Google Docs to KDP: How to Format Your Book for Amazon

What Google Docs can and cannot do for a KDP book

Google Docs is a good place to write a book: free, every version saved, and readers can comment in the margin. It was not built to lay out a printed book, though. Here is each thing KDP checks, what Docs offers, and how far apart they are. The KDP column comes from Amazon's trim, bleed and margins and paperback submission guidelines; the Docs column from Google's own help on page settings and headers, footers and page numbers.

How to make a KDP paperback PDF in Google Docs, step by step

This is the Docs-only route for a text book without bleed. It works best on a copy of your manuscript, so the original stays easy to edit: File > Make a copy, and name it something like "Print edition". Menu names below are from Google's help pages, read on 28 October 2026.

1. Switch the document to Pages. Open File > Page setup and choose the Pages tab, not Pageless. Google's help says page setup, headers, footers and page numbers are not available in pageless format, and switching to pageless hides any headers you already have.
2. Style every chapter title as Heading 1. Select the title and pick Heading 1 from the style menu that normally says "Normal text". Use Heading 2 for sections inside a chapter. Headings drive the table of contents, the document outline on the left, the EPUB chapters and any later import, so this one step pays off three times. Our chapters guide helps if you are still deciding where chapters break.
3. Set the body text. Pick a readable book font at 10 to 12 pt and set line spacing a little above single. Then, in the style menu, open the arrow next to Normal text and choose "Update 'Normal text' to match" so the whole book follows. Indent the first line of paragraphs with the ruler or Format > Align and indent > Indentation options, rather than with tabs or spaces.
4. Set the paper size. In File > Page setup, open Paper size. For a 5.5 x 8.5 in book choose Statement, for 8.5 x 11 in choose Letter, and for 8.27 x 11.69 in choose A4. For any other trim, install a page-size add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace and type the width and height from the calculator. Test the add-on's PDF before you rely on it.
5. Type the margins. Still in Page setup, enter top, bottom, left and right from the calculator. Left and right are both the inside margin for your page count. If you do not know the page count yet, start with the 151 to 300 page tier and check again at the end. Click Set as default only if you want every new document to use these settings.
6. Break pages between chapters. Click just before each chapter title and choose Insert > Break > Page break. Do not press Enter until the text moves down: a later edit shifts everything and leaves half-empty pages. If you want different headers or page numbering in the front matter, use Insert > Break > Section break (next page) after it instead.
7. Add front matter. Title page, copyright page and, if you want one, a dedication, each on its own page. Our copyright page template has wording you can adapt, and do you need an ISBN explains what goes on that page. KDP's free ISBN for paperbacks is assigned during setup.
8. Add page numbers. Insert > Page elements > Page number. In More options you can choose where numbering applies; Google's help says to add a section break if the option you need is missing. KDP wants even numbers on left-hand pages and odd numbers on right-hand pages, which happens automatically if page 1 is a right-hand page. KDP allows roman numerals in the front matter, but Google's help does not describe that option, so most Docs books simply start numbering at the first chapter.
9. Add running heads if you want them. Double-click the top of a page to open the header, then Options. Different first page keeps the header off chapter openings, and Different odd and even (set Apply to Whole document) lets you put the author's name on left pages and the title on right pages, the way most novels do. Set the header and footer margins to the value the calculator shows.
10. Insert the table of contents. Put the cursor on its own page after the front matter and choose Insert > Table of contents, picking the style with page numbers. After any edit, click the contents and use the refresh button so the numbers stay right.
11. Make chapters start on the right (optional but expected). Docs has no setting for this, so do it last. Download a test PDF, find each chapter that starts on an even page, and add one page break before it. Every added blank page adds to your page count and print cost, and KDP lists "excessive blank pages" among common reasons a file fails review, so many authors skip this in a first book.
12. Download the PDF. File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf). Open it and check the page size, the margins and the page count before you go near KDP. The checklist below covers what to look for.

Your cover is a separate file. KDP wants a single PDF with the back cover, spine and front cover side by side, and the spine width depends on the page count and paper. Our KDP cover size and spine width calculator gives the exact dimensions, and the KDP paperback template calculator adds the print cost for your page count. For the full picture of print books on Amazon, see paperback publishing on KDP Print.

