How long does it take a new e-book on Amazon to go live?

[April]

Can someone remind me... how long does it take a new e-book on Amazon to go live? Once you upload it and submit it for release, how long does the review process take before Amazon makes the book active?

It's been nine months since I did this process, and I can't remember. I want to release a new book on March 28th. If I want it to be live on that date, how many days prior should I upload it?

Thanks!

April

[[deleted user]]

8-10 hours

[April]

Morris wrote: "8-10 hours"

Not 2-3 days? I couldn't remember, and I was afraid it would take a long time. But you think it's that quick?

Thank you!!

[Justin]

Yeah it's usually pretty fast.

[Ian]

In my experience it's been fast, less than a day, though I don't think there's any guarantee around turnaround times.

Probably no use for this release, but another time you might look into setting it up for pre-order. You can set an advance release date and get everything loaded up and approved ahead of time. From my unreliable memory (I did this last summer on both Amazon and Smashwords, so I might be getting the two mixed up) I think you need the final versions of files uploaded ten days prior to the release date, but then you know it will become available for sale on the right day.

Another advantage is that any pre-orders you get will count as sales on the release date, which might give your ranking an immediate boost out the gate.

[Lisa]

I would give it 24 hours to be safe.

[Wally]

Got with Lisa just to be sure.

[April]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the responses. :)

Maybe this fall, with book 3, I'll have enough patience to do a pre-order. Not this time, though.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

I've had it take as little as two hours and as much as twelve. Usually about six or seven.

[Owen]

As indicated by others, 8 to 12 hours is pretty safe. But on one occasion, KDP required an extra step from us that stretched things to about 24 hours. It took over 12 hours to get the notice, and several more before we got on-line to see it. Once we did what they asked, the book went live within a few minutes.

If you want to be absolutely safe, I second what Lisa says: give it a day.

One more note: if a book is enrolled in KDP Select, but significant portions have been posted on-line previously (in a blog, for instance or some site like Wattpad), and those aren't removed far enough in advance, that can hang up publication for a week or so, as Amazon verifies they are gone.

FYI: We once posted a lot of free chapters in our blog and prior to submitting for publication I wrote KDP and asked how long before publishing we needed to take these down to avoid problems. KDP answered a few days or a week [fuzzy memory here]. We gave it 3 weeks and had no problems at all.

[Lisa]

Sorry April, but I don't get why a pre-order requires patience? All you need to do is start your book details on KDP and set it up as a pre-order. It's the same steps you would do to publish, only set it as pre-order (and as was illustrated by another post, remember to get your final file up on time and mark it as final). You need to have a file to upload but it can be a draft version. They don't allow a preview when the book is on pre-order so you don't have to worry about anyone seeing a draft copy.

[Dylan]

With Amazon, chances are, if you need it done fast, then it will take a long time. And if it doesn't matter, it will be a matter of minutes. :)

But with my limited experience, it was about 12 hours.

[Greg]

April wrote: "Can someone remind me... how long does it take a new e-book on Amazon to go live? Once you upload it and submit it for release, how long does the review process take before Amazon makes the book ac..."

My book was uploaded on Friday, and it's now Monday. It's 690 pages long, so that may have something to do with it.

[Anna]

They say that it can take upto 12 hours but in my experience it has only taken 8 hours top for e-books to go live. If yours hasn't then check your e-mail or try to contact customer service of amazon.

[Samantha]

Greg wrote: "April wrote: "Can someone remind me... how long does it take a new e-book on Amazon to go live? Once you upload it and submit it for release, how long does the review process take before Amazon mak..."

I know this might sound daft, but just make sure you hit the publish button after the upload.

Sam

[Andy]

Greg wrote: "My book was uploaded on Friday, and it's now Monday. It's 690 pages long, so that may have something to do with it."

I've done this twice very recently, and both times it took about 20 hours (9am to 5am). I don't think book size matters, but mine was large too, 550 pages.

Through your KDP Dashboard, you can email KDP support to ask whether something is holding it up. Click the blue Help link at the top right > gold Contact Us button at the bottom left. But hearing back sometimes takes the better part of a day.

But... I found you can also get someone on the phone for KDP help. That was way more effective than using the help form, since if they misunderstand you can clarify right on the spot.

You do this by calling Kindle Support and telling them you have a KDP issue. They'll ask for your email address and mailing address as confirmation, then they'll transfer you to the KDP team. I found them very helpful the two times I called.

To err on the side of caution, I won't post the phone number lest somebody considers it a link. So just google something like "kindle support phone number" and you should find it.