Amazon KDP Royalties & Terms (Verified Oct 2026)

Verified 26 October 2026

Compared side by side:Amazon KDP vs IngramSpark Amazon KDP vs Barnes & Noble Press

Distribution & commercial terms

Publishing terms

Formats: Kindle ebook, Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook (Virtual Voice)
Distribution: Amazon stores, Expanded Distribution (print)
Territories: Ebooks: worldwide rights or individual territories. With worldwide rights a title sells in 13 Amazon Kindle stores, and customers in a selected territory with no store of its own buy from Amazon.com. Paperback: 14 Amazon marketplaces. Hardcover: the same, except Amazon.co.jp and Amazon.com.au. Amazon.com.br, Amazon.in and Amazon.com.mx do not sell KDP print books. Print in the EU and UK is all-or-none: to sell in any one of those countries the book must be eligible in all of them. Selecting the US, Canada or Mexico, KDP says, makes a print book “eligible for sale in all countries”.
Exclusivity: Not requiredPublishing on KDP does not require exclusivity. Enrolling a title in KDP Select does: for the 90-day term Amazon holds the exclusive right to sell the digital edition, and you may not sell or license it in digital form in any territory where you hold rights. Enrolment renews automatically in further 90-day periods unless you opt out before renewal. Print is unaffected. Audio is affected in two cases. A Virtual Voice audiobook is enrolled automatically when its ebook is in KDP Select, and an enrolled audiobook must be exclusive to Audible for the enrolment period. An ACX audiobook joins only if you enrol it, and it must already be exclusive to Audible.
ISBN: Free ISBN supplied: YesAccepts your own ISBN: Yes
A free ISBN is offered for paperback and hardcover only; Kindle ebooks do not need one. The free ISBN cannot be used with another publisher or printer, and the imprint is registered in Bowker as "Independently published". Supplying your own ISBN lets you register a custom imprint name and reuse the identifier on other platforms.
Royalties: 70% of list price after delivery costs
70% option — Kindle ebookList price $2.99–$12.99 on Amazon.com. The price band widened from $2.99–$9.99 on 7 July 2026. Available only in listed territories, and the list price must be at least 20% below the list price of any physical edition on Amazon. Books enrolled in KDP Select also earn 70% in Brazil, Japan, Mexico and India; unenrolled books earn 35% there. Titles consisting primarily of public-domain content are limited to 35%.Delivery costs are deducted before the rate is applied — $0.15/MB on Amazon.com, €0.12/MB in EU stores, ¥1/MB in Japan, ₹7/MB in India.
35% of list price
35% option — Kindle ebookList price $0.99–$200.00 on Amazon.com. Available in all territories.No delivery cost is deducted.
60% of list price
Print sold on Amazon, list price $9.99 or aboveApplies to Amazon marketplaces at or above the marketplace threshold ($9.99 on Amazon.com).Printing cost is subtracted after the rate is applied: (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost. Printing cost varies with page count, ink and marketplace.
50% of list price
Print sold on Amazon, list price $9.98 or belowApplies at or below the marketplace threshold ($9.98 on Amazon.com).Printing cost is subtracted after the rate is applied.
40% of list price
Print sold through Expanded DistributionApplies to sales through Expanded Distribution rather than Amazon's own stores.Printing cost is subtracted after the rate is applied.
40% (basis not documented)
Audiobook with Virtual VoiceApplies to Virtual Voice audiobooks sold on Amazon and in Audible stores. Virtual Voice is an invite-only beta for eligible ebooks, with a list price range of $3.99–$14.99. KDP says it may pay a lower rate in future for books priced below the minimum.KDP's audiobook pricing page does not say whether the rate is applied to list price or to the sale price, and documents no deductions.
Fees: Account, upload and publishing — freeKDP’s help centre: “KDP allows you to self-publish eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcover books for free.” Enrolling a print book in Expanded Distribution is also free. Printing costs are not a fee charged to the author: they are subtracted from each print royalty, as set out in the print royalty rules.
Ebook delivery cost (70% option only) — $0.15Per megabyte of the ebook file, deducted from each Amazon.com sale under the 70% royalty option before the rate is applied, with file size rounded up to the nearest kilobyte and a minimum of US$0.01 per sale. Other marketplaces charge their own rates, listed with the 70% royalty rule. No delivery cost applies under the 35% option.
Payment schedule: Monthly, approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which the sale was made (Terms s.5.4.2). Expanded Distribution takes longer, but KDP’s pages disagree on how much: its royalties estimator says 90 days, while the Expanded Distribution page says about 60 days after the end of the month in which distributors report the sale. Electronic funds transfer has no minimum. Cheque and wire payments wait until a marketplace’s balance reaches its threshold — $100 on Amazon.com, £100 on Amazon.co.uk, €100 in the EU stores — counted separately for each marketplace in its own currency, after tax withholding, and then paid 60 days after the end of the month the threshold is reached. On termination Amazon may hold all royalties for three months to cover refunds.
Returns: Royalties are paid net of refunds (Terms s.5.4.1), and sales reports calculate them on net units sold: units sold minus units refunded. If a customer is refunded after a royalty has been paid, Amazon may offset it against future royalties or require you to repay it (s.5.4.8). For print, a royalty is reported only when a copy ships to fill an order, so a copy returned in new condition and resold by Amazon earns no new royalty. KDP’s pages do not say whether bookshops can return copies ordered through Expanded Distribution.

