KDP requirements and rejection reasons
Every rule here is the one the tools in this app enforce — the figures are read from the same constants, so a guide cannot quote a number the checker disagrees with.
Rejection reasons
- Fonts are not embeddedKDP rejects any interior that references a font instead of carrying it. This is the single most common rejection.Read the guide
- Text runs into the margins or the bindingContent must stay 0.25" from the trim edge on a page without bleed, 0.375" on one with it, and clear of the inside margin, which grows with page count.Read the guide
- Artwork sits under the barcodeKDP prints a barcode in a 2" x 1.2" area at the bottom right of the back cover. Anything there will be covered.Read the guide
- Page count is out of rangePaperbacks need at least 24 pages, hardcovers 75, and nothing may exceed 800.Read the guide
- Pages are not all the same sizeEvery page of an interior must share one trim size. Mixed sizes are rejected outright.Read the guide
- The PDF is password-protectedKDP cannot open an encrypted interior. It is rejected without the rest of the file being read.Read the guide
- Transparency and layersLive transparency can print unpredictably. Flatten artwork before export.Read the guide
- A print-ready checklist before you uploadThe checks worth running on an interior and a cover before they go to KDP, in the order that catches the expensive mistakes first.Read the guide
Interior
- Bleed and where it appliesBleed adds 0.125" beyond the trim so ink runs off the cut edge, and applies to outer edges only.Read the guide
- Paper choice changes your coverSpine width depends on paper stock, so switching paper after designing a cover invalidates it.Read the guide
- Choosing a trim sizeTrim size is the finished size of the book. It fixes the cover, the margins and the page count, so it is the first decision rather than the last.Read the guide
- Paperback or hardcoverThe two bindings take different page-count ranges, different trims and differently shaped covers. Deciding late means redoing the cover.Read the guide
Cover
- Cover text sits too close to the trimLive content on a cover must stay 0.375" inside the trim edge — a different, larger figure than an interior's outside margin.Read the guide
- Artwork is too low resolutionCover artwork should be 300 DPI at the size it prints, not at the size it was designed.Read the guide
- Text on the spineKDP will not print text on a spine below 79 pages, and what you do print has to fit between the two folds.Read the guide
- Rights to your cover artworkA stock licence lets you publish the cover. It does not make the artwork yours, and that difference decides whether you can build a series brand on it.Read the guide
- How spine width is calculatedSpine width is the page count multiplied by the thickness of one page of the paper you chose, and nothing else.Read the guide
- Working out full cover dimensionsA print cover is one flat image: back, spine and front side by side, with bleed around the outside. Its size follows from trim, page count and paper.Read the guide
Listing
- Description formatting is limitedAmazon accepts a small set of HTML tags and counts markup against the 4000 character limit.Read the guide
- Backend keywords7 slots of 50 characters each, used for search rather than display.Read the guide
- Writing a book descriptionA description is read on a phone, in a few seconds, by someone deciding whether to scroll on. Structure matters as much as wording.Read the guide
- Choosing categoriesCategories decide which shelves your book appears on. Precise beats broad: a narrow category is one a reader can actually find you in.Read the guide