How to download your manuscript from KDP

Your book is live on Amazon, and now someone needs the file. An audiobook producer, a translator, a new cover designer. And the Word document you wrote it in lives on a laptop you replaced three years ago.

Good news: KDP keeps a copy of what you uploaded, and you can download it yourself. It takes about a minute. You don't need ACX for this, and you don't need to email Amazon.

Download your manuscript from KDP

1. Sign in to your KDP Bookshelf.
2. Find the book. Click the ellipsis button (...) next to the edition you want: the Kindle eBook or the paperback.
3. Choose Download author manuscript.
4. The online previewer opens with your file. Click the download icon at the top right.

That's the file you uploaded, in the format you uploaded it: Word, PDF, EPUB, or a Kindle Create file. Amazon explains the steps on its download your files help page.

Paperback and ebook both published? Grab the paperback. It's usually the PDF your formatter signed off on, so it has your final edits. Either one works for an audiobook.

If the download option isn't there

Amazon hides the option in a few cases:

• The book is in review, publishing, or blocked. Wait until the status says Live, then try again.
• A paperback releases in the next five days. Print files are locked that close to a release date. Try the ebook instead.
• You never uploaded a file. If someone else published the book for you, or a service did the upload, the file is in their account, not yours.

Plan B: the ebook preview file

If the manuscript download is missing on your ebook, KDP has a second door:

1. On your Bookshelf, click the ellipsis next to the Kindle eBook and choose Edit eBook content.
2. Scroll to Kindle eBook Preview.
3. Under Downloadable Preview Options, click Preview on your computer and save the ZIP file.

The ZIP holds your whole book as a web page, plus its images. It's Amazon's converted copy, not your original, but every word is there. Amazon describes it on its edit a converted eBook page. You don't need to unzip it: send the ZIP as it is.

Plan C: look where the file went

If KDP comes up empty, the file is almost always in one of these:

• Your email. Search your inbox and sent mail for the book's title with "docx" or "pdf". Editors and formatters send files back and forth all the time.
• Your formatter or editor. Whoever laid out the paperback has the final PDF. One short email gets it back.
• Your formatting app. Vellum, Atticus, and Kindle Create keep project files on your computer. Open the project and export again.
• Your cloud drive. Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud. Search for the title.

What we can use

Whatever you find, we can take it. EPUB, PDF, Word, Pages, plain text, the KDP preview ZIP: all fine. You don't need to clean it up or convert it first. Upload it when you start, or reply to our email with it attached.

Not sure the book is right for audio yet? Start with a free first chapter and hear it before you pay for anything.

FAQ

Can I download my manuscript from ACX?

No. ACX is for audiobooks you make with a narrator, and it doesn't hold your ebook or paperback files. Your manuscript lives in KDP. If you used Virtual Voice, that audio is managed in KDP too, and it can't be downloaded. Our guide on removing a Virtual Voice audiobook covers what to do with it.

Will downloading my file change my book on Amazon?

No. Downloading is read-only. Your book stays on sale and nothing in KDP changes.

Can I download older versions?

No. KDP only keeps the latest file you uploaded. If you upload a new one later, the old one is gone, so save a copy of every file you download.

I published with IngramSpark or Draft2Digital. Is it the same?

The idea is the same: the file is in your account where you uploaded it. Look on that book's page in your dashboard for its files. If you can't find a download, Plan C above still works.