Congratulations, you’ve published your eBook on Amazon! But do you know how to print a Kindle ebook? You don’t have to stop at digital copies. Whether it’s for marketing purposes, reaching new readers, increasing sales, or you simply prefer the smell of a fresh book, you have the option of turning your manuscript into a paperback book to sell alongside the eBook version on Amazon.
How to Print a Kindle eBook – The Process
Creating the paperback version of your eBook through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is extremely easy if you have already gone through the steps required to create your eBook. All you have to do is
- Login to your KDP account
- Go to your “Bookshelf”
- Find the eBook you want to turn into a paperback
- Click “+Create paperback”
And you’re done! KDP will update your paperback details with the details you provided when you set up your eBook (you can always go in and edit them). Make sure to go through these details to ensure that the prices, distribution options, and royalty options selected are consistent with your preferences.
Easy, right? However, before you go submitting it for publication, it is important that you review your paperback manuscript to make sure that it fits all of Amazon’s content and formatting guidelines, just like you did before publishing your eBook. It is best to use professional book formatting services.
Formatting Your Paperback Manuscript
Before your paperback is approved for sale on Amazon, your paperback manuscript will need to meet certain quality standards in order to be accepted. In addition to following Amazon’s Content Guidelines, you will need to make sure your manuscript is properly formatted for print, which includes image resolution, fonts, margin settings, and readability.
KDP provides free templates and formatting tips, as well as guides that provide step-by-step instructions on how to format in Microsoft Word (Windows and Mac) and Pages (Mac). In addition, KDP has a series of webinars and FAQs on formatting that you can watch and read for free.
Reviewing Your Paperback Manuscript
Once you have made sure that your paperback manuscript is properly formatted, go through KDP’s Paperback Manual Review Checklist and review your manuscript for the following:
- All book details exactly match the information in your files, including
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Headers and footers
- Front and back cover
- Spine
- Your manuscript is formatted to prevent the text from bleeding when the book is trimmed
- The page numbers are in sequential order and there are no more than two consecutive blank pages at the beginning or middle of your manuscript and/or 10 consecutive blank pages at the end
- The manuscript is legible
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- Text is at least 7-point font
- Other elements don’t cut off or overlap text
- Text doesn’t blend into the background
- The spine text is properly formatted and the book has enough pages to accommodate spine text
- All template text has been customized or removed
- The manuscript content and cover text are within the margins
- There is no language in your files that implies your book is part of a bundled set
If you find that your manuscript does not meet any one of these requirements, KDP offers a comprehensive list of tips to help you fix these problems in your manuscript.
Remember, this checklist is not a list of suggestions, this is what KDP will be using to review your paperback manuscript in order to decide whether or not to accept it for publication.
Once you have uploaded your files, check them with KDP’s Print Previewer tool. This tool will check for errors you need to fix. After fixing these errors, update your original files and upload the revised files to KDP.
The Final Test: KDP Manual Check
After you submit your book, KDP will manually check your interior and cover files. If KDP finds any issues, they will email you instructions on what to fix. Once your book passes the manual check, it will become available for sale on Amazon.
