There’s nothing like having a hardcover copy of a favorite book in your hands. gives beautiful, professional covers the chance to come to life beyond the screen. It also becomes easier to take a book wherever you want without fear of running out of battery. And the best part of all? that feeling when you hold a hardcover copy of the book you wrote.
While figuring out how to publish a hardcover book isn’t a necessity for freelance authors, it can count as one of those “nice to have” things. friends, family, and superfans alike may want to order hardcover copies to keep on hand. authors can also enjoy it as a physical representation of the fruits of their labor.
You are reading: Amazon hard cover books
When publishing a hardcover book, you have two main paths to take: independent publishers can do it on their own terms through amazon kdp or by paying for one of the many print-on-demand services.
If you’re trying to determine which hardcover publishing option is best for you, we have two tips to keep in mind:
- do you publish your books exclusively through amazon kdp? If so, we suggest publishing your hardcover book through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
- If your books are large, print-on-demand services like ingramspark publishing make it easy to publish and print your own book.
Now that you have a better understanding of which service will work for you, we’ll dedicate this article to breaking down the fine print details of how to publish a hardcover book on amazon kdp. remember, our details for doing this through print on demand services are detailed in this blog post.
How do I publish a paper book?
Before we break down the steps to publishing a hardcover book on amazon kdp, let’s answer a few burning questions:
1) How much does it cost to publish a hardcover book?
When preparing to print your hardcover book, you’ll need to be aware of two main concerns: printing cost and design cost.
printing costs
since hardcover books are real 3d objects, there are associated costs that come with bringing them to life. Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to publish and print hardcover books right from your KDP control panel. they even include printing costs in their royalties!
These are the fixed costs Amazon sets for color and black ink on hardcover books:
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Unsurprisingly, printing in color has additional costs compared to printing in black ink. Also, please note that Amazon sets maximum list prices for hardcover books:
Minimum listing prices can be calculated by dividing the cost of printing by the royalty rate set by Amazon.
design costs
Unfortunately, one of the biggest downsides to publishing hardcover books is that they rack up one-time expenses. Before you can publish, you’ll need to plan ahead by paying for and designing a best-selling cover. we suggest working with one of the many professional book cover designers to ensure your cover is easy to read, eye-catching, and genre-appropriate.
as you work to publish a hardcover book on amazon kdp, you may see some key terms appear along the way:
- dust jacket: This is the removable cover that covers many hardcover books. amazon kdp does not provide these for you.
- trim/layout size: to publish a hardcover book through amazon kdp, you will need to format and upload a manuscript and file of cover. these must be properly formatted to conform to kdp standards. see this resource for kdp formatting tips.
- isbn: if you are publishing a hardcover book, you must register an isbn for your copyright page. For reference, paperbacks, e-books, and hardcovers all require unique ISBNs. As a reminder, kdp allows publishers to register a free isbn in the publishing process. more details about it in this link.
2) what is kpd’s royalty rate for hard covers?
For hardcover books, Amazon KDP offers a 60% royalty rate paid monthly. This is a flat fee that applies to all hardcover copies on your site. As a reminder, printing costs are subtracted from this before payment.
how to publish a hardcover book on amazon kdp
Recently, amazon has made it easy for authors to create hardcover books directly from the kdp control panel.
start from your home page
You can choose to create a book from scratch (as seen by the top “+ create” button) or to create a hardcover book from an existing publication (as seen by the bottom arrow).
both processes seem relatively similar. For the sake of this article, we will be working on a new project. click “+ create” to start.
From there, click the “create hard cover” button to begin the process.
full details, content and rights & price information
As you can see in the screenshot above, Amazon will ask you to complete three categories to start publishing hardcover books:
- details
- content
- rights & prices
for everyone who has published paperbacks through amazon kdp, the process will be remarkably similar.
On the “details” page, you’ll need to provide Amazon with the basic details of what language your book is written in, what the title is, who the author is, etc. This is also where you’ll list your keywords and categories, so it’s smart to plan ahead so that amazon kdp keywords work for you.
Next, the “contents” section is where some of the fine print details of hardcover books come into play, like trim size and cover finish. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with Amazon’s Hardcover Print Items article before tackling this section on your own.
If you’ve worked with a professional designer on your book cover, the “content” section is where your vision comes to life. this is also the area with the largest margin of error. Margins will need to be precise for Amazon to accurately capture your cover. hopefully, they’ll offer plenty of help along the way.
lastly, the “rights & pricing” does exactly what it promises. here, you’ll set the territories you’re publishing in, as well as the price of the book. this will all seem pretty similar to the paperback process.
once you’ve entered all your information, submit your hardcover book details to amazon and let them take care of the rest! they will contact you if any issues arise before you hit publish. If all goes well, your book should appear for sale in 72 hours to 5 days.
should i publish a hardcover book on amazon kdp?
to reiterate, publishing a hardcover book on amazon kdp is not a must for all independent authors. for many, it is simply a good option to offer to buyers. Publishing a hardcover book can be expensive, so it’s best to make sure the pros outweigh the cons for your particular situation.
Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to create new hardcover books or convert existing publications to hardcover books. If you ever want to test the waters for yourself, everything you need to get started is right inside your kdp account!
To learn more about Amazon KDP and its many intricacies, be sure to familiarize yourself with our own article on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Explained.
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