Do you have to tell Amazon your book used AI?

What KDP actually asks you

KDP requires you to inform Amazon when a new or republished book contains AI-generated text, images, or translations. It does not require you to report AI-assisted work such as brainstorming, editing, or error checking when you created the final content yourself. The official KDP Content Guidelines define both categories.

Review the final book before answering KDP’s AI-content questions. A generated cover counts as an AI-generated image even if you wrote every word; generated translations count as well. The guidelines describe a disclosure requirement, but do not say that answering yes changes royalty terms or search placement.

AI-generated vs AI-assisted: the line that matters

KDP draws the line at who created the actual content, not how many edits came afterward. If an AI tool created text, images, or translations that appear in the final book, KDP still treats that content as AI-generated after substantial human revision. If you created the content and used AI only to improve it, that use is AI-assisted.

A standard EarnDraft book has AI-drafted chapters, so its text falls on KDP’s AI-generated side. Review the final text, cover, and any translation separately before submitting. A book can mix human-written and AI-generated elements; disclose the generated elements that are present.

• AI-generated: final text, images, or translations created by an AI tool, even after substantial edits.
• AI-assisted: you created the final content and used AI for ideas, editing, refinement, or error checks.
• Uncertain case: compare each final element with KDP’s definitions, then ask KDP support if the distinction remains unclear.

What happens if you answer wrong

KDP says publishers are responsible for following its content guidelines and may reject or remove noncompliant books. An inaccurate declaration may create a compliance problem; the public policy does not provide a separate penalty schedule for each kind of AI-disclosure error.

Make a simple content inventory before uploading: note whether an AI tool created any final text, images, or translations. Keep the answer aligned with the final files when you republish. KDP’s current guidance focuses on accurate reporting and on your responsibility for rights and content quality.

How EarnDraft handles disclosure for you

Review the AI-generated content and each store’s current disclosure requirements before uploading. You review everything before it goes anywhere — nothing is submitted on your behalf.

If you also sell on Etsy or Gumroad, disclosure rules there are looser, but the same page in your files covers you: transparency with buyers builds trust either way.

What disclosure doesn't do

KDP disclosure is one part of publishing compliance. It does not replace originality checks, permissions, fact verification, or a clear book description. The public KDP policy does not establish a search-ranking or sales effect from the disclosure answer, so avoid promises either way.

Your answer to KDP also does not verify factual claims inside the manuscript. Review specialist material with a qualified human, and check that every AI-generated or AI-assisted element complies with KDP’s intellectual-property and content rules.

A content inventory before you open KDP

Start with the files you will actually upload, not the prompts you remember writing. List the manuscript, cover, interior art, charts, and every translated passage. Beside each element, record whether a human made the final content and AI merely helped refine it, or whether an AI tool created the text, image, or translation itself. That inventory keeps a generated cover from disappearing behind an otherwise human-written manuscript. It also makes republishing easier: compare the new files with the previous inventory and update your answer if the content changed.

For a standard EarnDraft export, the AI-drafted chapters mean the text is AI-generated under KDP’s definition. Human review, rewriting, and fact checking are still essential, but even substantial editing does not reclassify that text. If you replaced every generated paragraph with text you wrote yourself, the answer may be different; review the final content rather than assuming that the tool used at the beginning determines the final classification. Generated cover art or translations remain separate questions. The official policy is the source of truth for each category.

The inventory is also a quality checklist. For each generated element, ask whether you own the necessary rights, whether facts and quotations are verified, whether a recognizable person or protected work was copied, and whether the book description fairly represents the result. KDP says publishers are responsible for all content, whether AI-generated or AI-assisted. Disclosure reports origin; it does not grant rights or certify accuracy. If a specialist topic needs an expert review, arrange that before publishing rather than treating the KDP form as the last review step.

Keep the inventory with the editable manuscript and the exact exported version you uploaded. Write a date and version number at the top. If you replace a cover, add a translation, or rewrite a chapter for a second edition, you can compare versions in minutes. This is a practical record for your own workflow, not a document KDP specifically requires. The goal is to answer consistently when the publishing flow asks again, and to make the final file—not a memory of an early draft—the basis of your answer.

Common edge cases and a final submission check

A heavily edited AI draft is the most common borderline case, but KDP’s policy is explicit: substantial editing does not erase the generated origin. Another case is a human-written book with an AI-generated cover; the image still counts. A third is a human translation that you ran through an AI grammar checker. If the human wrote the translation and the tool only corrected it, the use is assisted. The relevant question is who created the content that appears in the final book, considered separately for text, images, and translation.

Brainstorming with a chatbot can produce phrases that later appear in a manuscript. If you merely used a concept and wrote your own text, KDP describes that as assisted. If you pasted generated sentences into the final book, those sentences are generated content. The public policy does not supply a word-count threshold for this distinction. Avoid inventing one. When the workflow is genuinely ambiguous, preserve the source files and ask KDP support about your specific case; a generic article cannot adjudicate every production history.

Before submission, open the converted preview, check that the cover and interior files match your inventory, then read the KDP question as it appears today. Policies and form wording can change after this article is updated. Answer based on the final uploaded version and retain a screenshot or note of what you submitted for your records. If you republish, revisit the question even if the title and sales page stay the same. KDP expressly includes edits and republication in its disclosure rule.

If you want to tell readers how the book was made, write a concise process note in the book or description and keep it accurate. That is a separate editorial choice from Amazon’s required answer. EarnDraft does not add an automatic disclosure page or submit retailer declarations; you review the files and complete the store's form. The safest workflow is transparent because it has good records and verified content, not because it assumes that a checkbox alone settles rights, truth, or reader trust.

Check the rule at publication time

KDP can change its questions and guidance. Use the linked official policy as the final check before you publish or republish, and keep a dated copy of your own content inventory with the exact exported files.