Individually cited · 38 entries

Verified facts

70% ebook royalty price band (Amazon.com): $2.99–$12.99Widened from $2.99–$9.99 on 7 July 2026. Outside the band the rate is 35%.Verified 2 September 2026 · eBook list price requirements by marketplace; 2 September 2026eBook list price requirements by marketplace
Kindle ebook royalty rates: 70% inside the $2.99–$12.99 band, 35% outside itVerified 2 September 2026 · Digital Pricing Page — eBook royalty options; 2 September 2026Digital Pricing Page — eBook royalty options
How fast KDP stops selling after you give notice: five business days, though Amazon may keep selling print inventory it already holdsThe quickest withdrawal of any agreement in the database. Amazon may also continue to maintain digital copies after termination.Verified 4 September 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 4 September 2026KDP Terms and Conditions
When KDP royalties can be forfeited: entirely, if Amazon terminates you for breaching its representations, warranties or Content GuidelinesAmazon also withholds all royalties for three months after any termination to cover refunds and offsets, and may withhold permanently where it determines deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity occurred. Opening a new account after termination without permission forfeits royalties on that account too.Verified 4 September 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 4 September 2026KDP Terms and Conditions
Royalty hold after any termination: all royalties for three months after they would otherwise be paid, to cover refunds and offsetsSection 5.4.8. Applies however the agreement ends, separately from forfeiture for a breach.Verified 1 October 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 1 October 2026KDP Terms and Conditions
KDP Select exclusivity term: 90 days, renewing automatically unless you opt outVerified 2 September 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 2 September 2026KDP Terms and Conditions
Print royalty on Amazon: 60% of list price minus printing cost at $9.99 and above, 50% below itThe $9.99 figure here is the print threshold and is unrelated to the ebook band.Verified 2 September 2026 · Paperback and hardcover royalty; 2 September 2026Paperback and hardcover royalty
Print royalty through Expanded Distribution: 40% of list price minus printing costPromoted from the print-expanded-40 royalty entry. Applies to sales outside Amazon’s own stores.Verified 2 September 2026 · Paperback and hardcover royalty; 2 September 2026Paperback and hardcover royalty
Free ISBN: offered for paperback and hardcover only, registered to “Independently published”Verified 2 September 2026 · Get an ISBN; 2 September 2026Get an ISBN
Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited) per-page payout (KENP): roughly $0.0044–$0.0049 a page, set monthly rather than fixedAmazon divides the KDP Select Global Fund by all pages read that month, so the rate floats. It averaged about $0.0045 across 2025 and has stayed in this band through 2026. Never quote it as a fixed figure. From October 2026 pages listened to in Kindle+ are paid from the same fund. Amazon has not published a separate rate for listening or said how it will affect the reading rate; the band here predates the change and should be re-checked against the October 2026 rate when Amazon posts it.Verified 3 September 2026 · KDP Select Global Fund and KENP payout; 3 September 2026KDP Select Global Fund and KENP payout
How many KDP accounts you may hold: one account at a time, and may not open another after Amazon terminates yoursSection 4.2. Section 5.4.8 adds that royalties are not owed on a new account opened after termination without Amazon’s express permission.Verified 1 October 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 1 October 2026KDP Terms and Conditions
Termination by Amazon and appeal: at any time if Amazon has concerns about the account, with instructions on how to appeal if you believe it is in errorSection 3. The agreement promises appeal instructions, not a particular process, timescale or outcome.Verified 1 October 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 1 October 2026KDP Terms and Conditions
Whether KDP sells publishing services: it does not: KDP is free and offers no fee-based services such as editing or book designAnyone selling a paid publishing package under KDP or Amazon branding is not KDP.Verified 1 October 2026 · Account security and avoiding scams; 1 October 2026Account security and avoiding scams