How to turn a Google Doc into a Kindle ebook

The ebook is the easier half. A Kindle book reflows to fit whatever screen it is read on, so trim sizes, margins, headers and page numbers do not apply. What matters is clean structure: real headings, real page breaks, and a table of contents made of links.

KDP's ebook manuscript formats page recommends three formats: Microsoft Word (DOC/DOCX), which it says "most" files convert well from; Kindle Package Format (KPF), made with Amazon's free Kindle Create; and EPUB, as long as it meets the Kindle Publishing Guidelines, checked first in Kindle Previewer. Google Docs can produce two of those three directly. Google added EPUB export to Docs in March 2016, announcing it for authors and publishers.

1. Work from the edit copy, not the print copy. The ebook does not want your print margins, page numbers or running heads. If you made a print edition copy, go back to the original.
2. Check the headings. Every chapter title as Heading 1, every section as Heading 2. The document outline in the left-hand panel lists them; anything missing there will be missing from the Kindle navigation too.
3. Insert a page break before each chapter. Kindle starts a new screen at each one.
4. Use a linked table of contents. Insert > Table of contents, choosing the style with links rather than page numbers, because an ebook has no fixed pages.
5. Keep images simple. One image per line, centred, no text wrapped around it. Text inside images cannot resize on a phone.
6. Download. File > Download > EPUB Publication (.epub), or Microsoft Word (.docx). Open the file in Kindle Previewer and page through it on the phone and tablet views before you upload.
7. Upload to KDP. In your Kindle eBook's Content page, upload the file as the manuscript and your front cover as a JPG. KDP converts the file and lets you preview it online.

Which file to upload is a judgement call: with the EPUB you see exactly what you send; with the Word file KDP does the conversion, which it says works for most books. If the preview of one looks wrong, try the other. For more on the ebook side, including fonts, images and the formats other stores take, see how to format a book for Kindle and our ebook formats explainer. If you plan to sell beyond Amazon too, publishing an ebook wide covers the other stores.

Where the Docs-only route breaks

Plenty of authors publish a first paperback straight from Docs. These are the points where it stops being worth the effort.

• The trim is not in the list. 6 x 9 in, 5 x 8 in and 5.25 x 8 in are the usual sizes for novels and non-fiction, and none of them is a Docs preset. An add-on can set them, but you are now trusting a third party with your print file.
• The book is long. Without mirrored margins, every extra inch of gutter is lost twice. At 600 pages on 6 x 9 in, comfortable Docs margins are 1.25 in on both sides, leaving a 3.5 in text column, against 4.25 in with mirrored margins. More pages also means a higher print cost per copy.
• Chapters must start on the right. Done by hand, this has to be redone after every edit that moves a page, which in a long book means most edits.
• Anything runs to the edge. Full-page photos, coloured backgrounds, picture books and coloring books need bleed, which Docs does not do at all. Our picture book bleed guide covers those books.
• Front matter numbering. KDP allows roman numerals for front matter and arabic numbers from chapter one. Google's help describes where numbering starts, not number styles, so a traditional book layout is hard to reproduce.
• Fonts. KDP says every font in the interior must be embedded. You cannot set that in Docs, so you have to check the downloaded PDF yourself, as described in the checklist below.
• You need two editions that match. A print copy and an ebook copy drift apart the moment you fix a typo in one.

None of these is a reason to stop writing in Docs. They are reasons to do the layout somewhere else. The four main routes (an AI formatter, KDP's Word template, Google Docs and Canva) are compared in how to format a book for KDP, and best book formatting software reviews the dedicated tools.

The faster route: download as Word and import it

Every book tool worth using imports a Word file, and Google Docs exports one in a click. That makes .docx the bridge between where you wrote and where you lay out. Below is the route through Inkfluence AI, our product, with the free and paid parts stated plainly. The same first two steps work for Kindle Create, Atticus or Vellum, which are compared further down.

