How do I sell my self-published book?

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To sell your self-published book, upload it to Amazon KDP, give it a cover that fits its genre, and write a description modelled on the bestsellers in that genre. These three steps work even on a small budget, and they are the start of selling, not the end of it.

How Do I Start Selling on Amazon KDP?

If you have written a book and aren’t sure what to do with it, there are three keys.

The first is to upload it to Amazon KDP, which stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. It is by far the easiest way to publish your ebook. KDP accepts Word (DOC/DOCX), EPUB and KPF files, so you don’t need a special format to begin (KDP: eBook manuscript file formats). I use Atticus for formatting when I want a polished file. Want print as well? See how to publish a book on Amazon.

What Should I Do About My Budget and My Cover?

I wouldn’t suggest a bare-bones setup in the long run, but at the beginning, if you have a book and not much of a budget, it’s a good way to start. The best thing is to get it uploaded first and improve it later. You don’t have to stay with the same format, and getting something up there starts the process.

The second key is the cover. You can make one for free at Canva.com, which has templates designed for book covers and makes it super easy if you have no budget. For a Kindle ebook the cover image must be a TIFF or JPEG file in RGB colour and under 50MB (KDP: eBook cover image requirements). If you want a fancier look, you can hire a graphic designer through a freelance marketplace such as Upwork, or ask me about cover design. When you’re just getting started on a small budget, Canva is fine.

See also can authors use the same cover for print and ebook.

How Much Will I Earn From Each Sale?

On Amazon.com the 70% royalty option needs a list price from $2.99 to $12.99, a band that took effect on 07-Jul-26. The 35% option covers prices from the file-size minimum up to $200, and delivery costs still apply to the 70% option (KDP eBook list price requirements, September 2026). For a paperback, KDP shows your estimated royalty for each marketplace once you enter a list price (KDP paperback pricing).

What Can’t I Put in My Description?

KDP’s metadata guidelines say you may use HTML in your description, but not contact details or URLs, reviews, quotes or testimonials, requests for reviews, advertisements, price or availability details, spoilers, or keywords. Put your reviews and your website in the book itself or on your author page, and keep the description about what the reader gets.

What Comes After the Big Three?

Uploading is not selling. Most readers will not find a new book by chance. In the Written Word Media 2025 Indie Author Survey (published 02-Dec-25), well over 80% of the 1,346 respondents called marketing the hardest part of being an author. The authors who had an email list had a median income of about $300 a month, against about $15 without one. The survey notes that these are self-reported figures that show a link, not proof of cause. To see realistic early numbers for a first-time author, read how much a first-time teenage author can expect to make in three months.

My advice: put a link to a free gift or your next book in the back of the ebook, collect email addresses from the start, and tell that list when you publish. Then add a little promotion each week. It is slow, but it adds up as you publish more books.

How Do I Write a Description That Sells?

The third key is the description. Look at other ebooks in your genre that are bestsellers and see what their descriptions look like, then match their format. For non-fiction, they may use bullet points and bold text, so copy that structure, with your own words.

Those are the big three: upload to KDP, create a cover on Canva, and model your description on the best-selling authors in your genre. Then keep going with the best free ways to promote your KDP book. So what is stopping you? Tell me in the comments, or book a free 25-minute discovery call and we’ll look at your book together.

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