Creating Your KDP Account

What to do

Create your free Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) account, the platform you will use to publish and sell your book on Amazon.

Why it matters

KDP is where your book actually goes live for sale. Everything from here through the end of this stage happens inside your KDP account, so getting it set up correctly now avoids confusion later.

Step-by-step

• Go to kdp.amazon.com and sign in with an existing Amazon account, or create a new one if you don't already have one.
• Complete your KDP account profile: your legal name, address, and phone number.
• Set up your tax information under Account, Tax Information. KDP requires this before it will pay out royalties, so it's worth doing now rather than waiting until your first sale.
• Choose how you want to be paid (direct deposit or check, depending on your country) under Your Payee Profile.
• Decide on your public author or pen name under Account, this is separate from your legal name and is what readers will see.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Putting off tax information until after publishing. KDP can hold royalty payments until this is complete, so filling it in now saves a scramble later.
• Confusing your legal name (used for tax and payment purposes) with your public author name (what shows on the book cover and sales page). Both have a place, but they don't have to match.

Completion checklist

0 of 2 checked

• I created (or signed into) my Amazon KDP account.
• I completed my tax information and payment details.

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