Write your book
Edit your book
Publish on KDP
Sell more books
Templates & guides
Software for authors
Prices and data checked October 7, 2026 · Author Score computed by a published formula, not paid for
12 of 12 shown · How the Author Score works
Amazon's own self-publishing service for Kindle ebooks and print books
Publishing platforms
Ingram's print-on-demand and ebook distribution service for independent publishers
Publishing platforms
Ebook and paperback distributor to many stores and libraries, owns Smashwords
Publishing platforms
Barnes & Noble's self-publishing portal for ebooks and print books
Publishing platforms
Subscription aggregator for ebook, print-on-demand and audiobook distribution
Publishing platforms
Rakuten Kobo's free portal for self-publishing ebooks and audiobooks
Publishing platforms
Google's portal for selling ebooks and audiobooks on Google Play
Publishing platforms
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Prices in USD from each vendor’s own site, checked October 7, 2026. Searches: US Google searches a month for the product’s name, with the change over 12 months. Score out of 10, by one published formula; nobody pays to be listed.
KDP is Amazon’s own route: free to publish, up to 70% on ebooks, and paperbacks and hardcovers printed on demand. Enrolling an ebook in KDP Select puts it in Kindle Unlimited but makes it exclusive to Amazon for 90 days at a time. Going “wide” means also selling at Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play and libraries, either through each store’s own portal or through a distributor that reaches them all.
Kobo Writing Life, Apple Books, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble Press sell in their own stores and keep no distributor’s cut. Draft2Digital, PublishDrive and StreetLib send one book to many stores and libraries from one dashboard: Draft2Digital keeps about 10% of the retail price, while PublishDrive charges a monthly fee and passes on everything the stores pay. Draft2Digital now has a one-time $20 activation fee before you can publish.
KDP’s paperbacks reach other stores through Expanded Distribution. IngramSpark is the printer bookstores and libraries order from, with a free US ISBN that carries IngramSpark’s imprint; our IngramSpark vs Amazon KDP guide compares the two in detail. Lulu prints and sells through its own bookstore as well as retail, and Blurb specialises in photo and illustrated books.
Since July 7, 2026, KDP pays its 70% ebook royalty on list prices from $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com, up from $9.99. The free KDP royalty calculator uses the new band, and the KENP calculator estimates Kindle Unlimited page reads.
Built for self-published authors, from facts anyone can check: each vendor’s own pages, read on October 7, 2026, and US Google search volumes (Google Ads data via DataForSEO). Nobody pays to be listed, and no score is adjusted by hand. We did not test the apps by writing a book in them; the score measures what they do for an author, what they cost and how widely they are used.
The score is the points earned divided by the points that could be checked, on a 10-point scale. A part with no data (no USD price, no search volume) is left out rather than guessed. How long a product has existed is not scored: few vendors state it. Review sites are not used: for most of these products the profiles rate the whole company or hold a handful of reviews.
| Publishing platforms | Author jobs /50 | Cost /25 | Adoption /25 | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon KDP | 50 | 25 | 24.1 | 9.9 |
| IngramSpark | 50 | 25 | 20.6 | 9.6 |
| Lulu | 50 | 25 | 16.7 | 9.2 |
| Draft2Digital | 38.9 | 22.6 | 17.3 | 7.9 |
| Blurb | 38.9 | 25 | 13.9 | 7.8 |
| Barnes & Noble Press | 33.3 | 25 | 18.3 | 7.7 |
| PublishDrive | 38.9 | 25 | 11.1 | 7.5 |
| Kobo Writing Life | 27.8 | 25 | 14.1 | 6.7 |
| BookBaby | 33.3 | — | 15.5 | 6.5 |
| Google Play Books | 22.2 | 25 | 16.6 | 6.4 |
| Apple Books | 16.7 | 25 | 14 | 5.6 |
| StreetLib | 27.8 | 5 | 13.6 | 4.6 |
For selling on Amazon, KDP: it is free and puts the book in Amazon’s store directly. IngramSpark adds bookstores and libraries for print, and a distributor such as Draft2Digital or PublishDrive adds the other ebook stores.
On KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play and Barnes & Noble Press it costs nothing to publish; they take a share of each sale. Draft2Digital has a one-time $20 activation fee, and BookBaby sells paid packages.
Yes, for print. Many authors use KDP for Amazon and IngramSpark for bookstores and libraries, without KDP’s Expanded Distribution for the same edition.
