EPUB Metadata Requirements by Platform: What KDP, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, and Barnes & Noble Actually Need
What metadata does each ebook platform actually require? A field-by-field breakdown of Amazon KDP, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Barnes & Noble Press requirements for fixed-layout EPUBs.
By Magnus | Published 2026-08-25 | Category: Guide
If you've heard that Apple Books and Kindle "can't share metadata" or that you need a separate file per retailer, that's mostly a myth — at least for a well-built fixed-layout EPUB. The five major platforms validate against the same underlying EPUB 3 specification and the same Dublin Core metadata fields. What differs between them is minor: which navigation formats they accept, one Apple-specific rendering flag, and how strict each platform's automated validator is about warnings versus hard errors.
The Baseline Every Platform Requires
Regardless of which retailer you're targeting, every EPUB needs these six metadata fields set correctly in the OPF package document: dc:title, dc:creator, dc:identifier (an ISBN or a generated UUID), dc:language, dc:date, and dc:publisher. Every retailer's ingestion pipeline also expects a structurally valid EPUB: a correct OPF package document, a working navigation document, and content documents that pass EPUB validation. A file that's missing a required field or fails structural validation will be rejected everywhere — this isn't a retailer-specific problem, it's a "the file isn't valid" problem. Fixed-layout books also need rendition:layout="pre-paginated" declared in the OPF, plus consistent page dimensions across the book, applied automatically by any converter built for fixed-layout output.
Requirements by Platform
Amazon KDP
For fixed-layout books, KDP requires rendition:layout="pre-paginated" declared in the OPF, along with an EPUB 3 navigation document. Older Kindle devices and apps still rely on the legacy NCX format for navigation, so including both a modern nav document and an NCX gives the broadest device compatibility.
Apple Books
Apple Books is the one retailer with a genuine, non-cosmetic platform-specific metadata flag: ibooks:specified-fonts. When your EPUB embeds custom fonts and this flag is set, Apple's reader is told to actually use those embedded fonts rather than silently substituting a system font. Without the flag, Apple Books may ignore embedded fonts even though they're present in the file.
Kobo Writing Life
Kobo accepts EPUB 2.0.1 and EPUB 3.3 and validates primarily against general EPUB structure and completeness — there's no confirmed Kobo-specific OPF flag beyond having a valid, complete EPUB 3 file with the baseline metadata already in place.
Google Play Books
Google Play Books' Partner Center has moved to requiring EPUB 3; older guidance referencing EPUB 2-era conventions has been superseded by EPUB 3's native landmarks navigation, which any current EPUB 3 nav document already provides. No confirmed retailer-specific OPF flag exists beyond a valid EPUB 3 file with complete metadata.
Barnes & Noble Press
Barnes & Noble Press requires the same Dublin Core field set as the shared baseline — title, creator, identifier, language, date, and publisher — with no additional retailer-specific flag confirmed beyond that.
How MJ Convert Systems Handles This
Every EPUB MJ Convert Systems produces already carries the full Dublin Core baseline, a valid EPUB 3 navigation document, and the correct fixed-layout declarations — automatically, with no per-retailer configuration required. When you select target retailers during upload, the one thing that actually changes is the Apple ibooks:specified-fonts flag, set automatically whenever Apple Books is among your selected retailers. Your retailer selection also filters the "Ready to publish?" checklist on the validation page to the platforms you're actually planning to use.
Learn why KDP rejects ebooks and how to fix it, or read about meeting EAA 2026 accessibility standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does my EPUB need to be a different file for each retailer?
- No. One valid, fixed-layout EPUB 3 file with complete metadata satisfies the baseline requirements of Amazon KDP, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Barnes & Noble Press. There is no retailer that requires a structurally different file for a standard designed book — the requirements are almost entirely the same six or seven metadata fields checked slightly differently by each platform's validator.
- What does Apple Books require that other platforms don't?
- Apple Books is the one platform with a genuine platform-specific flag: the ibooks:specified-fonts meta property in the EPUB's OPF package file. When it's present and your fonts are embedded, Apple's reader uses your embedded fonts instead of silently falling back to a system font. It has no effect on Kindle, Kobo, Google Play Books, or Barnes & Noble Press readers.
- Does Amazon KDP require fixed-layout-specific metadata?
- Yes — a fixed-layout EPUB must declare rendition:layout="pre-paginated" in its OPF, plus a valid navigation document (EPUB 3 nav, and for the broadest device compatibility, a legacy NCX alongside it). These are structural requirements, not creative choices, and they're applied automatically by any correctly built fixed-layout EPUB.
- What metadata is mandatory on every platform?
- The Dublin Core core set: title (dc:title), author/creator (dc:creator), a unique identifier (dc:identifier — an ISBN if you have one, otherwise a UUID), language (dc:language), a publication date (dc:date), and publisher (dc:publisher). Every retailer's ingestion pipeline checks for these; a file missing any of them will fail validation everywhere, not just on one platform.
- Do I need to select which retailers I'm publishing to before converting?
- No — the full metadata baseline is applied to every export regardless of what you select. Selecting retailers on the upload screen currently does two things: it toggles the Apple-specific ibooks:specified-fonts flag when Apple Books is included, and it filters the "Ready to publish?" checklist on your validation page to the platforms you actually plan to use.
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