DOCSLIB.ORG

How to Self-Publish Your Content for Amazon's Kindle WORKBOOK

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How to Self-Publish Your Content for Amazon's Kindle WORKBOOK The Quick Start Guide to Publishing Your Book For Kindle Presented by Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers CBIClubhouse.com Table of Contents Step One: Making Sure You're Ready...........................................................................4 Step Two: Preparing to Publish......................................................................................9 Step Three: Formatting Your Book..............................................................................11 Step Four: Uploading Your Book!...............................................................................14 Step Five: After The Upload........................................................................................19 Copyright © Children's Book Insider, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author. DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented in this report represents the views of the publisher as of the date of publication. The publisher reserves the rights to alter and update their opinions based on new conditions. This report is for informational purposes only. The author and the publisher do not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities resulting from the use of this information. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided here, the author and the publisher cannot assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any similarities with people or facts are unintentional. How to Self-Publish Your Book for Amazon's Kindle The Amazon Kindle system is set up to help you succeed. There's no great "secret" to doing so, other than making sure your content is up to scratch and that you have something of value to say -- the basic criteria for any hard-cover book being published. The difference with Amazon Kindle is: • You currently don't have to worry about your book being accepted. All you have to do is upload it. • You're selling it in one of the most widely-accepted, popular and respected marketplaces in the world Individual authors need to use Kindle Direct Publishing. This workbook will shortcut you to knowing exactly how to optimize and prepare your book for upload. You've got your book written: Here's the next step of the process... Step One: Making Sure You're Ready Planning your Kindle sales funnel is a key strategy that many people miss. You shouldn't think about just one book: Think about... • Which small niche you want to "own" • Who you want to target • Why you want to target them • How you're going to do this Many a person has rushed to publish content on Kindle without first checking that they've covered all the bases. For example, are you aware that Kindle Readers aren't the only way to access Amazon Kindle eBooks? Not only can you read them on a variety of Kindle readers sure to suit different needs for different people, but readers can also download Kindle Apps for all the top types of SmartPhones, so they don't even need to purchase a Kindle reader. Don't have a Smartphone or a Kindle Reader? No problem. Readers can download and read Kindle eBooks right on their web browsers with the Kindle Cloud Reader! This means you are selling in three different arenas. Be aware of them all -- especially when formatting your covers and body text. (Your cover quality will need to be good enough to be seen in large format in a web browser... and clear enough to be seen on the smallest Smartphone or Kindle reader.) Setting Up Your Sales Funnel – Writing a single book and selling it on Kindle is a perfectly fine way to get started, but the best way to succeed on Kindle is exactly the best way to succeed on a blog: Create a series around a central theme -- a very narrow topic -- and make each book in your series cover one single aspect of that theme. Think of your "theme" as a prime keyword -- one that identifies your niche. For example, Manga. Kindle Store>Kindle eBooks>Comics and Graphic Novels>Manga. (When you're starting out, you want to focus on the narrowest category at the "end" of the chain: Not on the broader categories such as "Comics and Graphic Novels".) Pick any novel in the "Manga" category and as you scroll down its page, you'll see all sorts of useful data, such as "Look for similar items by category", Tags customers searched by, "Similar Items by category", "Active discussions in related forums"... All these are a veritable gold-mine to help you decide: 1. What you can create a series around 2. Whether or not it's viable (Even customer reviews can give you big clues as to what people want to see in a book of this type. For example, if the author is criticized, see what the reviewer thought was missing -- and make sure you supply it. If readers consistently enjoy one facet of the book, consider building a whole book in your series around that facet.) And the best part about creating a series? Your book page will display your other books under the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" recommendations -- that's like a call to action, directing people straight to your other books! "Can I Upload All My Books in a Series At Once?" -- Yes, you can. You can also upload them one at a time -- there are advantages to both approaches. If you upload them one at a time, however, do your best to make sure they follow each other swiftly, so you can make the most of your books belonging to a series (and create anticipation in your readers who will only look for a short time for your next book in the