Ah, you’ve reached the part of the publishing process where you are waiting to become a published author!
First of all, congratulations for making it through the sometimes-daunting gauntlet of the KDP publishing process. I feel like too many people emphasize how “simple” it is supposed to be when it is actually anything but.
Now you’re wondering (and rightfully so!)– how long will it be before your book is officially “published” and available for sale?
I wish I could give you a set answer to that question, but this is Amazon we’re talking about so I’ll give you a ballpark. Usually, it takes a few days for the Amazon KDP team to review your work and make it “live,” and by “a few days” I mean “24 to 72 hours.” The eBook / digital version of the book is almost always the first thing to be approved. If you care (which you probably do not), that is probably because there is less potential for error in the digital version, so less bots (and/ or actual humans) have to go through it to make sure it is acceptable. eBooks and printed books are (obviously) delivered via two completely different processes. The files of your eBooks will be directly downloaded onto people’s readers (or phones), whereas the physical copies will be printed when someone orders them. The files of “print on demand” books have to be totally perfect before they are sent over to the printer to produce physical books, which is why the approval process takes longer and is more likely to come back with errors.
Here are some rough timeframes to expect with your printed books. These are based totally on my personal experiences and the experiences of my clients, so your mileage may vary of course.
Paperbacks: Expect at least 3 days in the “review queue.” If you are publishing during Q4, add a few days to this.
Low-content paperbacks: Again, start by expecting 3 days in review queue purgatory, although I have seen these take up to 10 days during Q4. Factors such as high submission volumes, quality issues, or potential policy violations can delay approvals for both formats, and publishing in multiple languages or markets may also take longer. To streamline the process, ensure your files are correctly formatted and meet all KDP requirements. Amazon will notify you via email once your book—whether print or digital—is approved and available for purchase. If they are not approving your book, they will notify you about that too, then you’ll enter into the sometimes-lengthy process of revising and resubmitting until your book meets their standards. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with one or more forms of meditation to make yourself more calm and patient during this waiting period.
For whatever reason (maybe because the hardcover department just launched a few years ago and not that many people do a hardcover version), the hardcover queue is usually quicker.
What to do while you’re waiting: go back to the checklist! Do some more social media outreach, talk to your email list/ beta readers about early reviews (which they can start doing the minute any of the versions are live), run paid advertising on the eBook version, and so on.
One thing I would NOT advise is to “follow up” or bug Amazon about the long approval time, even if you are losing your mind waiting for your book to go live. What you don’t want is to get on their radar for being impatient.