Reviews of free advance copies: allowed, as long as the author does not require a review in exchange or try to influence the reviewer’s opinionBooks are the stated exception to Amazon’s ban on reviews of free products. The guidelines set no disclosure requirement for advance-copy reviewers.Verified 1 October 2026 · Community Guidelines; 1 October 2026Community Guidelines
Compensated reviews: not allowed in exchange for anything, including payments, refunds, discounts, products, gift cards or servicesApplies to compensation through any channel, including social media.Verified 1 October 2026 · Community Guidelines; 1 October 2026Community Guidelines
Reviews from people connected to the author: not allowed from anyone with a personal connection to the authorVerified 1 October 2026 · Community Guidelines; 1 October 2026Community Guidelines
What KDP Select exclusivity covers: no digital distribution of the book anywhere else, including your own website or blog; print is unaffectedApplies for each 90-day enrolment term. Content that is not part of the enrolled book is outside it. Audio is separate: see virtual-voice-kindle-plus and acx-kindle-plus-eligibility.Verified 1 October 2026 · Self Publishing and KDP Select; 1 October 2026Self Publishing and KDP Select
Tax profile before publishing: a complete tax profile, which Amazon must validate before you can publish a new book or update an existing oneApplies to US and non-US publishers. A non-US publisher can complete it without a US tax number, but reduced treaty withholding needs one.Verified 15 October 2026 · Complete Tax Profile; 15 October 2026Complete Tax Profile
Accepted Kindle ebook manuscript formats: Word (DOC/DOCX), EPUB or Kindle Package Format (KPF), among othersHTML, RTF, TXT and PDF are also accepted, PDF only for some languages. MOBI is still listed for reflowable ebooks but has not been accepted for fixed-layout ebooks since March 2025.Verified 15 October 2026 · What file formats are supported for eBook manuscripts?; 15 October 2026What file formats are supported for eBook manuscripts?
How long a new book takes to go live: up to 72 hours on Amazon.com, up to 5 days for print in other marketplaces, and up to 6 days for print from an account with no previous bookAmazon's general statement is three business days for a book or update to be live.Verified 15 October 2026 · Timelines; 15 October 2026Timelines
How an Amazon Author Page is claimed: free: you join Author Central with your KDP account details and claim the page from one of your booksReached from the Author Central section of KDP's Marketing page. You find a book by ISBN, ASIN or author name, then confirm you are that author. KDP does not create the page for you in the main marketplaces.Verified 15 October 2026 · Author Central; 15 October 2026Author Central
What Author Central lets you do: add your books and a biography in several languages, and see Best Sellers Rank, customer reviews and your follower countReaders can follow an author from the Author Page or a book's detail page.Verified 15 October 2026 · Author Central; 15 October 2026Author Central
What Amazon followers receive: may be emailed about your new releases and pre-orders, if they accept marketing emails and have not already ordered the bookVerified 15 October 2026 · Author Central; 15 October 2026Author Central
Author Central features limited to Amazon.com: adding editorial reviews and viewing BookScan sales dataVerified 15 October 2026 · Author Central; 15 October 2026Author Central
Marketplaces where you can edit an Author Page: Amazon.com, .co.uk, .de, .fr, .co.jp and .com.brPages also appear in India, Italy, Spain, Australia, Canada and Mexico when you have books there, but they show information from the US page and cannot currently be edited.Verified 15 October 2026 · Author Central; 15 October 2026Author Central
Minimum page count for a colour paperback: 24 pages in premium colour, but 72 in the cheaper standard colourAmazon.com figures. Standard colour is also unavailable at the largest paperback trims.Verified 15 October 2026 · Print Options; 15 October 2026Print Options
Minimum page count for a KDP hardcover: 75 pages, at every hardcover trim sizeAmazon.com figures. Maximum 550.Verified 15 October 2026 · Print Options; 15 October 2026Print Options
Colour options for a KDP hardcover: premium colour only; standard colour isn't offered for hardcoverVerified 15 October 2026 · Print Options; 15 October 2026Print Options
