How Amazon KDP actually works

The direct answer

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon's self-publishing platform. You create a free account, upload your manuscript and cover, choose which formats to publish (ebook, paperback, and/or hardcover), set your price and royalty option, and publish — with Amazon handling printing, distribution, and payment on your behalf. You remain the account holder and publisher of record throughout.

The basic steps

• Create a KDP account — free, tied to you, not to any service provider
• Upload your manuscript and cover — formatted according to KDP's current requirements for each format you're publishing
• Choose your formats — Kindle ebook, paperback, and/or hardcover, each with its own setup and (for print) its own ISBN if you're not using KDP's free option
• Set your book details — title, description, keywords, categories, and pricing
• Choose a royalty option — KDP offers different royalty structures depending on format and price; confirm the current terms directly in KDP, since they affect your actual payout
• Publish — you click publish on your own account; it typically takes some time for the listing to go live, which varies

What stays under your control

Your KDP account, your royalties, your banking and tax information, and the manuscript and cover files themselves are all yours — no service provider, including CDMworld, operates your account or holds your rights on your behalf. Anyone assisting with setup should be guiding you through your own account, not asking to run it for you.

Where the ISBN decision fits in

Print books need an ISBN; ebooks generally don't. KDP offers a free ISBN for paperback and hardcover, or you can buy your own. That choice affects who's listed as your publisher and where else you can distribute the book — see free KDP ISBN vs. your own ISBN for the breakdown.

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