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KDP rules · timeline

Amazon KDP rule changes: a dated timeline (2023–2026)

Since 2023, Amazon KDP has made AI-content disclosure mandatory (September 6, 2023), stopped accepting MOBI for fixed-layout eBooks (March 18, 2025), cut the print royalty to 50% below $9.99 (June 10, 2025), raised the Kindle 70% royalty ceiling to $12.99 (July 7, 2026) and capped new titles at 2 per format per week (September 21, 2026).

Below, 16 changes that matter to authors, newest first. Each one gives the date it took effect (for the 2026 printing-fee review, the date KDP announced it), what changed, who it affects and the sources we opened to check it. Where kdpbook.io applies the rule, the entry says how.

By kdpbook.io editorialPublished ✓ Checked against KDP Help on

At a glance

Amazon KDP rule changes, newest first
WhenChange
New titles capped at 2 per format per week
Kindle 70% royalty band raised to $12.99
No printing-cost changes for 2026
Groundwood paper opens to all black-and-white paperbacks
DRM-free Kindle books can be downloaded as EPUB and PDF
Transparency codes retired from new print books
Kindle Translate: free AI translation for KDP eBooks (beta)
Title creation limit set at 10 per format per week
50% print royalty below $9.99, cheaper color printing
Kindle Kids’ Book Creator and Kindle Comic Creator retired, MOBI refused for fixed layout
Kindle Vella closed
Audiobooks with virtual voice (beta)
New titles capped at 3 a day
AI-generated content must be disclosed
Printing costs go up
Three Amazon categories per format, chosen at setup

2026

  1. Publishing limits

    New titles capped at 2 per format per week

    What changed
    KDP now lets an account create 2 new titles per book format each week: eBook, paperback and hardcover are counted separately, and the count resets every Sunday at 12:00 AM UTC. The previous limit was 10 per format per week. KDP Help no longer invites publishers to ask for an exception. The limit counts only new titles: existing and published titles are not affected.
    Who it affects
    Authors who start several books or formats in the same week: rapid-release series, large low-content or puzzle-book catalogs, publishers with many imprints.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    The upload guide that comes with every export shows the limit (2 new titles per format per week). kdpbook.io makes the files; it doesn’t create titles in your KDP account, so planning the weekly count stays with you.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  2. Royalties

    Kindle 70% royalty band raised to $12.99

    What changed
    The 70% royalty option now covers Kindle eBooks listed from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, up from a $9.99 ceiling that had been in place since 2007. Other marketplaces moved the same way: £12.99, €12.99, C$12.99, A$15.99, ¥1,650, ₹599, R$31.99 and MX$199.99. The 70% option still subtracts a delivery cost ($0.15 per MB on Amazon.com). Books already published keep their price and royalty option until you change them.
    Who it affects
    Authors who price eBooks between $10.00 and $12.99 (long novels, box sets, specialist nonfiction): that range earned 35% before.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    The free royalty calculator and the royalties guide use the new band in every marketplace.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  3. Printing

    No printing-cost changes for 2026

    What changed
    After its annual review, KDP announced that printing fees would not change in 2026. The printing costs in effect since June 10, 2025 still apply: a 300-page black-and-white 6 × 9 in paperback costs $4.60 to print on Amazon.com, for example.
    Who it affects
    Everyone who sells paperbacks or hardcovers.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    The free printing cost calculator uses KDP’s current tables for all 14 print marketplaces.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  4. Printing

    Groundwood paper opens to all black-and-white paperbacks

    What changed
    Groundwood paper joined white and cream as a paper for black-and-white paperbacks, in every trim size and all 14 paperback marketplaces. KDP says it costs about 5% less per page than white or cream paper. It isn’t offered for hardcovers or color interiors, and KDP may move books with heavy ink coverage back to white or cream. Its thickness differs from both, so switching a book above 350 pages (from cream) or 525 pages (from white) needs a new cover with a different spine width.
    Who it affects
    Authors of novels and other text-heavy black-and-white paperbacks who want a lower printing cost.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    Groundwood is one of the papers offered for black-and-white paperbacks in the format step, and the spine width and printing cost calculators include it.
    About the date
    KDP gave no date. Its Groundwood Paper help page said “beta participants only” in the copy archived on May 17, 2026, and “all eligible paperbacks” in the copy archived on May 28, 2026. The copy archived on April 3, 2026 already described the beta.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  5. eBook files