Amazon's tool for illustrated kids' ebooks: Kindle Create, which turns a PDF, PNG or JPEG into an illustrated kids' ebook but can't format textText has to be placed on the artwork in another app before import. KDP documents fixed-layout EPUB as a separate route for text pop-ups.Verified 15 October 2026 · Prepare Comic and Kids' eBooks with Kindle Create; 15 October 2026Prepare Comic and Kids' eBooks with Kindle Create
Kindle Unlimited's current name: Kindle+, since 22 October 2026A rename of the reader subscription, not a new programme. Authors still put ebooks in it by enrolling them in KDP Select.Verified 24 October 2026 · Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, KDP audiobooks now included; 24 October 2026Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, KDP audiobooks now included
How Kindle+ pays authors: a share of the KDP Select Global Fund, based on your share of all pages read or listened to by subscribers that monthEach page pays once per subscriber: reading it again, or listening to a page already read, earns nothing extra. When a subscriber reads and listens at the same time and the two rates differ, the higher one applies.Verified 24 October 2026 · Royalties in Kindle+; 24 October 2026Royalties in Kindle+
Where Kindle+ includes KDP and ACX audiobooks: the US marketplace only, for nowEbooks are in Kindle+ wherever the subscription is sold. Audiobook listening reaches US subscribers only, and Amazon has given no date for other marketplaces.Verified 24 October 2026 · Kindle+; 24 October 2026Kindle+
Virtual Voice audiobooks and Kindle+: enrolled automatically when the matching ebook is in KDP Select, and then exclusive to Audible for the enrolment termKDP's Kindle+ page confirms the automatic enrolment. No separate opt-out for the audiobook is documented; the routes out are removing the ebook from KDP Select or unpublishing the audiobook, and after an unpublish exclusivity still runs to the end of the current 90-day term.Verified 24 October 2026 · Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks; 24 October 2026Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks
Which ACX audiobooks can join Kindle+: those with the ebook live in KDP Select, exclusive Audible distribution, Read & Listen (Whispersync for Voice) on, and a Pay-for-Production dealAll four are required, and enrolment is opt-in from the KDP Bookshelf. Because Pay-for-Production is a condition, Royalty Share and Royalty Share Plus audiobooks, where the narrator is paid from future royalties, cannot join. A wide (non-exclusive) ACX audiobook cannot join either. The agreement’s Addendum C (21 October 2026) states three conditions rather than four: Amazon has invited you, the audiobook is distributed exclusively through ACX, and its ebook is enrolled in KDP Select. The invitation requirement appears only in the agreement; Read & Listen and Pay-for-Production appear only on the help page. Amazon also reserves the right to refuse or remove any audiobook.Verified 24 October 2026 · ACX Audiobooks for KDP Select; 24 October 2026ACX Audiobooks for KDP Select
What Kindle+ does to Audible earnings: nothing: Kindle+ listening is paid from the fund and reported in KDP, while Audible, ALC and Audible Plus royalties stay separate in ACXVerified 24 October 2026 · Royalties for ACX audiobooks in Kindle+; 24 October 2026Royalties for ACX audiobooks in Kindle+
KDP Select promotions for audiobooks: not available: audiobooks can't yet be used in Free Book Promotions or Kindle Countdown DealsVerified 24 October 2026 · Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks; 24 October 2026Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks
Virtual Voice audiobook royalty: 40% on sales through Amazon and Audible, at list prices of $3.99–$14.99Virtual Voice is an invite-only beta for eligible ebooks. This covers sales; Kindle+ listening is paid from the fund instead.Verified 24 October 2026 · Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks; 24 October 2026Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks
What Amazon may disclose to someone who complains about your book or account: your legal name, contact details such as an email address, and sales information such as units sold or royalties paidSection 4.2, added in the 21 October 2026 revision, “consistent with our legitimate business interests” in protecting the service, enforcing agreements and resolving disputes. The 2024 text allowed disclosure of only name and contact information, to comply with law or protect rights.Verified 26 October 2026 · KDP Terms and Conditions; 26 October 2026KDP Terms and Conditions

