My Book Is Live but I Can't Find It on Amazon. What Now?

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Give a new book a few days. KDP says it takes 3 business days to go live on Amazon, and the pieces that make a listing look finished arrive at different times. If you are past those dates, work through the checks below in order. If the checks below do not fix it, where to find Amazon Kindle self-publishing help lists where to ask.

How long should a new book take to show on Amazon?

KDP’s timelines page gives these figures:

• Live on Amazon: 3 business days for a new book or an update.
• Print detail page: up to 72 hours on Amazon.com, up to 5 days on other marketplaces.
• Look Inside: 7 to 8 business days for an ebook and 9 to 10 business days for print.
• Ebook in search results: up to 72 hours after the book is live.
• Paperback and ebook on one page: 48 hours to 1 week after each edition is live.

The page also says low-content books may take longer. So an ebook that is live but missing from search on day one, or a paperback with no Look Inside in its first week, is inside the normal range. Nothing is broken yet.

What should I check first?

Your Bookshelf. Open KDP and look at the status next to each format. KDP’s help on updating a manuscript speaks of books in Draft or Live status, so a format that still says Draft has not been published. Open it, finish the steps and publish.

If both formats say Live, the book exists. From here the question is whether Amazon has caught up.

Is my book marked as adult?

Check this if your book shows when you type the exact title but never in general searches. KDP’s search troubleshooting page says books with sexually explicit images or titles “will not surface in general product searches.”

Open the book’s details in your Bookshelf and look at Primary Audience. If you answered Yes to “Sexually Explicit Images or Title” by mistake, change it to No and publish again. KDP’s Primary Audience help says updates can take up to 48 hours to show on Amazon.

If KDP marked the book itself, KDP says you can’t change the setting. My advice: look at the title and cover for anything it may have read as explicit, then at your keywords. That part is my view, not KDP’s.

Is it a children’s book that doesn’t show in age searches? KDP says a book with no suitable reading age will not appear in age-specific results. Can you publish sex scenes on KDP covers adult fiction and search.

Why can I only find it by typing the full title?

That is a search problem, and it comes after the book is live. The first thing to look at is your keywords and categories. KDP’s help on keywords says to use up to seven keywords or short phrases, and to search Amazon with the keywords you are considering before you publish. Its categories page says categories and keywords together tell Amazon where to “shelve” your book.

Try it yourself. Search for the phrase a reader with your problem would type, not your title. If you cannot find your book for that phrase, the page has not been told what the book is about in the words readers use. You can change keywords and categories in your Bookshelf. Week 2 of what to do after you publish your book walks through that rework.

A new book with no sales will not rank well for a broad phrase anyway. Typing the exact title and finding it is the first sign the listing works. Ranking for general phrases comes later.

Why does a search for my author name find nothing?

If the title works but your name does not, look at the author name. KDP’s Authors & Contributors page says the name can’t be changed once the book is published. It also says author name is one of the most common ways customers search for your books, so it should match your other books, and that Author Pages, Series Pages and format linking rely on it.

When you search, KDP’s page on finding your book says to open View on Amazon from the Bookshelf, then choose Books or Kindle Store as the department.

This part is my advice, not KDP’s. Check that the name, or your pen name if you use one, is spelled exactly the same on every format and book. Claim your Author Page in Author Central, which KDP says you do by searching one of your books by ISBN, ASIN or author name, and add every book to it. If the books still don’t show under the name, contact KDP with the book ASINs.

Why is there no Look Inside?

Time is the usual reason, and the dates above apply. One exception is a low-content book, such as a journal or planner without an ISBN. I wrote about that case in the dangers of publishing low-content books, so I will not repeat it here.

How much of my book does Read Sample show, and can I change it?

KDP’s Read Sample page says the feature is switched on automatically, and ebook pre-orders get a sample too. It shows 10% of an ebook and 20% of a paperback or hardcover. You can’t change the percentage or hide chosen pages or chapters, although the page also says samples can be adjusted to hide spoilers. If you want the feature removed from a book, KDP says you can ask by contacting them. Books without an ISBN, such as low-content books, show no sample. On phones it shows for ebooks only, and updates to your manuscript take longer to appear than a first sample.

This part is my advice, not KDP’s. Keep the sample on, because it is how a shopper decides whether to buy. The front pages fill part of the sample, so put the thank-you, other-books and similar pages at the back of the book. Then the sample reaches your opening chapter, and that is what you want a stranger to read.

Why isn’t my paperback on the same page as my ebook?

The formats link on their own 48 hours to 1 week after each is live. KDP says the link forms automatically only if the metadata matches exactly. Open both and compare the title, subtitle and author name, character by character. A stray comma is enough to keep them apart.

Why does Amazon show my paperback as unavailable or out of stock?

For a new paperback, KDP’s timelines page says it can take up to 72 hours on Amazon.com and up to 5 days on other marketplaces to show as in stock. A first book on a new account may take up to 6 days to publish. KDP’s book status page says a book marked Live is available for purchase, and a book marked “Live - Updates in review” or “Live - Updates publishing” stays on sale while your changes are processed.

KDP’s help has no page on a paperback that was in stock and later shows as unavailable, so I can’t tell you the cause.

This part is my advice, not KDP’s. Inside the first 72 hours, or 5 days outside the US, wait. After that, check the Bookshelf status for that format, then look at the listing in another marketplace. Pause any Amazon ads on that format until people can buy it again. Then write to KDP support and name the format, the marketplace and the date it went unavailable. How to write is in “When should I contact KDP support?” below.

When should I contact KDP support?

After the dates above have passed and a format is still missing, not before. KDP’s timelines page says contacting support will not speed up the review. When you do write, say which format, give the date you published and name the timeline you are past.

KDP says Live, but the link shows “Sorry, we couldn’t find that page”

KDP’s timelines page says an ebook’s detail page can take up to 72 hours to appear, and a print detail page up to 72 hours on Amazon.com and up to 5 days on other marketplaces.

This part is my advice, not KDP’s. Inside those times, the missing page is the normal wait, not a fault, even though the Bookshelf says Live. Check that the link you are using matches the ASIN or ISBN shown in your Bookshelf. Past those times, the support advice above applies.

What if I want a second pair of eyes on the listing?

A listing that is live but invisible is often a keyword or category problem, and it is hard to see on your own book. If you would like me to look at yours and talk through your launch plan, book a free 25-minute discovery call.

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