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I'd verify all the current KDP requirements on their site directly because the rules change pretty frequently and I don't want to steer you wrong with outdated info.
From what I know, you'll need decent cover design (people judge books by covers, sadly), properly formatted interior files, and realistic expectations about marketing since Amazon's algorithm is pretty brutal.
Most authors I've talked to say the real work starts after publishing - you gotta actually promote the thing or it'll just sit there buried under millions of other titles.
Don't rush the cover design thinking it'll look fine on a phone screen - I learned that the hard way when my first baking guide looked blurry in the actual preview.
What actually matters is getting your interior PDF formatted correctly for the trim size you pick, testing the preview thoroughly before submitting, and understanding that KDP's algorithm cares way more about your book description and categories than most people realize. I spent time rewriting my blurb to match what people actually search for instead of just making it sound pretty, and that made the real difference in visibility.
The biggest thing nobody mentions is that your cover image is what actually sells the book - spend real money on a decent designer or template, because a blurry DIY cover will tank your visibility even if the writing is solid 📚 Make sure you're pricing competitively within your genre since KDP's algorithm heavily favors books that convert well, and don't just copy what seems popular because category saturation shifts constantly.
One trap people fall into is uploading their manuscript without using KDP's preview tool first - do that, scroll through the whole thing, catch formatting issues before they go live because it's way harder to fix perception once readers see a messy interior. The other answers are solid on the basics, but honestly the real grind is marketing after you publish, not the upload itself 🎣
The thing that'll actually kill your book is ignoring metadata - keywords, categories, description. People think the cover's everything, and sure, it matters, but if nobody can find your book in search results because you've stuffed random keywords or picked the wrong category, you're dead in the water. Get the fundamentals right first.
Start with actual competitive research on KDP itself. Search your genre, look at the top 100 books, and see what's working - cover style, title length, description angle. Then nail your metadata before you even upload. Your subtitle and description should read naturally but include the terms people are actually searching for. Don't keyword-stuff like it's 2010, but don't be shy about clarity either.
Format matters more than people admit too. Get your interior file right - margins, fonts, page breaks. A lot of indie books look cheap because the reading experience is janky, not because the story is bad. If you're doing print-on-demand, test a physical proof before going live. And while everyone's right that covers drive sales, remember that once someone opens your book, the writing and presentation need to back it up, otherwise you'll get crushed in reviews. The cover gets them to click; everything else has to deliver.
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