Manuscript & data handling

Rights & privacy

Manuscript upload: Required
Cloud storage: Yes
Account required: Yes
AI features: Not determined
AI training on your work: The terms are unclearThe KDP Terms and Conditions do not address training machine-learning or AI models on uploaded content at all — the subject is neither permitted nor excluded. Silence is not a commitment: it leaves the question to the general licence grant and to policies that can change without amending this agreement.
Content licence: Section 5.5 grants Amazon a non-exclusive, irrevocable right and licence to print and distribute the book directly and through third-party distributors, and Amazon may let its affiliates and independent contractors exercise those rights. Section 6 is explicit that you retain copyright and all other ownership. The licence runs for the term of the agreement, but rights in copies customers have already bought survive termination. KDP Select is the exception to non-exclusivity: while enrolled, the digital edition is exclusive to Amazon. Since 21 October 2026, an ACX audiobook enrolled in Kindle+ also carries Addendum C’s non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to make all or any portion of it available on Amazon properties for listening online and offline, for the term of the agreement, and Amazon may publicly name top audiobooks with their listens and subscription royalties.
Deletion: Withdrawal is quick; deletion is not on offer. Give notice and Amazon stops selling your ebooks and printing your paperbacks within five business days — faster than any other agreement here. But it may keep selling print inventory it already holds, fulfil orders already placed, and, in its own words, “continue to maintain digital copies” of your Digital Books after termination. Customers keep access through Virtual Storage, expressly both during and after the term. Nothing in the agreement offers deletion of the files or the account on request, so this is recorded as not available rather than undetermined — the agreement was read in full and does not provide it.
Export: Outside KDP Select the licence is non-exclusive, so the book can be published anywhere else at the same time and withdrawal takes five business days. What is not offered is any documented export of the catalogue — uploaded files, metadata or full sales history — and Amazon may keep digital copies after you leave.

