Publish on Google Play Books: A Step-by-Step Guide

To publish on Google Play Books, create an account in Google Play Books Partner Center, set up your payment and tax details, then add your book with its metadata, an EPUB or PDF file, a cover image and prices. You don't need an ISBN, because Google assigns a free GGKEY identifier. The step that catches authors out is pricing, since Google can sell your book below your list price.

The steps below go in the order you will meet them in Partner Center. You can also keep the Google Play Books publishing checklist open beside this guide.

What you need before you start

Have these ready before you open Partner Center. Collecting them first saves you from leaving a half-finished listing open while you go looking for a tax number or a cover file.

Item	What Google expects	Notes
Google account	Any Google account you control	Use one you plan to keep long term. Your catalog and payouts live there.
Payment and tax details	Bank account and tax information for your country	Needed before you can be paid.
Book file	EPUB (preferred) or PDF	EPUB gives readers reflowable text. See the file section below.
Cover image	JPEG, PNG or TIFF, 1:1.6 ratio recommended (1600 × 2560 px), at least 640 px on the shortest side	From Google's published guidance. Confirm in Partner Center.
Identifier	Your own ISBN, or none	With no ISBN, Google assigns a GGKEY.
Metadata	Title, subtitle, author name, description, language, subject categories, publication date	Write the description in advance.
Prices	A list price for each currency or territory you want to sell in	Read the discounting section before you set these.

If the manuscript itself isn't finished, start with how to self-publish a book. This guide assumes you have a final, edited file.

Step 1: Create a Partner Center account

Partner Center is Google's dashboard for publishers and self-published authors. You manage your catalog, prices, sales reports and payments there.

1.1 Sign in and accept the terms

Go to Partner Center and sign in with your Google account. You will be asked to accept Google's publisher terms. Read the parts on pricing and payment closely. They explain how Google sets consumer prices and how your share is calculated.

1.2 Enter your publisher details

Partner Center asks for an account or publisher name. If you publish under your own name, use that. If you have an imprint, you can use the imprint name. Readers may see this name on your book's store page, so pick one you are happy to keep.

1.3 Set up payments and tax

Add your payment profile, bank details and tax information. The exact forms depend on your country. Google won't pay out until this section is complete. A book can be live while your payment setup is unfinished, so the sales would just wait in your account until you fix it.

Step 2: Choose between an ISBN and a GGKEY

A GGKEY is Google's own identifier. Partner Center gives one to any book you add without an ISBN. It costs nothing and is enough to sell on Google Play Books.

A GGKEY has limits:

• It only works on Google Play. Other stores and libraries won't recognise it.
• Industry databases don't use it the way they use ISBNs.
• If you later add an ISBN to the same edition, you may end up with a separate listing. Decide before you publish if you can.

Use your own ISBN if you sell the same ebook in several stores and want one identifier everywhere, or if your country gives out ISBNs free or cheaply. Use the GGKEY if Google is the only place this edition will appear, or if you would rather not buy ISBNs yet. For a fuller comparison, read do I need an ISBN?.

When you add the book in Step 3, Partner Center asks which route you are taking. Choose "no ISBN" (or similar wording) to get a GGKEY, or type your ISBN-13.

Step 3: Add a book in Partner Center

3.1 Start a new book

In the Book catalog section, choose the option to add a book. Pick the identifier type from Step 2. Partner Center then creates an entry with several sections to fill in: book details, content and prices.

3.2 Fill in the book details

This is your metadata, and it controls how readers find the book on Google Play.

• Title and subtitle. Match the title page of your file exactly. Mismatches are a common reason for review problems.
• Contributors. Add yourself as author. Add any editor, translator or illustrator in the right role.
• Description. Plain, readable copy that tells readers what the book is and who it's for. A description written for Amazon usually works here too. See how to write a book description.
• Language. The language of the book's text.
• Subjects. Google uses BISAC subject codes. Pick the most specific ones that honestly fit.
• Publication date. The date the book first came out in this edition.
• Series. Fill this in if the book belongs to a series, so the volumes link together.

3.3 Choose territories

Partner Center asks where the book can be sold. If you hold worldwide rights, you can usually select all territories. If you only hold rights in some countries, select only those.

Step 4: Prepare the files Google Play Books accepts

Google accepts EPUB and PDF for book content, plus a separate cover image.

4.1 The book file: EPUB or PDF

EPUB is the better choice for most books. An EPUB is reflowable. Text adjusts to the reader's screen and font size, which suits phones and small tablets where most ebook reading happens.

PDF keeps your exact page layout. It can suit heavily designed books, but readers have to zoom and scroll on small screens. If you upload both, Google can use the EPUB for flowing text and the PDF for original page images. Check Partner Center for how it currently treats each format.

Before you upload an EPUB:

• Run it through an EPUB validator. Validation errors are the most common reason a file is rejected.
• Open it in an ebook reader on your phone. Check the table of contents links, chapter breaks and any special characters.
• Check that front matter (title page, copyright page) matches the metadata you entered.