series.) Series also provide a feeling of social proof and solidity. When they see a series, people subconsciously think things like: "It's a series... hmm, that author must be an expert" or "Wow, this must be a popular subject." Pricing Your Book -- Sharing it immediately via the free Kindle library and/or KDP Select will quickly net you rankings and reviews, which is what you urgently need. (In fact, you may even very quickly become a "best seller" in your category!) Here's a quick screenshot from a writer's forum to demonstrate what you can expect if you choose this option: This instantly gives you "credentials" to put on your description. And your book isn't kept in the library forever -- currently, you are agreeing only to a 90-day term -- just enough time to build some credentials. Don't get too excited about climbing to instant "best seller" ranking in the KDP Select library, however: It's artificial and in no way reflects actual real sales -- but it's enough to make you look pretty darn good to the average human reader checking out your book description! (Note that for readers to actually access KDP Select they do have to be a member of Amazon Prime -- so this means your books still need to be paid for by "regular" Amazon members. Plus you get to promote your book for free, using exclusive KDP Select tools!) But you want to make money, of course! So what price do you set for paying customers who don't belong to Amazon Prime? It depends on your celebrity status and previous publishing power. If you're Star Wars resident princess, Carrie Fisher, you can charge over $15.00 per book: If you're just starting out, you want to price for "impulse buyers" -- the ones that add inexpensive books to the main one they're purchasing at the very last minute. The books picked up most often as impulse buys generally price between $0.99 and $2.99. Don't raise your prices until you have at least three books in the same sub-niche under your belt and/or you're raking in strong reviews. Targeting Your Buyer -- Make sure you thoroughly understand who is buying books in your sub-niche before you spend time creating them. Use your marketing skills to research who is buying books in your niche. This includes checking demographic details using resources such as: • Alexa • Quantcast • Google's brand new Keyword Toolbox Always keep your ideal buyer in mind, when creating Titles, Descriptions, Covers -- and Content! Use words calculated to catch her attention. For example, if your target customer is a web designer, age 25-35, female, inspiration is a definite issue -- one can get pretty stale after designing the same sort of sites for several years and "inspiration" is definitely something females are tuned into more generally than male designers. So you might call your book something like: "Web Design Inspiration: How to Make Your Clients' Dreams Come True -- Time and Again!" On the other hand, if your target web designing customer is a single male, 25-35, living the hard, fast lifestyle, you might have better success with a title like: "Web Design Inspiration: How to Wow Clients When You're All Partied Out." Sticking to a single theme and ferociously targeting one particular type of customer in one highly specific sub-niche -- keeping his or her preferences in mind at every stage of your Kindle creation journey -- is your best strategy, when starting out. Step Two: Preparing to Publish Things to Have Ready • Your book Title -- Should tell the reader instantly what they can expect (200 Character maximum) • Your edition number -- If your subject is not evergreen you will definitely want to have an edition number, since you'll most likely be updating it. (TIP: Evergreen subjects are best!) • Your Description - To write a powerful description: Keep it short. Start with credentials such as the number of copies sold or your Kindle ranking.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Book Self-Publishing Best Practices
    Montana Tech Library Digital Commons @ Montana Tech Graduate Theses & Non-Theses Student Scholarship Fall 2019 Book Self-Publishing Best Practices Erica Jansma Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/grad_rsch Part of the Communication Commons Book Self-Publishing Best Practices by Erica Jansma A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.S. Technical Communication Montana Tech 2019 ii Abstract I have taken a manuscript through the book publishing process to produce a camera-ready print book and e-book. This includes copyediting, designing layout templates, laying out the document in InDesign, and producing an index. My research is focused on the best practices and standards for publishing. Lessons learned from my research and experience include layout best practices, particularly linespacing and alignment guidelines, as well as the limitations and capabilities of InDesign, particularly its endnote functionality. Based on the results of this project, I can recommend self-publishers to understand the software and distribution platforms prior to publishing a book to ensure the required specifications are met to avoid complications later in the process. This document provides details on many of the software, distribution, and design options available for self-publishers to consider. Keywords: self-publishing, publishing, books, ebooks, book design, layout iii Dedication I dedicate this project to both of my grandmothers. I grew up watching you work hard, sacrifice, trust, and love with everything you have; it was beautiful; you are beautiful; and I hope I can model your example with a fraction of your grace and fruitfulness. Thank you for loving me so well.