Policy reviewed 26 October 2026

Full rights & privacy assessment

Chronological log

Recent changes

22 October 2026
Kindle Unlimited renamed Kindle+, with audiobooks for US subscribers
Amazon renamed Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+. Enrolment still runs through KDP Select. US subscribers can now listen as well as read: Virtual Voice audiobooks join automatically when their ebook is in KDP Select, eligible Pay-for-Production ACX audiobooks can be enrolled, and listening is paid by the page from the same KDP Select Global Fund as reading.
21 October 2026
KDP Terms and Conditions revised
The first revision since 27 September 2024. Section 4.2 now lets Amazon disclose your legal name, contact details and sales information — units sold, royalties paid — to third parties who complain about your content or account; the old clause covered only name and contact details, for legal compliance. Section 5.2 drops the Kindle Book Lending clause, under which every ebook could be lent by customers and only books on the 35% option could opt out; whether lending itself has changed was not checked. Section 5.8 widens the ban on exploiting the service to manipulating, abusing, defrauding or otherwise misusing it, and section 5.4 adds bank-account eligibility rules to the payment policies Amazon may set. The KDP Select addendum now names Kindle+, the Kindle Vella terms are removed, and a new Addendum C covers ACX audiobooks in Kindle+.
7 July 2026
70% royalty price band widened to $12.99
The upper limit of the 70% royalty band on Amazon.com moved from $9.99 to $12.99, so a title priced between those figures now earns 70% rather than 35%.

Editorial note

Royalty, pricing, ISBN and KDP Select terms read against Amazon’s own help pages; the licence grant, sublicensing and ownership positions read against the KDP agreement itself. Telemetry and export/portability were not assessed and are left unstated rather than guessed. Re-verified on 2026-09-04 against the full Terms and Conditions (last updated 27 September 2024) supplied by the site owner. The AI finding is now a positive result rather than an inference: the words “artificial intelligence”, “machine learning” and “training” appear nowhere in the eight-page agreement. That pass also established the termination mechanics and the royalty-forfeiture terms, both now recorded. On 2026-10-01 the one-account rule, the termination-and-appeal clause and KDP’s statement that it sells no paid services were checked against the live terms and help pages and recorded as facts; the rest of the record was not re-verified that day. On 2026-10-01 Amazon’s review rules for advance copies, compensated and connected reviews, and the website-and-blog reach of KDP Select exclusivity were read at source and recorded as facts. On 2026-10-15 the tax-profile requirement, the accepted ebook manuscript formats and the publishing timelines were read at source and recorded as facts; the rest of the record was not re-verified that day. Also on 2026-10-15, Amazon Author Central's sign-up route, features, US-only features and marketplaces were read on KDP's Author Central help page and recorded as facts. Also on 2026-10-15, colour and hardcover page-count limits were read on KDP's Print Options page, and the kids' ebook route on its Kindle Create help page, and recorded as facts. On 2026-10-24 the Kindle+ rename and its audiobook terms were read on KDP's Kindle+, Kindle+ royalties, ACX-for-KDP-Select, ACX-in-Kindle+ royalties and audiobook pricing help pages and recorded as facts, with the KDP Select exclusivity summary corrected for audio. Amazon's announcement would not load outside a browser, so only its date and the rename are taken from it. The KENP rate band was not re-checked that day; it predates audio joining the fund. The rest of the record was not re-verified. On 2026-10-26 the publishing fields that had been empty were filled from KDP’s own pages: fees (free to publish; the per-megabyte ebook delivery cost re-read on the Digital Pricing Page), the payment schedule and thresholds, returns, and territories for ebooks and print. KDP’s royalties estimator and Expanded Distribution page give different payment timings for Expanded Distribution, and both are recorded. The Terms and Conditions now carry “Last Updated: October 21, 2026”; the clauses this record cites were re-read and found unchanged, and the full text was then compared sentence by sentence against an archived copy of the 2024 version. Its substantive changes are recorded in the 2026-10-21 changelog entry, a new complaint-disclosure fact, the ACX eligibility fact’s notes and the content licence summary. The rest of the record was not re-verified.

Sources

Every factual claim above is drawn from these documents.

