the same book later and keep your reviews. Deleting a book from KDP (different action, in KDP's dashboard) is not reversible.
Pre-orders
KDP supports pre-orders for Kindle ebooks up to one year ahead of release. Pre-orders count toward your first-day sales on release day, which helps with rankings.
To set up a pre-order:
- Finish your manuscript up to a minimum viable state (KDP needs a placeholder file; it doesn't have to be final).
- In Publish → KDP, toggle Pre-order on and enter the release date.
- Upload the placeholder file.
- Any time before the release date, you can replace the file. KDP will automatically ship the latest uploaded version to pre-order customers on release day.
Pre-orders are ebook-only. Print can't be pre-ordered through KDP.
Kindle Unlimited and KDP Select
Enrolling in KDP Select gives Amazon exclusivity on your Kindle ebook for 90 days at a time. In return, your book is in Kindle Unlimited, which pays per-page-read royalties and puts the book in front of many more readers.
Trade-offs:
- Pros. Kindle Unlimited readership, access to Countdown Deals and Free Book promotions, higher visibility on Amazon.
- Cons. You can't sell the ebook on Apple, Kobo, Google Play, or anywhere else during enrolment. Only Kindle.
Enrol under Publish → KDP → Select in Bellwether, or in the KDP dashboard. Enrolment renews in 90-day blocks unless you opt out at least 3 days before the next renewal.
Selecting this is a strategic decision, not a technical one. If you're early in your career and want Amazon's reach, Select is usually worth it. If you're established and sell significantly off Amazon, it's usually not.
Royalty reporting
After publishing, KDP's royalty dashboard shows sales by day, territory, and format. Bellwether surfaces a summary under Analytics → Royalty (Pro and Studio plans only) pulled from your KDP account.
If your royalties in Bellwether don't match KDP's dashboard:
- Our pull is delayed by up to 24 hours.
- Returns and refunds reconcile at month-end.
- Kindle Unlimited page reads are reported monthly by KDP, not daily.
For precise accounting, use KDP's dashboard directly. Bellwether's summary is a rough picture.
Common edge cases
"Your cover does not meet minimum requirements." The cover file is below the required pixel size. Re-export from Bellwether's Cover module; the KDP preset produces the right dimensions.
"Your PDF has insufficient inside margin." Your gutter is too small for your page count. Go to Format → Print settings → Margins and let Bellwether auto-set the margin, or increase manually.
KDP shows a different description than what I sent. KDP strips some HTML. Bold and italic and paragraph breaks are preserved; most other tags are not. Re-submit with allowed tags only.
My book is stuck in review. 72 hours is normal. Past that, check KDP's dashboard for a specific reason. The most common is a metadata mismatch (title on cover doesn't match title field). Fix and resubmit.
Paperback is live but ebook isn't (or vice versa). They're reviewed separately. The faster one goes live first. The other usually catches up within a day.
I need to pull the book right now. Go to KDP directly and click Unpublish; it's faster than going through Bellwether. Then sync Bellwether afterward under Publish → KDP → Resync status.