The very first thing to consider is that when you have something printed, you need to start with the printer's specifications and rules and work backwards from there. Doing a bunch of design and layout to an arbitrary format and then trying to get a printer to take the job is the wrong way around.
Fortunately, KDP does do 8.5x8.5, so you're good there. You then have to decide if you want to print it in softcover or hardcover — KDP only does that size in softcover, so that's pretty much a set choice.
Fundamentally, the interior pages are one file and layout, set up page by page. The cover is two pages — the front and the back, plus any width for the spine — laid out as one spread or sheet. You can only print on the outside of KDP covers. (Commercial printing and some other on-demand printers allow printing on the two inside covers, but KDP only does outside.)
So in the end, you will have a file with your interior pages, 1-32 or however many, preferably in multiples of 4 — although actually, one less than that is ideal as it leaves a last inside blank page for KDP's bar code etc. If you submit anything over a multiple of four, the print process has to pad that to an even multiple that leaves that last blank page.
You will also have a separate file containing an approximately 8.5x17 layout for the cover. It will need bleeds around the edges and allowance for any spine thickness, although 32 pages/16 leaves is pretty slim.
If any of that doesn't make sense, ask away. But the best place to start with the details is on KDP's own pages about trim sizes, templates, spine thickness calculation etc. — so you might want to look up and review those before lining up your ID and layout questions.
And if you're thinking about a Kindle edition as well, there are some things you should do from the start to make the conversion easier.
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