Official terms
Digital Pricing Page — eBook royalty options
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
Official terms
KDP Terms and Conditions
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026 · Effective 21 October 2026
Source for KDP Select exclusivity and the 90-day auto-renewing term, for the grant of rights (s.5.5) and ownership (s.6), and for the termination, royalty-withholding and forfeiture terms in s.3 and s.5.4.8. Read in full on 2026-09-04 and confirmed to contain no reference to AI, machine learning or model training. Re-read on 2026-10-01 from the public read-only copy for the one-account rule (s.4.2) and the appeal instructions promised on termination (s.3). Re-read on 2026-10-26, when the agreement carried “Last Updated: October 21, 2026”: the termination and withdrawal notice (five business days), the one-account rule, the appeal instructions, royalties net of refunds (s.5.4.1), payment timing (s.5.4.2), the refund offset, three-month withholding and forfeiture terms, and the absence of any reference to AI, machine learning or training were all unchanged. Later that day the full 2026 text was compared sentence by sentence against the archived 2024 version (kdp-terms-2024). The substantive changes match Amazon’s own summary — sections 4.2, 5.2, 5.4, 5.8, 10.3 and Addendum A, Kindle Vella removed, Addendum C added — and are recorded in the changelog; the remaining differences are formatting and renumbering.
Official terms
KDP Terms and Conditions (27 September 2024 version, archived)
Amazon KDP (via the Internet Archive)
Accessed 26 October 2026 · Effective 27 September 2024
Wayback Machine capture of 5 August 2025. A capture of 28 January 2026 still shows this version, so the 21 October 2026 revision is the only one since, as its own change summary implies. Used as the baseline for the clause-by-clause comparison.
Official policy
Community Guidelines
Amazon
Accessed 1 October 2026
Source for the advance-reader-copy exception, the ban on compensated or incentivised reviews, and the ban on reviews from people with a personal connection to the author. Read in a browser on 2026-10-01; the page does not require reviewers of advance copies to disclose them.
Official pricing
eBook list price requirements by marketplace
Amazon KDP
Accessed 2 September 2026 · Effective 7 July 2026
Records the 70% band widening to $2.99–$12.99 on Amazon.com.
Official pricing
Paperback and hardcover royalty
Amazon KDP
Accessed 2 September 2026
Official pricing
Payment Thresholds
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
No threshold for electronic funds transfer; cheque and wire thresholds per marketplace in local currency, applied after tax withholding, with payment 60 days after the end of the month the threshold is reached.
Official help centre
Account security and avoiding scams
Amazon KDP
Accessed 1 October 2026
Source for KDP being a free service that sells no fee-based editing or design, and for KDP never asking for passwords or full bank details by email.
Official help centre
ACX Audiobooks for KDP Select
Amazon KDP
Accessed 24 October 2026
Source for the four ACX eligibility conditions (ebook live in KDP Select, exclusive Audible distribution, Read & Listen enabled, Pay-for-Production deal), enrolment from the Bookshelf, and the up-to-24-hour wait for the Kindle+ badge.
Official help centre
Author Central
Amazon KDP
Accessed 15 October 2026
Source for how an Author Page is claimed, the marketplaces Author Central covers, its features, and which features are US-only. The page carries no last-updated date. Author Central's own help topics require signing in to an Amazon account and were not read.
Official help centre
Complete Tax Profile
Amazon KDP
Accessed 15 October 2026
Source for the requirement that Amazon receives and validates your tax identity before you can publish new books or update existing ones.
Official help centre
eBook Distribution Rights
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
Worldwide versus individual territories for ebooks; 13 Amazon Kindle stores; customers in uncovered territories buy from Amazon.com.
Official help centre
Expanded Distribution
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
Enrolment is free; royalties are paid about 60 days after the end of the month in which distributors report sales; US and UK distribution rights are required for the respective programmes. Says nothing about bookshop returns.
Official help centre
Get an ISBN
Amazon KDP
Accessed 2 September 2026
Official help centre
KDP Select Global Fund and KENP payout
Amazon KDP
Accessed 3 September 2026
Source for the KDP Select Global Fund mechanism. The per-page figure is derived monthly from the fund divided by total pages read, so it is a range rather than a posted rate.
Official help centre
Kindle+
Amazon KDP
Accessed 24 October 2026