    DRM-free Kindle books can be downloaded as EPUB and PDF

    What changed
    Buyers of Kindle eBooks published without DRM (digital rights management) can now download EPUB and PDF copies from their Amazon account. For books published before December 9, 2025 without DRM, the download is offered only after the author confirms the choice in KDP. Kindle Unlimited borrowers can’t download these files. The DRM setting can be changed at any time: applying DRM stops new downloads, but readers keep the files they already have.
    Who it affects
    Authors who publish eBooks without DRM, and anyone choosing between DRM and DRM-free.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

2025

  1. Printing

    Transparency codes retired from new print books

    What changed
    KDP no longer adds Transparency codes to the barcodes of print books created after November 2025. Books published before then may still print with one, and scanning those codes keeps working.
    Who it affects
    Paperback authors who used Transparency codes. There is nothing to do for new books.
    About the date
    KDP Help gives the month, not a day.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  2. Programs

    Kindle Translate: free AI translation for KDP eBooks (beta)

    What changed
    Amazon announced Kindle Translate, a free service that uses AI to translate an eligible KDP eBook into another language. It is an invite-only beta. Translated titles carry a language label in the Amazon store, readers can preview a sample, and the titles can be enrolled in KDP Select. On June 30, 2026, Amazon listed translation between English and Spanish, German, French, Italian and Portuguese. Whether a Kindle Translate edition needs KDP’s AI-translation disclosure is not documented on the pages we read.
    Who it affects
    eBook authors invited to the beta who want editions in other languages.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  3. Publishing limits

    Title creation limit set at 10 per format per week

    What changed
    KDP Help started to give a number for its title creation limit: 10 new titles per book format each week. Until then the page only said that titles were limited “within a specific period of time”. Publishers who expected to create many titles could still ask KDP for an exception. It lasted until September 20, 2026.
    Who it affects
    Authors and publishers who create many titles.
    About the date
    KDP gave no date. Its Paperback Submission Guidelines gave no number in the copy archived on August 7, 2025, and said “10 per book format each week” in the copy archived on November 9, 2025. ALLi dates the ten-title limit to 2025.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  4. eBook files

    Kindle Kids’ Book Creator and Kindle Comic Creator retired, MOBI refused for fixed layout

    What changed
    KDP stopped accepting MOBI files for fixed-layout eBooks, the files Kindle Kids’ Book Creator and Kindle Comic Creator produced, and both tools were retired (KDP’s announcement put the end of their downloads on February 6, 2025). Fixed-layout books are now uploaded as KPF files made in Kindle Create, or as EPUB. Reflowable MOBI had already ended on August 1, 2021. Books already published stay on sale; an update needs a new file.
    Who it affects
    Authors of picture books, comics and other fixed-layout Kindle books, including anyone updating an older one.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    Fixed-layout book types export a fixed-layout EPUB 3 file, checked with EPUBCheck. kdpbook.io never produces MOBI.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  5. Programs

    Kindle Vella closed

    What changed
    Amazon closed Kindle Vella, its program for serialized stories, on February 26, 2025. Episodes are no longer for sale; readers who bought them can still read them in the Kindle apps. The last day to upload new episodes was December 4, 2024, and KDP encourages republishing Vella stories as eBooks.
    Who it affects
    Kindle Vella authors.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

2023

No change on this list took effect in 2024. Kindle Vella’s closure, announced in late 2024, is listed under 2025, the year it took effect.

  1. Programs

    Audiobooks with virtual voice (beta)

    What changed
    KDP started a beta that turns an eligible eBook into an audiobook narrated by computer-generated speech, sold wherever Audible titles are sold. At launch, Publishers Weekly reported list prices of $3.99 to $14.99, a 40% royalty, and a label on every such audiobook. KDP Help now describes it as an invite-only beta, for books distributed in the US marketplace only.
    Who it affects
    eBook authors invited to the beta.
    About the date
    Reported by Publishers Weekly on November 1, 2023.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  2. Publishing limits

    New titles capped at 3 a day

    What changed
    KDP lowered the volume limit it already had on new titles “to help protect against abuse”, to three new titles a day. KDP said very few publishers would be impacted, and that those who were would be notified and could ask for an exception.
    Who it affects
    Accounts creating many titles a day.
    About the date
    Date of KDP’s announcement in the KDP Community forum. The post gave no number; the Authors Guild reported on September 27, 2023 that KDP confirmed three titles a day.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  3. AI content

