Today we will discuss how to publish a kindle book for fun and profit. The inspiration came from two differenr posts. One is “How to Successfully Self-Publish a Kndle eBook” by Jeff Goins on the michealhyatt.com web site. The other is “How to Publish Your Book on Amazon Kindle” by Business Insider. I have published a book on Amazon. It is called “160 Secrets to a Happy Marriage”
Why Publish on Amazon?
Why publish on Amazon?
Here are the reasons that Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin publish only on Amazon.
1. Amazon is the largest “paid serach engine” on the planet. Google searchers do not have their wallets out ready to buy.
2. Amazon dominates the book market. It offers over 12 million titles altogether.
3. It has a powerful review system that helps you sell more books.
4. Amazon is a “maketing machine “. After you have sold a certain number of books Amazon refers its customers to your book. Wonderful.
5. Amazon makes it fast and easy to publish. You can be published in 24-48 hours.
5 Steps to Publishing on Amazon
Step 1. Write
It is obvious you need to write your book before you can publish it. However there are 3 steps to writing a quality book.
1. Vomit Draft
Jeff Goins calls the first rough draft the “vomit’ draft. You are just trying to get it out.
2. Review Draft.
The second draft is checked over and rearranged. It is edited.
3. Editorial Draftl
The third draft is more refined . It is checked for spelling or grammar errors. Proofreading iis part of this third and possibly final draft.
Step 2 Format and Design
1. Format for Kindle
You can try formatting it yourself using Calibre. But Jeff recommends paying someone to do this for you.
2. Cover Design
If you are on a budget you can use Crowdspring or 99 Designs for designing your cover. Ask for a JPeg file with 1500 pixels on the long side. The ratio of sides should be 1.6 to 1 as recommended in Amazon’s guidelines.
3. Double Check Everything
Here is where you ask a freind who knows grammar, story structure, spelling and puncuation to proofread your work.
Step 3 Publish on Amazon
1.You go to kdp.amazon.com and sign in. You will need an Amazon account to do this.
2.Put in your tax information so you can get royalties.
3. First click “Bookshelf” and then click “Add New Title”.
4.Next fill out the form, including “book title, description and keywords you want people to search to find your book.”
5. Next upload your cover file (in JPEG format).
6. Then upload the book file.
7. Now use Amazon’s online viiewer to test your book to make sure it looks right.
8. Now click “Save and Continue” and go to the “Rights and Pricing” page.
9. Choose Worldwide Rights. You want all the rights you can get.
10. Take a 70% royalty rate and choose your price. Just let the international prices adjust based on your U. S. price. Jeff recommends you price at $2.99-9.99. These prices will help maximize your royalty rate.
11. Next click “Save and Publish”
12.You will get an email from Amazon when your book is ready. It can take 24-48 hours but often it takes much less time..
I hope this is helpful to you. I will use the last twelve steps next time I publish a Kindle eBook. Please comment below. I would appreciate it if you spread the word on social media. Thanks.