Source for what Kindle+ is, how enrolled titles earn from the KDP Select Global Fund on pages read or listened to, Virtual Voice audiobooks enrolling automatically with their ebook, ACX audiobooks being unenrollable separately, and audiobooks in Kindle+ being distributed in the US marketplace only. The page does not mention Kindle Unlimited or the rename date, and states no subscriber price.
Official help centre
Old Sales Dashboard
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
Source for print royalties being reported only when a copy ships, and for no new royalty on copies returned in new condition and resold by Amazon. The page is titled for the retired dashboard and carries no date; no newer page states the rule.
Official help centre
Paperback and Hardcover Distribution Rights
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
The 14 paperback marketplaces, hardcover exclusions, the marketplaces with no print, the EU-and-UK all-or-none rule and the US/Canada/Mexico rule.
Official help centre
Prepare Comic and Kids' eBooks with Kindle Create
Amazon KDP
Accessed 15 October 2026
Source for Kindle Create converting PDF, PNG or JPEG files into illustrated or kids' ebooks, and for it having no text-formatting features. The page does not mention Kindle Kids' Book Creator.
Official help centre
Pricing, royalties, and reports for audiobooks
Amazon KDP
Accessed 24 October 2026
Source for the 40% Virtual Voice royalty, the $3.99–$14.99 list price range, Audible exclusivity for enrolled audiobooks, exclusivity running to the end of the 90-day term after an unpublish, and audiobooks not yet being eligible for Free Book Promotions or Countdown Deals.
Official help centre
Print Options
Amazon KDP
Accessed 15 October 2026
Source for ink and paper options by binding and for minimum and maximum page counts by trim size. The minimums recorded here held at every US trim size listed.
Official help centre
Royalties Estimator
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
States royalties are paid monthly about 60 days after the end of the month in which the sale was reported, and 90 days for Expanded Distribution — which conflicts with the Expanded Distribution page.
Official help centre
Royalties for ACX audiobooks in Kindle+
Amazon KDP
Accessed 24 October 2026
Source for Kindle+ listening being paid from the KDP Select Global Fund and reported in KDP, while Audible, ALC and Audible Plus royalties stay separate and reported in ACX. Says nothing about how a royalty-share split with a narrator would work.
Official help centre
Royalties in Kindle+
Amazon KDP
Accessed 24 October 2026
Previously titled Royalties in Kindle Unlimited. Source for earnings being measured in KENP across reading and listening, payment for the first read or listen of each page only, the higher rate applying when a page is read and listened to together, and the fund being set monthly.
Official help centre
Sales and Royalties Report
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
Defines Net Units Sold as units sold minus units refunded, “the basis of your royalty calculation”.
Official help centre
Self Publishing and KDP Select
Amazon KDP
Accessed 1 October 2026
Source for KDP Select exclusivity extending to the author’s own website and blog.
Official help centre
Start publishing with KDP
Amazon KDP
Accessed 26 October 2026
Source for publishing on KDP costing nothing: “KDP allows you to self-publish eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcover books for free.”
Official help centre
Timelines
Amazon KDP
Accessed 15 October 2026
Source for how long a new or updated book takes to go live. The six-day figure for accounts without a previously published book sits in the paperback and hardcover section.
Official help centre
What file formats are supported for eBook manuscripts?
Amazon KDP
Accessed 15 October 2026
Lists DOC/DOCX, KPF, EPUB and MOBI as the most common formats, with HTML, RTF, TXT and PDF (some languages only) also accepted. MOBI has not been accepted for fixed-layout ebooks since March 2025.
Official announcement
Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, KDP audiobooks now included
Amazon KDP
Accessed 24 October 2026 · Effective 22 October 2026
Amazon's announcement of the rename, dated 22 October 2026. The page would not render outside a browser session on 2026-10-24, so its wording was read through press coverage quoting it; the facts recorded from it are limited to the date and the rename, and every term is cited to a KDP help page instead. Coverage also reports Amazon saying it is adding money to the fund for listening and is exploring eligibility for Royalty Share titles. Neither is recorded as a fact until it can be read at source.

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Amazon KDP covers one part of publishing a book. The author tools directory covers the writing, formatting, cover, email and promotion tools around it.

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