Amazon & KDP
How We Finalize Your Book for Publication

Edit & Format the book to the printed size. The most popular book size is 5.5 x 5.8 inches. But if the author wants to provide a page for Notes/Journaling at the end of each chapter, then it should be 6x9 inches.

Include a Preface. Amazon books include an invitation for the reader to “Look Inside” to learn more about the book. The Preface should be the first thing they see. The Preface then acts as a marketing tool by telling the reader what the book is about, why the author wrote it, and why they should reader it. (NOTE: The Preface is different from an Introduction. The former is written by the author. The latter is written by another person (someone of influence) who extols the book’s virtues.

Design the Front & Back Cover. The back cover should include the author’s photo, as well as text about the author and the book’s content.

Purchase an ISBN Number & Barcode from Bowker, Inc. This barcode is placed on the back cover of his book. It allows your book to be distributed to book stores. see blog for ISBN article

Create an Amazon KDP Account. This account is linked to the author’s bank account for royalty payments

Determine the Price of your KDP eBook and KDP Print Paperback. Both prices are inserted into the author’s Amazon KDP Account. see blog for pricing articles

Select the Book’s Category (there are many) and key words for search. These are also inserted into the KDP account.

Have the book formatted by a third-party so that it complies with Amazon Formatting requirements.

Select the Publication Date. This can be any date in the future. For example: You upload your book to Amazon, but don’t officially publish it until 3 months in the future. This gives you time to promote the book and create a waiting audience prior to publication.