    [Show full text]
  • Reader for Palm OS
    Mobipocket Reader Electronic Publishers www.franklin.com User’s Guide Contents License Agreement ...............................................................................2 Introduction ...........................................................................................3 Opening and Closing Documents .......................................................5 Understanding the Library ...................................................................7 Viewing a Document ...........................................................................11 Using the Menus .................................................................................13 Changing the Settings ........................................................................15 Moving around within a Document ...................................................17 Finding a Definition .............................................................................18 Searching a Document .......................................................................19 Using an Index .....................................................................................20 Using Bookmarks ................................................................................21 Navigating Large Tables or Images ...................................................23 Getting Help .........................................................................................25 Using the Mobipocket Web Companion ...........................................26 Notes ....................................................................................................29
    [Show full text]
  • New Technologies Can Often Disrupt the Balance Between Public and Private Interests in Copyright Law
    UNLOCKING THE GATES OF ALEXANDRIA: DRM, COMPETITION AND ACCESS TO E- BOOKS 1 ANA CAROLINA BITTAR New technologies can often disrupt the balance between public and private interests in copyright law. For example, the Internet has facilitated the dissemination of artistic works by allowing users to mass distribute files within seconds. In response, the entertainment industry has turned to digital rights management (DRM) as one way of combating piracy. DRM is a technique that allows copyright owners to enforce their rights by controlling what users can do with their digital files, such as by restricting the platform on which the file can be accessed. In addition, the DRM scheme is protected by anti-circumvention laws, which prevent users from "breaking" the DRM. Although the main goal of DRMs is to prevent piracy, this technique can adversely impact other interests, such as privacy and fair use. This result is apparent in the e-book market, where it affects competition. More specifically, since each bookseller uses a different proprietary DRM scheme on their e- books, compatible with a limited number of reading platforms, consumers face problems with interoperability. For example, a Kindle owner cannot buy books from Barnes & Noble, and a Nook owner cannot buy books from Apple. This lack of interoperability can increase barriers to entry, switching costs, and network effects. Consequently, consumers are often locked into an e-book ecosystem, which permits booksellers to act as gatekeepers of the e-book market. Moreover, this situation can undermine the potential of e-books to spread knowledge, promote literacy, and extend the reach of literature.
    [Show full text]
  • ARCHNES MASTER of SCIENCE in MANAGEMENT STUDIES at the Aachi-Iosnstfiill MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE of TECHNOLOGY
    Exploring Online Retailing Strategies: Case Studies of Leading Firms in the U.S. and China By Jian Chen B.S. Applied Chemistry Wuhan University, 2006 SUBMITTED TO THE MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF ARCHNES MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES AT THE AAcHI-IOSNSTfiill MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2012 @ 2012 Jian Chen. All Rights Reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author: MIT Sloan School of Management May 11, 2012 Certified By: U Michael A. Cusumano SMR Distinguished Professor of Management Thesis Supervisor Accepted By: Michael A. Cusumano I ISMR Distinguished Professor of Management Faculty Director, M.S. in Management Studies Program MIT Sloan School of Management 1 [Page intentionally left blank] 2 Exploring Online Retailing Strategies: case studies of US and China leading Online Retailers By Jian Chen Submitted to the MIT Sloan School of Management on May 11, 2012 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Management Studies ABSTRACT Online retailing has been a significant part of people's daily life. Research shows that 85% of internet users have purchased online. In China, with the increased penetration rate of internet and adoption of online payment, the online retailing is accounting for a larger percentage of overall retailing volume year by year. However, the lower barrier to entry of online retailing compared to traditional retailing makes the competition more intense than ever.