If you write in Inkora, the book exports as an EPUB 3 file. You can still validate and preview it on a phone before uploading.

4.2 The cover image

According to Google's published guidance, the cover should be JPEG, PNG or TIFF, at least 640 px on its shortest side, with a 1:1.6 ratio recommended. A 1600 × 2560 px image fits that ratio, and it's the same size Amazon recommends for Kindle covers, so one file can serve both stores.

Things to check:

• The title is readable at thumbnail size.
• The image is RGB, not CMYK. A print cover file usually won't display correctly.
• The front cover only. Don't upload a full-wrap print cover with spine and back.

The book cover size calculator helps if you also need print dimensions for a paperback. Inkora's cover designer exports a 1600 × 2560 JPG, which matches Google's recommended ratio.

4.3 Upload the files

Open the Content section of your book entry and upload the EPUB (or PDF) and the cover. Partner Center processes the files and flags errors. Fix any reported problems before you move on. A book with content errors won't go live.

If you ever use bulk upload instead of the single-book screens, Google uses a file-naming pattern based on the book's identifier. Check the current convention in Partner Center help before you rely on it.

4.4 Preview and protection settings

You may see settings for how much of the book readers can preview for free, and whether to apply DRM. A preview helps readers decide to buy. Many authors allow a reasonable sample. The DRM choice is yours. It's worth deciding once and keeping the same setting across your catalog.

Step 5: Understand Google Play Books discounting and set your price

This is where Google Play differs most from other stores, so read your terms carefully.

5.1 Google can set a lower consumer price

Under Google's publisher terms, the price you enter is your list price, but Google can choose to sell the book to readers for less. You may see your book on sale on Google Play without having set up a promotion. Your royalty is often described as a share of your list price rather than the discounted price. Read the payment terms in your Partner Center agreement to confirm how your earnings are currently calculated.

5.2 Why this matters if you also sell on Amazon

Amazon KDP can match lower prices it finds in other stores. If Google discounts your ebook, Amazon may lower your Kindle price to match. That can change your Amazon royalty, especially if the new price drops below the range KDP's published terms set for its higher royalty rate. Check KDP's current pricing terms in your KDP dashboard.

Some authors set a slightly higher list price on Google to leave room for discounts. Others accept that Google may discount and watch for price matching. Neither approach is guaranteed. Check your live prices on each store after publishing and again from time to time.

5.3 Setting prices in Partner Center

• Enter a list price in your main currency. Partner Center can convert it to other currencies, or you can set prices per currency by hand.
• Use rounded local prices where it looks natural to readers in that market.
• Google's published terms describe a royalty of usually 70% of list price. Treat that as an estimate and confirm the current rate in Partner Center.

If you sell in several stores, what is going wide explains how to keep prices consistent across them.

Step 6: Publish and check the live listing

6.1 Submit the book

Once details, content and prices are complete, publish the book from its entry in the catalog. Partner Center shows the book's status. Google reviews and processes it before it appears on Google Play, and timing varies.

6.2 Check the live store page

When the book is live, search for it on Google Play and check:

• Title, subtitle and author name are spelled correctly.
• The cover displays sharply.
• The sample opens and starts where you expect.
• The price looks right in your own country.

6.3 Keep records

Note your GGKEY or ISBN, the date you published, and the prices you set. You will need these when you update the book or check sales reports.

Common problems and fixes

The file was rejected or shows content errors. Run the EPUB through a validator and fix every error, not just the first. Broken internal links, missing table of contents entries and unsupported fonts are frequent causes. Re-upload the corrected file in the Content section.

The cover looks blurry or the wrong shape. Re-export at 1600 × 2560 px in RGB and upload again. If you uploaded a print cover with spine and back, replace it with the front cover only.

The book is live but at a lower price than you set. This is usually Google's discounting, not a mistake on your side. Check your payment terms to see how it affects your earnings. If Amazon has price-matched, decide whether to adjust your Google list price or leave things as they are.

You published with a GGKEY and now want an ISBN. An ISBN can't simply be swapped onto an existing GGKEY listing in every case. You may need to publish the ISBN edition as a new book and take the old one off sale. Check Partner Center help before you do this, since reviews may not carry over.

Payments aren't arriving. Open the payments section and check that bank and tax details are complete and verified. Earnings are held until setup is finished.

The title or author name differs between file and listing. Correct whichever is wrong so both match exactly, then resubmit.

You need to update the text after publishing. Upload a corrected file to the same book entry. Keep the same identifier for minor fixes so readers and reviews stay attached to one listing.

Publishing on Google Play Books comes down to a working Partner Center account, a clean EPUB, a properly sized cover and prices you've set with discounting in mind. Do the payment setup first, choose GGKEY or ISBN before you add the book, and check your live price on every store once it's out. If you'd like a checklist that walks through these same steps, Inkora's Publishing Hub includes one for Google Play Books. You still upload the book in your own account.