    AI-generated content must be disclosed

    What changed
    KDP’s content guidelines began requiring publishers to tell KDP when a book contains AI-generated text, images or translations, when they publish a new book or edit and republish one. Content an AI tool created counts as AI-generated even after substantial edits; AI-assisted content (your own work that you edited, refined or error-checked with AI) needs no disclosure. At launch, the Authors Guild noted that the answers go to Amazon, which had not agreed to show them on book listings.
    Who it affects
    Everyone publishing a book with AI-generated text, images (covers included) or translations.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    The listing sheet suggests the disclosure answers from what kdpbook.io actually generated. You still answer the question in KDP, once per format.
    About the date
    KDP announced the rule in a KDP Community post late on September 6, 2023 (Publishers Weekly, September 7). It is in the copy of KDP’s Content Guidelines archived on September 7, 2023, and not in the copy archived on August 14, 2023.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  4. Printing

    Printing costs go up

    What changed
    KDP raised printing costs from 12:00 AM UTC that day. Jane Friedman noted it was the first increase since KDP’s print service launched in 2016. On Amazon.com the fixed cost of a black-and-white paperback of 110 pages or more rose from $0.85 to $1.00 per book, and large trims (wider than 6.12 in or taller than 9 in) got their own, higher rates.
    Who it affects
    All paperback and hardcover authors, most of all those with large-trim books.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

  5. Listing

    Three Amazon categories per format, chosen at setup

    What changed
    Authors now choose three Amazon store categories per format when they set up a book, instead of two BISAC categories plus up to ten more requested from KDP after publication. KDP stopped accepting requests to add or update categories, and the categories on offer depend on the primary marketplace.
    Who it affects
    Every author listing a book.
    What kdpbook.io does about it
    The listing editor holds 3 categories, KDP’s limit per format, and can propose them; you then pick them in KDP’s category browser for each format.
    About the date
    KDP gave no date. Its categories help page still described two BISAC categories in the copy archived on May 30, 2023, and three Amazon categories in the copy archived on June 5, 2023.

    Sources · opened September 28, 2026

How we keep this current · checked September 28, 2026

Every source listed under a change was opened on September 28, 2026. KDP Help pages were read directly. When KDP published no date, we compared archived copies of its Help pages on the Internet Archive and give the window they show.

KDP Community announcements display only in a web browser with JavaScript, so we read them there, on the same day, and checked them against the matching KDP Help page. A change is added here only when KDP Help, an Amazon page or an official KDP announcement confirms it; reports that appear only on third-party blogs are left out.

Beta programs can change without notice. This page describes KDP’s published rules; it is information, not legal advice. kdpbook.io is independent and not affiliated with Amazon.

How we check the rest of the site is on the about page. Kindle Direct Publishing and KDP are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc.

Questions

What is the KDP title creation limit in 2026?

2 new titles per book format per week since September 21, 2026: eBook, paperback and hardcover each have their own count, which resets every Sunday at 12:00 AM UTC. It was 10 per format per week before that, and 3 new titles a day from September 18, 2023.

When did the Kindle 70% royalty go up to $12.99?

On July 7, 2026. The 70% band on Amazon.com is now $2.99 to $12.99, up from $9.99, the ceiling since 2007. Existing books keep their price and royalty option until you change them.

When did KDP print royalties drop to 50%?

On June 10, 2025. Paperbacks and hardcovers listed below $9.99 on Amazon.com (£7.99 on Amazon.co.uk, €9.99 on the euro marketplaces) earn 50% of the list price minus printing; at or above that price they earn 60%.

Does KDP still accept MOBI files?

No. KDP stopped accepting MOBI for reflowable eBooks on August 1, 2021, and for fixed-layout eBooks on March 18, 2025, when Kindle Kids’ Book Creator and Kindle Comic Creator were retired. Upload EPUB or KPF (from Kindle Create) instead, or DOCX for a reflowable book; books already published stay on sale.

When did KDP start requiring AI disclosure?

In September 2023: KDP announced the rule on September 6, 2023. Publishers must tell KDP about AI-generated text, images or translations when they publish or republish a book; content they wrote themselves and only edited with AI needs no disclosure.

Did KDP change printing costs in 2026?

No. KDP announced on May 21, 2026 that printing fees would not change in 2026. The most recent change took effect on June 10, 2025 (cheaper color printing in some marketplaces); before that, KDP raised printing costs on June 20, 2023. Groundwood paper, about 5% cheaper per page, opened to all black-and-white paperbacks in late May 2026.

Have KDP’s hardcover page limits changed?

We found no dated change. On September 28, 2026, KDP Help gave 75 to 550 pages for a hardcover, which is case laminate only, with no dust jacket. Paperbacks run from 24 pages to a maximum that depends on trim, ink and paper (up to 828).

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