In short
Most Amazon KDP rejections are technical: template guide layers left on the cover, a spine width that does not match the page count, images below 300 DPI, or a missing linked table of contents. Amazon emails the reason. Fix the file, resubmit, and the 72-hour review clock restarts.
What actually happens at review
When you hit publish, the book enters review. Amazon runs automated checks on the files and the metadata, and in some cases a human looks at it. The book shows as In Review on your Bookshelf, normally for up to 72 hours.
Three outcomes:
- Approved. The book goes live and you get a confirmation email: one per format, so an eBook and a paperback generate two.
- Blocked with a reason. You get an email naming the problem. Fix and resubmit.
- Blocked without much of a reason. Rarer, more frustrating, and usually a content-guidelines or rights issue rather than a technical one.
The good news: the overwhelming majority of rejections fall into a short, well-known list of mechanical faults.
Cover rejections
Template layers left in the file. The most common cover rejection there is. You download the KDP cover template, build your design on top of it, and forget to delete the template's own layers: guide text, pink margin blocks, crop marks. Those layers are part of the file, so they print.
The fix: before exporting, delete every template layer. Then zoom in on the exported PDF and look at the edges and the spine. Faint guide text blends into a dark cover and is easy to miss, which is exactly why it gets missed.
Spine width does not match page count. Almost always because the interior changed after the cover was built. Regenerate the template with the final page count and rebuild.
Text or artwork too close to the trim line. Printing has physical tolerances. Keep anything you care about at least 0.25" inside the trim edge.
Spine text on a book that is too thin. Below roughly 100 pages there is not enough spine width to carry legible text.
The barcode area is obstructed. Amazon places a barcode in the lower right of the back cover. Leave it clear.
Low-resolution cover art. Print covers need 300 DPI. A web-resolution image scaled up will print visibly soft.
Full cover specifications are in our guide to Amazon book covers and trim sizes.
Interior and formatting rejections
Images below 300 DPI. Measured at the size the image actually appears on the page, not at its native size. A 300 DPI image doubled in size is a 150 DPI image.
Content in the margin or gutter. Text or images extending into the required margins, or too close to the spine. Remember that the gutter must widen as the page count grows.
No linked table of contents in an eBook. A typed list of chapter titles is not a table of contents in a reflowable file. It must be built from real heading styles so each entry navigates.
Trim size mismatch. The trim in your PDF does not match the trim you selected in KDP.
Fonts not embedded. Export the PDF with fonts embedded, or the printer substitutes them and your layout shifts.
Blank pages where they should not be, or an odd final page count: print books need an even count.
The pre-submission checklist that catches all of these is in the KDP formatting guide.
Metadata and content violations
These are more serious than technical faults, because they can escalate.
- Keyword stuffing in the title or subtitle. Cramming search terms into fields meant for the book's actual name. Use the seven keyword fields instead. That is what they exist for. See KDP keywords and categories.
- Misleading metadata. A description that does not match the book. A claimed series that does not exist. A subtitle promising content the book does not contain.
- Another author's name in your keywords or title. Amazon enforces this actively.
- Inaccurate categories. Placing a book where it does not belong to chase a bestseller badge.
- Subjective or promotional claims in metadata. "Bestselling", "award-winning", "#1".
- Undisclosed advertising or affiliate links inside the book.
AI-generated content
Amazon draws a distinction that matters:
| AI-generated | AI-assisted | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Text, images or translations created by an AI tool, even if you then edited them | Your own work, refined with an AI tool |
| Must disclose? | Yes, at publishing | No |
| Shown to readers? | Not currently on the product page | - |
Amazon also caps how many new titles an account can upload per day, a limit introduced specifically to slow bulk AI publishing.
The practical position: disclosure is required and is not itself a rejection. Books get blocked when they fail quality and originality guidelines, which AI-generated content fails more often, but not because of the disclosure. Undisclosed AI content that is later identified is a policy violation, and those escalate to account level.
