How to disclose AI use on Amazon KDP (and keep a record)

If you publish through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and you have used AI anywhere in your book, you will want to know what you need to tell Amazon. The rules are short, but the line between the two categories they use is easy to blur. This guide sets out what KDP's help pages say, how to decide which side of the line your book falls on, and how to keep a record that makes the decision easy next time. It is general information, not legal advice, and Amazon can change its rules, so read the linked page before you publish.

What KDP actually says

KDP's content guidelines split AI use into two groups. The first is AI-generated content: text, images or translations created by an AI-based tool. Amazon's wording is direct: "We require you to inform us of AI-generated content." It also says that content counts as AI-generated even if you made substantial edits to it afterwards. Editing does not turn generated text into your own.

The second group is AI-assisted content. This is content you created yourself, where AI helped you edit, refine, error-check or brainstorm. On this, Amazon says: "You are not required to disclose AI-assisted content."

The disclosure happens when you publish a new book or when you edit and republish an existing one. That second point matters. If you go back to a book that is already live and add AI-generated material, you should expect to disclose it at that point.

Disclosure is not the whole story. Whatever you disclose, KDP says you are responsible for checking that all AI-generated and AI-assisted content follows its content guidelines, including intellectual property rights. Disclosing does not make content acceptable by itself.

Generated or assisted: working it out for your book

The helpful question is who produced the words or images. If an AI tool wrote a paragraph and you kept it, edited or not, that is the generated category. If you wrote the paragraph and a tool suggested a clearer verb, flagged a comma splice, or helped you think through a plot problem in conversation, that is closer to assisted.

Some cases sit in a grey area, and the guidelines do not resolve all of them. A few examples worth thinking about:

• You asked an AI for a rewrite of a paragraph and used most of its sentences. The words came from the tool, so treat this with caution.
• You asked an AI for a list of ideas, then wrote the scene yourself. The ideas helped, but the text is yours.
• You used an AI to translate a chapter. Translations are named in KDP's definition of AI-generated content.
• You generated a cover or interior illustration with an image tool. Images are named in the definition too.
• You ran proofing that suggested changes and you accepted some. Accepting a single-word fix is different from accepting a rewritten paragraph.

If you are unsure, the safest course is to read the current guidelines again, and if the answer still is not clear, contact KDP support. Do not rely on a forum thread, including this blog, for a final answer on a borderline case.

Why a record helps

Months after drafting, most of us cannot say which scenes had help and which did not. Publishing forms ask you to answer from memory at the moment you are most tired of the book. A running record turns that into a lookup.

A useful record answers four questions: which tool you used, which passages or assets it touched, whether the output was kept as written, and when. You do not need a legal ledger. A simple log you update as you go is enough for your own purposes.

Three ways to keep a record

1. A plain log. A document or spreadsheet with a row per use: date, tool, scene or asset, what you asked, and whether the result was kept. It is low-tech and works anywhere.
2. Revision history. If your writing tool keeps scene revisions, you can compare a scene before and after an AI step. This shows what changed, though not always why.
3. Tool-level tracking. Some writing tools record AI use automatically. In Mythwrite, AI word tracking and Cautious Mode keep a count of AI-written words and flag the passages where AI influenced the draft, so you can revisit them before you publish. It is a record to help you decide, not a ruling on what KDP will accept.

Whichever you choose, keep it close to the manuscript and update it when you work, not when you publish. Keep it for as long as the book is on sale, since you may edit and republish later.

A short checklist before you press publish

1. Read KDP's current AI content guidance again. Rules change.
2. List every place AI touched the book: text, translation, cover, interior images, even the blurb.
3. For each one, decide whether you created the content yourself with AI assisting, or whether the tool generated it.
4. Answer the disclosure question in KDP honestly, based on that list.
5. Check that everything in the book, generated or not, respects copyright and KDP's content guidelines.
6. Save your record alongside the final files.

A note on other retailers

This guide covers only KDP. Other stores, libraries and audiobook platforms each have their own policies, and some differ. If you publish wide, check each one separately.

In short

Tell Amazon when AI generated text, images or translations in your book. You do not have to disclose AI-assisted work such as editing or brainstorming. Take responsibility for the content either way, and keep a simple record as you go so the answer is never a guess.