Coming up
KDP Keywords: How to Fill the 7 Backend Keyword Boxes
Fill all seven boxes on a book that is already live, then test them in Amazon search.
Free for KDP authors
Every mistake on this page, caught before upload.
The free Pre-Flight checker reads your manuscript the way KDP will and marks what gets a book rejected or costs you money. It runs on your own computer, and your file never leaves it.
Chapter One
The Long Row
By the second week the beans had found the fence -- the long row, the one that dried out by noon. She called it "the good bed" anyway.
Listed at $9.98, six by nine, one hundred and four pages, the journal was nearly ready to go.
TEXT HYGIENETypewriter dash. In print it shows as two short hyphens.
ROYALTYAt $9.99 this pays $3.69 a copy, not $2.69.
MARGINS104 pages: gutter at least 0.375 in.
5
checks in one run
16
KDP trim sizes covered
0
files uploaded anywhere
Weekly
one KDP problem, one video
New: the shop
Skills for every KDP job, each tested on a clean PC
Claude Code skills that each do one publishing job, from finding the idea to filling in KDP's form, built by a working KDP publisher and installed from zero on a clean test PC before they are listed.
What the checker looks at
Five checks, before KDP sees your file.
Every check comes from KDP's own help pages, and every one of them exists because the mistake really happened.
Title and subtitle
KDP counts the two together: 200 characters. A colon typed in the title field prints twice on the product page.
Manuscript shape
Words, chapters, headings, an estimated page count, the print cost and your royalty per copy, with a warning when you sit one cent under the $9.99 line.
Trim and margins
The page size to set, and KDP's minimum inside margin for your page count, for all 16 paperback trim sizes.
Text hygiene
Typewriter dashes, mixed quote marks, double spaces and mixed US and UK spelling: the small things that look amateur in print.
Back matter
The pages a finished book is expected to carry, such as a copyright page, contents and an honest request for feedback.
Get it
Run it on the book you're working on tonight.
Put in your email and the checker comes straight to your inbox, with four short steps to run it. Then a few short emails, one useful thing at a time.
Free, for an email
Get the free checker
Needs Python 3.8 or newer, which is free. The email shows you how to run it.
The path
Start free. Climb only if you want more.
YOU START HERE
$0for an email
Free tools
The Pre-Flight checker now. The black-and-white formatter app next.
Open now
Freeto join
Community
Ask questions, watch books get built live, and see what other publishers are fixing this week.
Opening soon
Laterno date yet
The full system
Everything I use to take a book from manuscript to KDP listing, set up on your own computer. Being built now; you can follow along in the videos.
Being built
Who's behind it
Built by a working KDP publisher.
I'm Brian. I publish my own paperbacks on Amazon KDP, across kids, language and faith books. When my system catches a mistake, it becomes a written rule. When a rule can be checked by a machine, it becomes a tool. The free ones are here.
- From the rulebook
- RULEKDP counts the title and subtitle together: 200 characters, not 200 each.
- RULENever type a colon in the title field. Amazon adds its own.
- RULEA printed web address is permanent. Print one you own, never an Amazon link.
- RULEAsk readers for honest feedback. Never for stars.
Videos
One KDP problem per video, every week.
Coming up
KDP Categories: How to Check Where Your Book Really Lands
See which shelves your book really sits on, and move it to the right ones.
Coming up
KDP Keywords in Your Subtitle: How to Add Them Within Amazon's Rules
Put a search phrase in your next subtitle without breaking the 200-character rule.
Questions
Before you sign up.
Is the checker really free?
Yes. You give an email address, confirm it, and the download link arrives. You don't have to buy anything to use it.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You need Python, which is free from python.org, and you type one line. The download page walks you through it step by step, including the install.
Does it upload my manuscript anywhere?
No. It runs on your own computer, never connects to the internet and never changes your file. It writes one report next to your manuscript.
Will it fix my book for me?
No. It tells you what to fix and why, with the numbers from KDP's own help pages. The free formatter app, coming next, builds the interior itself.
Where do the KDP numbers come from?
From KDP's own help pages on trim sizes and margins, printing cost and royalty, read and dated in the tool. When KDP changes a rule, the tool is updated.
Is this a get-rich-quick thing?
No. There are no income claims here. You get tools that catch real mistakes and videos that explain one KDP problem at a time.
When does the community open?
Soon, and it's free. Get the checker and the invite comes to your inbox when the doors open.