Publishing glossary

Kindle Create

Kindle Create is a free desktop app from Amazon, for Windows and Mac, that turns a manuscript into a formatted Kindle book. You import a Word document, Kindle Create suggests where the chapters begin, and you choose a theme that styles title pages, chapter openings, drop caps and scene breaks. The result is saved as a KPF (Kindle Package Format) file that you upload to KDP. Kindle Create can also prepare a paperback interior for text-focused books, and it can import a PDF to make a print replica ebook for books whose layout has to stay fixed, such as textbooks.

Why it matters for indie authors

For a straightforward novel or memoir sold only on Amazon, Kindle Create is a no-cost way to get a clean, consistent ebook without learning EPUB. It previews the book on phone, tablet and Kindle e-reader layouts before you publish.

Its limits matter as much as its strengths:

  • KPF files only work on KDP. To sell the ebook through Apple Books, Kobo or other stores, you’ll need an EPUB made with another tool.
  • Design choices are limited to its themes and settings.
  • Complex print layouts aren’t its job. Full-bleed images and detailed page design need a PDF made elsewhere.

Example

A memoirist has a 60,000-word Word manuscript. Before importing, she cleans it up: a consistent Heading 1 style on chapter titles, no blank lines used for spacing and no tabs used for indents. Kindle Create finds all 28 chapters; she picks a theme, adds a dedication page, checks the phone and e-reader previews and saves the KPF. Because she only sells on Amazon, that file is all she needs.

If you write in AIBookWriter, you can export a DOCX for Kindle Create, or an EPUB that works on KDP and other stores alike.

Common mistakes

  • Importing a messy file. Tabs, double spaces and blank lines carry into the conversion. Clean the Word file first.
  • Building a KPF when you plan to go wide. If other stores are in your plans, start from an EPUB.
  • Keeping two master copies. Changes made in Kindle Create don’t flow back into your Word file, so decide which copy you’ll update from now on.
  • Skipping device previews. Check every layout before you publish.

Related terms

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