KDP Author Copies and Proof Copies: How to Order Them and What They Cost

KDP author copies are printed copies of your own live paperback or hardcover that you buy from Amazon at print cost: no royalty, no mark-up. You order them from your KDP Bookshelf with the Order Author Copies button, up to 999 per order, and pay the printing cost plus delivery and any tax. Proof copies are the test version: ordered before your book is live, up to 5 at a time, with a "Not for Resale" band on the cover. Here's how to order both, what they cost in the UK and US, and how long to allow.

Key takeaways#

• Author copies are the same as the copies readers buy. They cost you only the print cost plus delivery, and you can sell them or give them away.
• Proof copies carry a "Not for Resale" watermark and a barcode with no ISBN. They're for checking your book before you press Publish.
• As of November 2026, a 250-page black-and-white paperback costs £3.35 to print on Amazon.co.uk and $4.00 on Amazon.com, per copy.
• Neither type earns royalties or shows in your KDP reports, and neither ships with Prime. Allow plenty of time before a launch, a signing or Christmas.
• Order at least one proof before you publish. It's the cheapest way to catch a problem before your readers do.

Author copies vs proof copies: what's the difference?#

Both come from the same KDP printers, and both cost you the print cost rather than the shop price. The difference is timing and purpose.

A proof copy is a test print. You order it while your book is still in Draft, so you can hold it, flick through it and spot problems before anyone else can buy it. Amazon marks it so it can't be mistaken for a finished book: a "Not for Resale" watermark on the cover and its own barcode with no ISBN.

An author copy is the finished article. You can only order it once your book is live, and it's identical to the copy a reader gets from Amazon. KDP's help pages say plainly that you're welcome to resell or give away author copies.

What they share: you pay the print cost for each copy, plus delivery and tax. You earn no royalty on either, and neither shows up in your KDP reports. Your past orders sit in your normal Amazon order history.

How to order a proof copy on KDP#

These steps come from KDP's help page on ordering proof and author copies (as of November 2026).

1. 1Upload your interior and cover, and approve the book in Print Previewer. You can't order a proof until you have.
2. 2Go to your KDP Bookshelf and find the paperback or hardcover.
3. 3Open the ellipsis (...) menu next to it and click Request Printed Proofs.
4. 4Choose how many (up to 5) and the Amazon store that delivers to your address.
5. 5Click Submit Proof Request.
6. 6Within 4 hours, KDP emails you a link. Click Proceed to Shopping Cart and pay.

Don't sit on that email. If you don't complete the purchase within 24 hours, the proofs drop out of your basket and you have to request them again. If the email doesn't arrive, check the address on your KDP account, then look in your Amazon basket.

You can also send proofs straight to someone else's address at checkout: handy for a co-author, an editor or an early reader.

How to order author copies on KDP#

Your book must be Live (or Live with unpublished changes). The option doesn't appear for any other status.

1. 1Go to your KDP Bookshelf and find the paperback or hardcover.
2. 2Click Order Author Copies. If the book is Live with unpublished changes, you'll find it in the ellipsis (...) menu instead.
3. 3Enter how many you want, up to 999 per order. Need more? Place another order.
4. 4Choose the Amazon store that delivers to you.
5. 5Click Proceed to checkout. You land in that store's basket and pay as normal.

Two things catch people out:

• The button isn't there yet. KDP says it can take an extra 24 hours to appear after your book goes live. Check back the next day.
• You get the old version. If your status still says Live with unpublished changes, you'll receive the previous version. KDP also warns that a copy can come from stock printed before your update. Check the printing date at the back of the book; copies printed from an old file aren't eligible for a replacement or refund. After fixing a typo, wait until the status is plain Live before ordering a big batch.

How much do KDP author copies cost?#

You pay the printing cost for each copy in the store you order from, plus delivery and tax. KDP works out printing cost with one formula:

fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost) = printing cost

Here are the black-ink figures for regular trim sizes (up to 6.12 x 9 inches) from KDP's paperback printing cost page, as of November 2026:

• Amazon.co.uk: £0.85 per book + £0.010 per page. Books of 24 to 110 pages pay a flat £1.93.
• Amazon.com: $1.00 per book + $0.012 per page. Books of 24 to 110 pages pay a flat $2.30.

Larger trim sizes cost a little more per page (£0.012 or $0.017), and colour costs much more.

Worked examples

• A 250-page novel, 5 x 8 inches, black ink, ordered in the UK: £0.85 + (250 × £0.010) = £3.35 a copy. Twenty copies come to £67.00 before delivery.
• The same book ordered in the US: $1.00 + (250 × $0.012) = $4.00 a copy. Twenty copies come to $80.00 before delivery and sales tax.
• A 96-page poetry collection: it's under 110 pages, so it's the flat fee: £1.93 ($2.30) a copy.
• A 32-page picture book in premium colour: a flat £2.59 ($3.60) a copy at regular trim size.