1. In Docs, style chapter titles as Heading 1. This is what the import uses to split the book into chapters. Section titles inside a chapter can be Heading 2. If your book's title is at the top in the Title style, leave it: the import keeps it out of the chapter list.
2. Download the Word file. File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx). Images, lists, bold, italic and underline come with it.
3. Import it. In Inkfluence AI, click New Book in the top right, then Import a document, or use the Import Content tile on the dashboard, or drop the file anywhere on the dashboard. The import window takes Word (.docx and .doc), PDF, EPUB, TXT and Markdown, and several files at once if your book is split into parts. It now shows a reminder for Google Docs users: File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx), then drop it here.
4. Check the chapter list. The import shows how many chapters it found and what is in each before anything is saved. Chapters split on Heading 1. If the document has no Heading 1 but does use Heading 2, those become the chapters. If it has no headings at all, the import looks for chapter titles in the text, and if it cannot find at least three it brings the book in as one chapter that you can split in the editor. Pictures are moved to storage, so a long illustrated manuscript still saves.
5. Edit, then add a cover. The book opens in the editor, split into chapters. Fix anything the import mangled, then design or add a cover; the cover designer's Print tab adds the back cover and spine for the paperback. AI help with editing is there if you want it, and entirely optional for an imported book.
6. Export for KDP. Click Export, open the KDP tab, choose a page size (5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7 x 10, 8 x 10 and 8.5 x 11 in and A4 are all Amazon.com trims) and click Export KDP Package. One zip downloads with a READ ME FIRST file, the paperback interior PDF, the full wrap cover PDF, the Kindle cover JPG and the Kindle EPUB, each named by the KDP box it goes in.

What the KDP export does that Docs cannot

The interior PDF uses mirrored margins: the wide margin is on the binding side of every page, and the outside margin stays at 0.5 in with 0.75 in top and bottom. The inside margin is 0.75 in for books up to 500 pages, which is what KDP's own manuscript templates use and comfortably above KDP's minimum, and KDP's minimum plus 0.125 in for longer books. It is sized from the real page count after the book is rendered, and the same count sets the spine width on the full wrap cover. The help article exporting your book walks through each file and where it goes in KDP.

What is free and what is paid

If you would rather see the import before trying it, our three-minute import walkthrough shows a real Word manuscript coming in, and the importing help articles cover PDFs, EPUBs and several files at once. The AI book formatter page explains the layout side in more depth.

Checks before you upload a Docs-made file to KDP

KDP reviews every file, and its submission guidelines list the usual reasons a print file fails. Run through these on the downloaded PDF, whichever route you took.

• Page size equals the trim. Without bleed, KDP says to set the page size to your trim, width by height. Open the PDF's document properties and check the page size reads, for example, 6 x 9 in, not Letter.
• Inside margin meets the tier. 0.375 in up to 150 pages, 0.5 in to 300, 0.625 in to 500, 0.75 in to 700, 0.875 in to 828. A KDP review that says "insufficient gutter" means this one.
• At least 0.25 in everywhere else. Top, bottom and outside, including page numbers and headers. With bleed, 0.375 in.
• Fonts embedded. KDP: "All fonts in the interior files should be embedded." In a PDF reader, open File > Properties > Fonts and check each font says Embedded or Embedded Subset.
• Images at 300 DPI. KDP's minimum. A picture that looks sharp on screen can print soft; check it at its printed size.
• Single pages. KDP requires single pages, not two-page spreads.
• At least 24 pages. KDP's minimum, and the page count is rounded up to an even number.
• Nothing left over. No comments, suggestions, placeholder text or highlights. Accept or reject every suggestion in Docs before you download.
• Not too many blank pages. KDP lists excessive blank pages as a common point of failure.

Then order a printed proof before you publish; it is the only way to see the gutter as a reader will. If KDP does send the file back, KDP rejected my book decodes each email. Two other things to settle on the KDP side: if any of the book's text or images were made with AI, KDP asks you to say so, which our KDP AI disclosure guide explains; and the KDP self-publishing guide covers the listing, pricing and categories. Publishing for a season? The KDP publishing calendar and KDP Christmas deadlines count back from the date.

Questions about Google Docs and KDP