Everything you need to format your manuscript correctly for Kindle Direct Publishing and avoid technical rejection.
Formatting mistakes are one of the most common reasons books get rejected on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
Whether you're publishing fiction, nonfiction, or AI-assisted content, your manuscript must meet Amazon’s technical standards.
If you're new to publishing, start with our complete Amazon KDP guide .
Amazon currently accepts:
EPUB is generally preferred for professional publishing because it provides better structural consistency.
Your manuscript should use consistent heading levels (H1, H2, H3).
Avoid manually increasing font sizes instead of using structured styles.
A functional table of contents is required for most nonfiction books.
Broken TOCs are a common rejection trigger. See our Amazon KDP rejection reasons guide .
For category optimization see our KDP keywords and categories guide .
AI tools often generate text without structural formatting.
Review AI publishing compliance in our KDP AI content policy guide .
Treat formatting as infrastructure rather than decoration. Clean manuscript structure improves approval speed, reader experience, and long-term publishing reliability.
Amazon KDP accepts EPUB, DOCX, and KPF files, with EPUB generally recommended for professional publishing.
EPUB usually provides better structural consistency and formatting control across Kindle devices.
Most nonfiction books should include a clickable table of contents for easy chapter navigation.
Yes. Broken TOCs, layout issues, incorrect margins, or unreadable formatting may lead to rejection.