Rather than doing the sums yourself, plug your trim size and page count into our free KDP print cost calculator, or KDP's own calculator in your title setup.

Delivery and tax

Delivery is added at checkout and depends on how many books you order, their weight and how fast you want them. Author and proof copies don't qualify for free delivery or Prime. On Amazon.com, sales tax is added at checkout; for European orders, local VAT is applied at checkout.

Tip: order in one go rather than five small orders. Delivery is charged per order, so batching usually works out cheaper per book.

Is it cheaper than buying my own book on Amazon?#

Almost always. If you buy your own book from the shop, you pay the full list price, and only your royalty comes back to you weeks later. An author copy costs only the print cost.

The one exception is speed. If you need a single copy in a hurry, a normal retail order with Prime may reach you faster than an author copy. For anything more than a copy or two, author copies win.

Which Amazon store should you order from?#

Order from the store that delivers to your address. KDP's table (as of November 2026) includes:

• UK: Amazon.co.uk
• US: Amazon.com
• Republic of Ireland: Amazon.de, .es, .fr or .it (there's no Irish store)
• Canada: Amazon.ca for paperbacks; hardcovers come from Amazon.com
• Australia and New Zealand: Amazon.com.au
• Switzerland: author copies can't be shipped there at all

If your postcode isn't supported, KDP turns the proof request down or won't add the author copies to your basket, so change the address and try again. EU addresses served from outside the EU may pay a customs fee, which is shown in the delivery charge at checkout.

How long do author copies take to arrive?#

Amazon doesn't publish a fixed time. Every copy is printed to order, then posted. The delivery estimate appears at checkout, and you can track the order in Your Orders like any Amazon purchase. KDP says customer service can't speed up an order once it's placed.

So plan backwards from your date:

• For a launch or signing: order as soon as the Order Author Copies button appears, check the estimate before you pay, and leave a cushion.
• For Christmas: November and December are the busiest months for printing and post. If the books are gifts, order now rather than in mid-December.
• For a big batch: order one copy first and check it before you order fifty.

What to check when your proof arrives#

A proof only helps if you check it properly. Sit down with a pencil and go through it in this order:

1. 1The cover. Are the colours what you expected? Screen colours often print darker or duller; our guide to CMYK vs RGB for book covers explains why. Is the finish the one you chose? See matte vs glossy covers if you're unsure.
2. 2The spine. Is the text centred and straight, without wrapping onto the front or back?
3. 3Margins. Open the book flat. Does text disappear into the fold? If so, your gutter is too small: KDP margins and gutter has the numbers.
4. 4Chapter openings and page numbers. Does each chapter start where you meant it to? Are the numbers in order, and missing from blank pages?
5. 5Images. Are they sharp and lined up?
6. 6The words. Typos hide on screen and jump out on paper. Our proofreading checklist helps you read it like a professional.

Found a problem? Fix the file, upload it again, approve it in Print Previewer and order a fresh proof. Don't publish on the strength of a proof you know is wrong.

What you can do with author copies#

They're yours, so you can:

• Sell them in person at signings, talks, markets and fairs.
• Offer them to a local bookshop on sale or return.
• Give them as gifts to family, friends and everyone who helped.
• Send them to reviewers, though an ebook is cheaper; see what an ARC is and how to send one.
• Meet legal deposit. UK authors can use one copy for legal deposit at the British Library.

Keep a note of what you paid. Selling author copies is part of your writing income, so it belongs in your records.

Common problems and fixes#

• "I can't see the Order Author Copies button." Check that the status is Live, then wait 24 hours after it went live.
• "My proof request didn't go through." Usually the address. Make sure the store you picked delivers to your postcode.
• "My copy is damaged or badly printed." KDP has help pages for damaged copies and printing errors, linked from its proof and author copies page. Take photos before you contact them.
• "My copy shows the old text." Check the printing date at the back. If the status still said Live with unpublished changes when you ordered, that's why.

How should authors time an author copy order for a launch or event?

Mukaram Hussain

Operations Manager at HMD Publishing

Expert answer

Work backwards from the date you need the books in your hands, not the date you hope to publish. Order one proof early and actually read it, because a fix after that means a new upload and another wait. Once the book is live, order a single author co...

Read full answer

Mukaram Hussain is available at HMD Publishing

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Get it right before the proof#

A proof copy tells you what's wrong; it doesn't fix it. If the words need work, start with a free sample edit of up to 1,000 words, returned normally within 24 to 48 hours with no obligation. If it's the layout (margins, chapter openings, page numbers), our Book Formatting team will format your first chapter free so you can see the difference before you order another proof. Files are prepared for KDP and IngramSpark, and if KDP flags a formatting issue caused by our file, we fix it free.