Using AI to help make a book is allowed on Amazon KDP. Skipping the disclosure step when it applies is where authors get into trouble. This guide explains the rule in plain English so you can answer the question correctly every time you publish.
Rules change. This is general information, not legal advice. Always check Amazon’s current KDP Content Guidelines before you publish.
What KDP asks you to disclose
When you publish a new book, or edit and republish an existing one, KDP asks whether it contains AI-generated content. That covers three things:
- Text, including the manuscript itself.
- Images, including cover art and interior illustrations.
- Translations produced by AI.
KDP’s guidelines draw a line between two kinds of AI use. The difference decides what you answer.
AI-generated vs. AI-assisted
AI-generated means an AI tool created the content for you. Per KDP’s guidelines, this counts even if you edited it heavily afterward. You must disclose it.
AI-assisted means you created the content yourself and used AI to edit, refine, brainstorm or improve it. According to the guidelines, you don’t have to disclose this.
Some examples of how these usually fall:
- An AI writes your chapters from a prompt, and you edit them. Generated. Disclose.
- You write the chapters and use AI to fix grammar or suggest a clearer sentence. Assisted.
- You brainstorm title ideas or outlines with AI, then write the book yourself. Assisted.
- An AI image generator makes your cover. Generated. Disclose.
- You use AI to translate your book into Spanish. Generated. Disclose.
If you can’t tell which side your workflow falls on, read the current guidelines. When it’s still unclear, disclose.
Where you answer the question
During the publishing steps in your KDP account, on the content details page, KDP asks whether you used AI tools to create the text, images or translations. You answer, and for generated content you also say which kind of tool and what it produced. Amazon says this information is for its own review and isn’t shown to shoppers on your listing, but check the current guidelines for the latest wording.
Why accuracy matters
Disclosing doesn’t block your book. Answering inaccurately risks problems. Amazon can review and remove books that break its guidelines, and repeated issues can put your account at risk. Honest answers are the cheap insurance.
KDP also has rules beyond AI that affect low-effort books:
- Content quality. Books that give a poor customer experience, such as very little useful content or heavy duplication, can be removed.
- Copyright. You must hold the rights to everything in the book. Don’t copy other authors or feed an AI someone else’s work.
- Publishing limits. KDP has applied limits to how many titles an account can publish per day. Check the current limit.
A simple pre-publish checklist
- Write down every tool you used: writing, editing, images, translation.
- Sort each use into generated or assisted.
- Open the current KDP Content Guidelines and confirm the definitions haven’t changed.
- Answer the AI question on KDP to match your list.
- Read the finished book. Fix factual errors, repeated passages and anything that sounds off.
- Check that every image and quote is yours to use.
- Keep your list. If Amazon asks questions later, you have your answer.
The takeaway
KDP doesn’t ban AI. It asks you to tell it when AI made the content. Keep a record of your workflow, answer honestly, and publish a book that is useful to readers.
Shelfwork is being built to walk beginners from idea to an upload-ready book with this kind of compliance check built in. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens.