![]() ![]() Do this rather than selecting Save and Continue, as you’ll need to check that everything is ok with your book before the next step. Once your cover image has uploaded, you can click on the Launch Previewer button.I found it rather clunky and not user-friendly, so ended up using Canva to complete my cover, then uploaded this to Amazon KDP. I had already designed my front cover in Canva, but not the spine or back cover yet, so at first decided to give the Cover Creator a go. This is not only the front cover, but also includes the spine and back cover in the same file. The ‘Book Cover’ field gives you two options – to design a book cover using the inbuilt Cover Creator, or to upload your own cover.Another popular formatting choice is Vellum, but there are other options. I used Scrivener to format my book, and I will write a blog post about this in the not-too-distant future. It should ideally be in PDF format, already laid out exactly as you wish it to appear in the final book. This does not include the cover, purely the interior pages. When you click on Upload paperback manuscript, a pop-up will appear that prompts you to browse to the location on your computer of your manuscript. The next box is the most exciting so far (unless you are particularly passionate about book sizes and cover finishes).However, I don’t have first-hand experience of this so it’s entirely your choice. I’ve seen some KDP reviews saying that the gloss finish is not always very uniform. Whether you choose a Matte or Glossy cover finish is entirely personal choice.If you have large images that span two pages, for example, you may need to select Bleed (PDF only). Most books will not require this, so you will probably select No Bleed. Bleed Settings refer to whether content will be printed outside the margins.I chose 5.5 x 8.5 inches for my mystery novel, as it is fairly long, so 5 x 8 inches (which is my preferred size when I read a novel) would have been more pages. You may find this blog post on Reedsy about book sizes helpful when deciding. Trim Size refers to the size of your book. ![]() Clicking on each button one by one will show you information about each option, with a example image. If your book has colour graphics, photos etc, select your favoured option for ‘color interior’. Generally speaking, black text on cream paper is ideal for fiction, black text on white paper is more suited to non-fiction with no colour images. Under Print Options, select the option that is best for your book.Ignore the publication date (optional) field.Assuming you don’t have your own ISBN at this stage, select the button Assign me a free KDP ISBN. Once your changes are saved, the Paperback Content tab will load.They are all self-explanatory, and you can ignore the optional categories, particularly if you’re just looking to order proof copies. Select + Paperback and complete the fields.Publishing via KDP isn’t my area of expertise, however, so I’d recommend that you do your own research. If you’re going to use KDP for self-publishing, not just ordering proofs, it may be worth setting up a separate KDP account. I’ve read blog posts where people who use a pen name run into difficulties when using their personal Amazon login. If you don’t have an Amazon account, or if you’d rather keep your KDP activity separate from your personal Amazon account, create a separate account. Go to and sign in with your usual Amazon login.Step-by-step guide to ordering Amazon KDP printed proofs You can easily order author copies (without the ‘Not for Resale’ strip) from KDP once you’ve published your book, but this post doesn’t cover that route. I’m happy with this for my proof copies, but it may not suit you. Amazon KDP printed proofs have a ‘Not for Resale’ strip around the cover. Please be aware that this blog post is about printing for proof copies, not for self-publishing to sell. As the costs involved are far lower than other options I’d been considering (around £30 plus postage for five copies), I chose that route. Then I heard about ordering proof copies via KDP. I did look at online printing options, but either the reviews weren’t good enough to justify the fairly high costs involved, just for proof copies (around £100 for 10 copies for my book, which is quite long in its current state), or there was a limit to the number of pages. I found the cost of the ink alone for one copy was over £20 or $28. It isn’t economically viable to do it at home. Some have requested a printed copy, rather than an ebook or PDF (I would do the same), so I’ve been investigating various printing options. My manuscript is at a stage where I’m ready to send it to beta readers. Follow my step-by-step guide to receive your printed proofs. If you need to order proof copies of your book, the cheapest option I’ve found is via Amazon KDP. ![]()
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