    [Show full text]
  • To Kindle in Ten Steps
    Build Your Own eBooks For Free! A Step-by-Step Guide to Formatting and Converting Your Manuscript into ePub and Kindle Books Using Free Software M. A. Demers Published by Egghead Books, Canada www.mademers.com Copyright © 2017 Michelle A. Demers INSI 0000 0003 5669 426X Published by Egghead Books, 2017 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Cover design by Michelle A. Demers. Background design based on an image by Gerd Altmann. Many thanks. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Demers, M. A., 1964-, author Build your own eBooks for free! : a step-by-step guide to formatting and converting your manuscript into ePub and Kindle books using free software / M.A. Demers. Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-0-9916776-7-2 (softcover).--ISBN 978-0-9916776-8-9 (EPUB).-- ISBN 978-0-9916776-9-6 (Kindle) 1. Electronic publishing--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Self-publishing-- Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Kindle (Electronic book reader). 4. Electronic books. 5. File conversion (Computer science)--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. Z286.E43.D446 2017 070.50285’416 C2017-901669-5 C2017-901670-9 Contents Is This Book For You? 1 What You Will Need 3 eBook Development 6 Characteristics of eBooks 7 Reflowable eBooks 7 Fixed Layout eBooks
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 NFB Convention Orlando, Florida Exhibitors Product/Service Description
    2018 NFB Convention Orlando, Florida Exhibitors Product/Service Description Listed alphabetically below are the companies and organizations participating as exhibitors at the 2018 National Federation of the Blind Convention. For each exhibitor we have listed the company or organization name, table number, product and/or service exhibited, and website, if provided to us by the vendor. 3DPhotoWorks Location: A19 Website: http://www.3dphotoworks.com A T Guys: Your Access Technology Experts Location: A23 Product or Service: Affordable technology for your busy lifestyle. Keyboards, speakers, headsets, and more for iPhone and Android. Micro- Speak Digital Voice Recorder, Aftershokz bone conduction headsets, and much more. Website: https://www.atguys.com Aira Tech Corp Location: B1 & B2 Website: https://aira.io/ Amazon Location: A7 & A8 Product or Service: Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1- Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews. Website: http://www.amazon.com Page 1 American Printing House for the Blind Location: A27-A29 Product or Service: APH is the world’s largest company devoted to making products for people who are blind and visually impaired, and is the official supplier of educational materials for blind students in the U.S. working at less than college level. Visit our shopping site at shop.aph.org, or call 800- 223-1839 for more information.
    [Show full text]
  • Self-Publishing With
    Self-publishing with kdp.amazon.com Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Kindle Direct e-book publishing 3. KDP steps for print books 4. Additional notes on Kindle Direct Publishing 5. Library resources Welcome to self-publishing This slideshow will: • Introduce the concept of self-publishing • Go over the steps for self-publishing an ebook with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) • Provide a brief overview of print publishing with KDP • Discuss issues surrounding self-publishing Reasons to go with self-publishing? • You have a specialized book that might not resonate with mainstream publishers • Just want something for friends and family • Increasingly, people selling online (especially ebooks) don’t see the value of a publisher like they used to; this is a chance to cut out the middleman Worth the investment? • ebook creation has practically no upfront monetary cost (assuming you have access to a computer and necessary software) • Print-on-demand became prevalent in the 1990s, allowing people to self-publish without having to commit to a minimum order • Relatively low cost if you learn the process to self- publish with a service like KDP – about $4 (plus shipping) cost to you for a print book around a hundred pages Worth the investment? • Your time writing the book (a lot!) • Time it takes to format the book (depends on your familiarity with Word or other publishing software) • Will you hire an editor? Maybe you can trust your friends/family for helpful feedback What are your goals? • Personal satisfaction • Gifts for friends/family (document
    [Show full text]
  • Liberty Mutual Exhibit 1015
    TIMELINE 2012 July Introduces GameCircle Introduces Game Connect Opens Portal for International Mobile App Distribution June Amazon Publishing Acquires Avalon Books May Amazon Studios to Develop Original Comedy and Children’s Series for Amazon Instant Video April Announces First Quarter Sales up 34% to $13.18 Billion Introduces AmazonSupply Amazon Web Services Introduces AWS Marketplace Introduces eBooks Kindle en Español March Acquires Kiva Systems, Inc. February Launches Sports Collectibles Store January Announces Fourth Quarter Sales up 35% to $17.43 Billion Amazon Web Services Launches Amazon DynamoDB 2011 December Amazon Web Services Launches Brazil Datacenters for Its Cloud Computing Platform Introduces KDP Select Amazon Publishing to Acquire Marshall Cavendish US Children’s Books Titles Page 000001 November Introduces The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library October Announces Third Quarter Sales up 44% to $10.88 Billion September Introduces Amazon Silk Introduces Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G Kindle Books Available at Thousands of Local Libraries August Amazon Web Services Announces Global Rollout of Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) Introduces Kindle Cloud Reader July Announces Second Quarter Sales up 51% to $9.91 Billion Endless.com Announces International Shipping to over 50 Countries Worldwide AT&T to Sponsor Kindle 3G June Launches AmazonLocal John Locke Becomes First Independently Published Author to Join the "Kindle Million Club" May Announces MYHABIT.COM Amazon.com Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Print
    [Show full text]
  • 2016-Annual-Report.Pdf
    “Jeff, what does Day 2 look like?” That’s a question I just got at our most recent all-hands meeting. I’ve been reminding people that it’s Day 1 for a couple of decades. I work in an Amazon building named Day 1, and when I moved buildings, I took the name with me. I spend time thinking about this topic. “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.” To be sure, this kind of decline would happen in extreme slow motion. An established company might harvest Day 2 for decades, but the final result would still come. I’m interested in the question, how do you fend off Day 2? What are the techniques and tactics? How do you keep the vitality of Day 1, even inside a large organization? Such a question can’t have a simple answer. There will be many elements, multiple paths, and many traps. I don’t know the whole answer, but I may know bits of it. Here’s a starter pack of essentials for Day 1 defense: customer obsession, a skeptical view of proxies, the eager adoption of external trends, and high-velocity decision making. True Customer Obsession There are many ways to center a business. You can be competitor focused, you can be product focused, you can be technology focused, you can be business model focused, and there are more. But in my view, obsessive customer focus is by far the most protective of Day 1 vitality.
