How to publish a children's picture book on KDP

Plan the length

Picture books are short. Many have a few hundred words, often well under 1,000, with one scene per page or spread. KDP's minimum for any paperback is 24 pages, counting the title page, copyright page and any end pages.

Write the story first as a list of pages: what each page says and what its picture shows. It's much easier to fix pacing in a list than after the art is made. Bedtime stories work best when the pace slows toward the end and the last page lands calmly.

Trim size and color

Square trims are common for picture books: 8.5 × 8.5 in and 8.25 × 8.25 in. Landscape 8.25 × 6 in suits wide scenes. All of these count as large trims for printing cost.

Use premium color on white paper. Standard color is cheaper per page but needs at least 72 pages, which is far longer than most picture books. Premium color also gives richer illustration.

Bleed and the safe area

Illustrations that run to the page edge need bleed: build each page 0.125 in wider and 0.25 in taller than the trim, and extend the art into that extra space. For an 8.5 × 8.5 in book, the PDF page is 8.625 × 8.75 in.

• Keep all text at least 0.375 in from the trimmed edges.
• Keep faces and important details away from the inside edge, where pages curve into the binding.
• Give text a calm area of the picture, or a solid panel, so it stays readable.
• Use type that's large and clear for reading aloud.

Keep characters consistent

Readers notice when a character's coat changes color between pages. Write a short, fixed description of each character (shape, colors, clothes, one distinctive detail) and use it for every illustration. Check each page against the first and redo any that drift.

Bookhatch writes these descriptions into the plan and uses a reference image for every illustration, which keeps characters much more consistent, but reviewing each page is still your job.

The cover

The front cover should show the main character and say who the book is for. At 24 pages a picture book's spine is only about 0.056 in, and KDP doesn't print spine text below 80 pages, so leave the spine plain. Keep the barcode area on the back cover clear.

Printing cost and price

Premium color is flat-priced up to 40 pages, so a 40-page book costs the same to print as a 24-page one. Beyond 40 pages the cost rises with every page.

The listing

• Reading age: set the age range in KDP's book details, for example 3–7.
• Description: what happens, who it's for and what it helps with, such as bedtime or a first day at school.
• Keywords: up to seven phrases a parent would actually search, such as “bedtime story for toddlers”.
• AI disclosure: say so if the text or illustrations were generated by AI.
• Proof copy: order one. Color printing can look darker than on screen.

Frequently asked questions