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KDP glossary

30 terms from Amazon KDP publishing, defined in plain English — with the practical consequence of each one, not just what the words mean.

By topic

  • Printing & file preparation (9)
  • Costs & royalties (9)
  • Listing & discoverability (8)
  • Publishing process (4)

A

  • A+ Content

    Optional image-and-text modules added below the standard product description, used to show interior samples, series lineups, or author background.

  • ASIN

    The ten-character identifier Amazon assigns to every product in its catalog, including every book. It appears in the product URL and is how most Amazon tools refer to a title.

B

  • Backend keywords

    Seven free-text boxes in the KDP listing form used to tell Amazon what your book is about. They are not shown to readers and are not a place to repeat your title.

  • Best Sellers Rank

    A relative popularity ranking Amazon assigns within a store and within categories. Rank 1 is the best seller in that list; the number moves with recent sales, not lifetime totals.

  • BISAC code

    A standardised subject classification used across the book trade. KDP maps the BISAC categories you choose onto the browse categories readers actually see on Amazon.

  • Bleed

    Extra artwork extended past the trim line so that ink still reaches the edge of the finished book after cutting. KDP's bleed is 0.125 inches — on every outer edge of a cover, but on only three edges of an interior page.

  • Book description

    The sales copy on your Amazon product page. KDP allows up to 4,000 characters including any HTML tags, and supports only a short list of formatting tags.

D

  • Delivery fee

    A per-megabyte charge deducted from ebook royalties on the 70% plan, based on the converted file's size. The 35% plan carries no delivery fee.

  • DPI

    How many dots of ink per inch an image contains at its printed size. KDP expects 300 DPI for print interiors and covers; screen images at 72 DPI print visibly soft.

E

  • Expanded Distribution

    An opt-in channel that makes a paperback available to bookstores, libraries, and other online retailers. It pays a flat 40% of list price instead of the standard rate.

F

  • Full-wrap cover

    A single file containing back cover, spine, and front cover as one continuous image. It is the format KDP requires for print books, as opposed to a front-cover-only image.

G

  • Gutter margin

    Extra inside margin that compensates for the part of the page swallowed by the binding. KDP's required gutter grows with page count, because thicker books open less flat.

I

  • Interior paper

    The stock your pages print on — white, cream, or groundwood for black ink, and colour stock for colour interiors. It changes both the printing cost and the spine width.

  • ISBN

    The global identifier for a print book edition. KDP will assign one free, or you can supply your own — the difference is who is listed as publisher.

K

  • KDP Select

    An optional 90-day enrolment that makes your ebook exclusive to Amazon in exchange for Kindle Unlimited inclusion and promotional tools. It applies to the ebook only, never the paperback.

  • KENP

    Amazon's standardised page count for Kindle Unlimited payouts, calculated from the ebook's content rather than its device-dependent screen pages.

  • Kindle Unlimited

    Amazon's ebook subscription service. Enrolled authors are paid from a monthly shared fund based on pages read, rather than earning a royalty per borrow.

L

  • List price

    The price you set for your book in each marketplace. It drives both your royalty rate and your royalty amount, and KDP enforces a floor and a ceiling on it.

  • Low-content book

    A book made mostly of repeating or generated page structures rather than prose — journals, planners, logbooks, and similar fill-in interiors.

M

  • Minimum list price

    The lowest price KDP will let you set, derived from your printing cost and royalty rate so that a sale never produces a negative royalty.

P

  • PDF/X-1a

    A restricted PDF standard for print production: all fonts embedded, all colour in CMYK or spot, no transparency or scripting. It is the safest format to hand a print-on-demand service.

  • Print on demand

    Manufacturing a book only after someone orders it. There is no print run, no inventory, and no minimum quantity — and the per-copy cost is the same whether you sell one or a thousand.

  • Printing cost

    What Amazon charges to manufacture one copy, deducted from every sale before your royalty. It is a fixed amount plus a per-page amount, set by marketplace, ink type, and trim category.

  • Proof copy

    A physical copy printed for you to check before publishing. It is marked as a proof and is the only reliable way to see how your file actually prints.

R

  • Reflowable vs fixed-layout

    The two ebook formats. Reflowable text rewraps to fit any screen and font size; fixed layout preserves an exact page design and does not adapt.

  • Royalty rate

    The share of the list price you keep before printing costs are deducted. KDP print books pay 60% at or above a per-marketplace price threshold and 50% below it.

S

  • Safe area

    The inset region of a cover or page where text and important artwork are guaranteed to survive trimming. On KDP covers it sits 0.125 inches inside the trim edge.

  • Series page

    A single Amazon page collecting every book in a series, letting readers see the reading order and buy the next instalment without searching again.

  • Spine width

    How thick the book's spine is — page count multiplied by a per-page paper thickness, plus a fixed board offset on hardcovers. It determines where the fold lines sit on your cover file.

T

  • Trim size

    The finished width and height of a printed book after the pages are cut. KDP publishes a catalog of standard trim sizes, and the one you pick affects both layout and printing cost.

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