Public domain and rights problems
Publishing out-of-copyright work is allowed but constrained:
- Public domain titles are eligible for the 35% royalty option only.
- Amazon may decline an undifferentiated edition of a text that is already freely and widely available.
- Adding substantial original content (a genuine critical introduction, scholarly annotations, an original translation) makes the edition publishable and restores 70% eligibility.
Separately, and more dangerously: you must hold the rights to everything in the book. Song lyrics, poetry, and in-copyright scripture translations frequently require a licence. Stock images licensed for personal use are not licensed for a book cover. A rights complaint is not a formatting error. It can remove the book and put the account at risk.
Quality notifications after publication
Approval is not the end. Amazon monitors live titles, largely through reader complaints, and raises quality notifications for:
- Typos and grammatical errors above a threshold.
- Formatting faults: broken links, missing images, bad line breaks.
- A book that does not match its description.
- Duplicate or near-duplicate content.
Minor issues appear in your Quality Notifications dashboard for you to fix. Serious ones pull the book from sale until you do.
This is why a proofread is not optional. A book with enough typos to trigger reader complaints is not merely reviewed badly. It can be suppressed. The cheapest edit you will ever buy is the one that stops this happening.
How to resubmit
Read the email properly
Amazon names the problem. It is rarely vague on technical faults.
Fix the file, not a workaround
Re-export cleanly. Do not patch over a template layer; delete it.
Re-upload and re-preview
Open the previewer again and check the exact thing that was flagged.
Resubmit
The 72-hour clock restarts. Plan your launch with that buffer.
If you disagree, contact KDP support
Reply to the email with specifics. Automated flags are sometimes wrong, and support will look again.
When an account gets blocked
Rare, and it is a different category of problem. Account-level blocks generally follow:
- Repeated content-guideline violations.
- Copyright or rights infringement.
- Bulk publishing of low-quality or duplicate titles.
- Review manipulation: buying reviews, trading them, or reviewing your own book.
- Exceeding upload limits repeatedly.
Recovering an account is difficult and slow. The unglamorous defence is simply not to do any of the above: publish books you have the rights to, disclose what Amazon asks you to disclose, and never touch reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Why was my book rejected by KDP?
Amazon emails the specific reason. The most common causes are cover files with the KDP template guide layers still visible, a spine width that does not match the final page count, images below 300 DPI in a print interior, text straying into the margin or gutter, and a missing or unlinked table of contents in an eBook.
How long does it take to fix a KDP rejection?
The fix itself is usually under an hour. Once you resubmit, the review clock restarts and the book normally goes live within 72 hours. Build that buffer into any launch date you have announced.
Does Amazon allow AI-generated books?
Amazon requires you to disclose AI-generated content at the point of publishing, and it caps how many new titles an account may upload in a day. AI-assisted work, where a tool helped refine writing that is fundamentally yours, does not require disclosure. Content that fails quality or originality guidelines can still be blocked or removed.
Can I publish a book that is in the public domain?
Yes, but it is restricted. Public domain works are only eligible for the 35% royalty option, and Amazon may decline a differentiated edition of a widely available title. Adding substantial original content (a real critical introduction, annotations, or an original translation) makes the edition publishable and restores 70% eligibility.
What is a KDP quality notification?
A flag raised after publication, usually from reader complaints, about typos, formatting faults, or a mismatch between the book and its description. Minor issues appear in your Quality Notifications dashboard; serious ones can pull the book from sale until fixed.
Most of these problems are prevented rather than fixed. The pre-submission checks are in the KDP formatting guide, and the complete process from manuscript to launch is in our guide to publishing a book on Amazon KDP.
Sources
Rates and formulas on this page were checked against Amazon's official Kindle Direct Publishing documentation in September 2026. KDP revises its printing costs and royalty tables periodically, so verify current figures in the KDP Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator before you set a price.