Get Your Short Story Published On Amazon

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Yes, you can get your short story published on Amazon, however short it is. Put it out as a Kindle book and, once it reaches about 3,000 words, as a paperback on KDP, as Mary did when her Wattpad readers started buying. Below are the steps, the rules that trip people up, and when to leave KDP Select. This is the written version of my short story video, updated for 2026.

What is the first step to publish a short story on Amazon?

Start with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Upload the story as a Kindle book, add a paperback, and then an audiobook. If all you want is to have it on Amazon, you can almost upload a Word file and be live. It won’t sell many copies that way, but it is allowed.

KDP sets no minimum word count for a Kindle book. Its content guidelines do list “content that is too short” among the content it does not allow, without giving a number. So give readers a full story, call it a short story in the title or description, and state the page count so nobody is disappointed.

Short stories need the same work as a novel: a professional cover, a description, keywords and a single genre. I recommend formatting it yourself in Atticus, which is a one-time $147 payment for all your books (Atticus, 2026). If you need a cover, you can get one from a designer on a marketplace such as 99designs or Reedsy. If you want a cover made for you in every format, I make AI covers, checked against your category: book covers.

What was Mary’s story?

Mary had written several short stories and thought they were far too short for Amazon. She put them on Wattpad, got thousands of downloads and plenty of positive feedback, and made no money from it. She looked at Amazon, saw long novels, and wondered whether anyone would pay for something so short, and whether the rules even allowed it.

She asked me on Quora what the next step was. I answered there, and I suggested she book a free discovery call so we could look at the stories together. My first advice was that she had to get them on Amazon, whatever she had written.

She put her Kindle books and her paperbacks on KDP, and her Wattpad readers came over and bought them. Her limit was in her own head, and I see that in a lot of authors. One call was enough to put her on the right route, and it works for beginners and for established authors whose sales are low.

Why stick to one genre and publish all your stories?

Keep each author name to one genre or micro-niche. If you write in several, use a different name for each, or at least initials. We are not our audience and we don’t know what they want, so publish every story you have, let readers show you what sells, and write more of that.

Should I publish my stories one by one or as a collection?

There are three routes. Publish each story alone: more books on the shelf, and readers show you which story they like. Publish only a collection: one bigger book, but one cover and one description to win a buyer. Or publish each story first and collect them later. My advice: start with the stories alone, as in the section above, and collect them once readers have shown you which ones they like. If you sold them before, say so in the description. The box sets section of the novella series post, linked below, covers how to bundle.

KDP has a rule for collections. Its Metadata Guidelines say a book of several stories must show that in the title field and on the cover, with terms such as “Collection,” “Compilation,” or “Series.” Collections of individual stories must have all stories listed in the metadata. Title and subtitle together must be fewer than 200 characters. Can “Stories” be the subtitle? The page does not say, so I would use one of its example words.

How long must a story be for a paperback?

A KDP paperback needs at least 24 pages (KDP paperback page counts). About 3,000 words reaches that once you add the title page, copyright page and a page inviting readers to join your email list. If your story is shorter, combine two, three or four of them in the same genre until you get there. KDP’s boxed set and bundle guidelines ask for a title that shows it holds several books and a table of contents listing each one. If you are planning a whole series of short books, see how to publish a series of novellas and box sets on KDP.

To see whether your own story gets to 24 pages, put its word count into my free book page count calculator.

I price Kindle books at about $2.99 whether they are short or long, and I aim for at least $5 profit on each paperback. You can check what a price pays you with the free KDP royalty calculator. If sales are strong, raise the paperback price slowly and leave the Kindle price alone. For more, see how to price a self-published book on Amazon and how long a self-published book should be.

Can a short story become an audiobook?

Yes. ACX says you must have the ebook listed on Amazon.com, so publish the Kindle version first (ACX help, 06-Oct-26). You also need audio rights, which self-published authors who used KDP keep. ACX sets no minimum length, but your audiobook must be narrated by a human unless ACX authorizes otherwise (ACX audio submission requirements, 15-Apr-26). ACX is open to residents of the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. I find the audiobook easier than the paperback, because the cover and formatting are already done. My own process is in how to get your audiobooks produced on ACX.

Should I use KDP Select or sell wide?

Use KDP Select while the story sells well on Amazon, and leave it when sales slow. KDP Select is a 90-day program in which your Kindle ebook must be exclusive to the Kindle Store. Print and other formats can be sold elsewhere. Enrollment renews by default, so turn off renewal if you plan to leave, and you have only three days after the start to cancel.

If you want the story free on Wattpad, or on other sites, don’t enroll the Kindle book. If you do want it in other stores, wait for the 90 days to end, then take it out and publish through Draft2Digital or Publish Drive. I did that with all of my books once they started selling on other platforms. Short stories suit it as well as long books.

There are plenty of mistakes you can make, and some of them cost me real money. My free 12-step self-publishing checklist takes you through each step in order, so you can avoid the mistakes that cost me.

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