Can I publish the same eBook on both Amazon KDP and Google Play Books?

Yes. Standard KDP (without KDP Select) is non-exclusive, and Google Play Books has no exclusivity requirement at all. You can sell the identical book on both stores, plus Gumroad, Apple Books, Kobo, and your own site simultaneously. The only thing that blocks this is enrolling in KDP Select, which demands 90-day Amazon exclusivity for the eBook edition.

Which pays better, KDP or Google Play Books?

Per copy, they're close at typical price points. KDP pays 70% only inside the £2.99–£9.99 window (35% outside it, and Amazon deducts a small delivery fee per download). Google Play Books pays a flat rate of around 70% at nearly any price with no delivery fee. If your book is priced under £2.99 or over £9.99, Play Books usually pays meaningfully more per sale.

Do I need different files for KDP and Google Play Books?

Both accept EPUB for the interior, but the cover and metadata requirements differ — dimensions, resolution, and how the listing data is structured. Tools like YouTube to eBook export separate store-specific bundles for each platform so you upload the right files to each without reformatting anything manually.

How long does each store take to approve a new eBook?

Amazon KDP typically takes 24–72 hours for a new book to go live; subsequent books from an established account are often live within 24 hours. Google Play Books usually processes within 24–48 hours. Both use mostly automated review, with manual checks only when something is flagged — so a clean, correctly formatted upload goes live fast on both.

Is Google Play Books worth it if Amazon has more buyers?

Yes, for three reasons: it takes under an hour to list once your files exist, so the marginal effort is tiny; Android's install base surfaces Play Books to buyers who never shop on Amazon, especially outside the US and UK; and diversification protects you — an account issue or policy change on one store doesn't take your whole catalogue offline.

Amazon KDP vs Google Play Books: Where Should You Publish First?

If you're choosing between Amazon KDP and Google Play Books for your first eBook, here's the short version: it's not either/or. Neither store demands exclusivity, so the real question is which one to set up first and how the two differ in practice.

What's the difference in royalties?

Amazon KDP pays 70% royalty only when your list price sits between £2.99 and £9.99 (and you meet a few conditions — the book must be available in all territories, priced at or below any other store). Outside that window the rate drops to 35%. Amazon also deducts a small per-download delivery fee from the 70% tier, based on file size.

Google Play Books pays a flat rate of around 70% at almost any price point, with no pricing window and no delivery fee. A £1.99 quick-reference guide or a £24.99 premium guide earns the full rate either way.

Practical consequence: if your pricing strategy lives inside £2.99–£9.99, the two stores pay similarly. If you want to price low (impulse buys) or high (premium positioning), Play Books pays more per copy.

Which store has more buyers?

Amazon, by a wide margin — it's the default bookstore for most of the English-speaking world, and its recommendation algorithm actively drives cold traffic to books that convert. A well-optimised KDP listing can sell to people who have never heard of you. That algorithmic discovery is the single strongest argument for starting there.

Google Play Books has a smaller dedicated readership but two structural advantages: it ships pre-installed on billions of Android devices, and its buyers skew international — markets where Amazon's Kindle presence is weaker. Creators consistently report that Play Books sales come from countries their Amazon sales don't reach.

How do the pricing rules differ?

KDP enforces its pricing window and requires your Amazon price to be no higher than the price anywhere else (price parity). Google Play has a quirk in the other direction: it sometimes discounts your book unilaterally — which can then trip Amazon's price-matching and drag your Amazon price down. The fix is to monitor your Play Books price or set it slightly higher than your Amazon price so any discount lands at parity, not below it.

What about the publishing workflow?

Both are self-serve and free:

KDP: create an account, upload EPUB + cover, fill in metadata (title, description, 7 keyword slots, 2 categories), set territories and pricing. Amazon provides a free ASIN, so no ISBN needed. Full walkthrough: how to self-publish on Amazon KDP.
Google Play Books: sign up for the Partner Center, upload EPUB + cover, complete the listing, set prices per territory. Also no ISBN required — Google assigns its own identifier. Full walkthrough: how to publish on Google Play Books.

If your book was produced with a tool that exports store-specific bundles (correctly sized cover, validated EPUB, metadata checklist), each upload is under an hour.

Should you enrol in KDP Select?

For most creators publishing on multiple stores: no. KDP Select trades 90-day Amazon exclusivity for Kindle Unlimited page-read income and promo tools. Taking it means unlisting your eBook from Google Play Books, Gumroad, and everywhere else. That trade only makes sense if you have zero existing audience and need Amazon's promotional levers to get any visibility at all.

So which should you publish on first?

A sequence that works well:

Week 1 — Amazon KDP first. Largest market, and its review process for first-time publishers is the slowest of the two, so start it earliest. Skip KDP Select.
Same week — Google Play Books. Once the files exist, the second upload is quick. Set the Play price at or slightly above your Amazon price to avoid price-match issues.
Optional — Gumroad or your own site for direct sales at a higher margin to your existing audience. See where to sell eBooks: platform comparison.

The eBook itself is the hard part — and if your raw material is video you've already made, even that is mostly automated now. Every store after the first is marginal effort for a new stream of buyers.