    [Show full text]
  • Kindle User's Guide
    2 Kindle User’s Guide Contents Contents Chapter 1 Getting Started ......................................................................................................................... 5 Setting up your Kindle ............................................................................................................................... 5 Kindle controls ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Status indicators .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Wireless status indicators ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Battery status indicator ................................................................................................................................................. 7 VoiceView indicators ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Activity indicator............................................................................................................................................................... 8 Parental Controls indicator .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Keyboard .......................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Drawn & Quarterly Debuts on Comixology and Amazon's Kindle
    Drawn & Quarterly debuts on comiXology and Amazon’s Kindle Store September 15th, 2015 — New York, NY— Drawn & Quarterly, comiXology and Amazon announced today a distribution agreement to sell Drawn & Quarterly’s digital comics and graphic novels across the comiXology platform as well as Amazon’s Kindle Store. Today’s debut sees such internationally renowned and bestselling Drawn & Quarterly titles as Lynda Barry’s One! Hundred! Demons; Guy Delisle’s Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City; Rutu Modan’s Exit Wounds and Anders Nilsen’s Big Questions available on both comiXology and the Kindle Store “It is fitting that on our 25th anniversary, D+Q moves forward with our list digitally with comiXology and the Kindle Store,” said Drawn & Quarterly Publisher Peggy Burns, “ComiXology won us over with their understanding of not just the comics industry, but the medium itself. Their team understands just how carefully we consider the life of our books. They made us feel perfectly at ease and we look forward to a long relationship.” “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than having Drawn & Quarterly’s stellar catalog finally available digitally on both comiXology and Kindle,” said David Steinberger, comiXology’s co-founder and CEO. “D&Q celebrate their 25th birthday this year, but comiXology and Kindle fans are getting the gift by being able to read these amazing books on their devices.” Today’s digital debut of Drawn & Quarterly on comiXology and the Kindle Store sees all the following titles available: Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story by
    [Show full text]
  • 1 of 24 the Hon. William J. Baer Assistant Attorney General for The
    [Date tk] The Hon. William J. Baer Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20530 Dear Assistant Attorney General Baer: We believe that Amazon has gathered unprecedented market power over the world of books, which many experts have asserted make it both a monopoly in its role as a seller of books1 to the public and a monopsony in its role as a buyer of books2 from publishers. We believe Amazon has been misusing that power in many ways, and we seek the benefit of your office to address this situation. On its current course, Amazon threatens to derail the benefits of a revolution in the way books are created and sold in America. This shift was brought about by two broad innovations. The first is the e-book, the most dramatic new technology in publishing since the invention of the printing press. Because of the low cost of producing and distributing an e-book, many more authors now have the opportunity to self-publish, and millions of people can read books in formats that better fit their pocketbooks and preferences. The second advance is the e-commerce technology that makes possible on-line bookstores. This techonology has connected readers with a vast selection of physical books, including rare, obscure, and out-of-print volumes. E-commerce has also made it far easier for small publishers to reach customers around the world. Not only do these technological advances benefit our readers, they have revolutionized the way most of us research, write, edit, and publish our own books.
    [Show full text]