Beer and Pancake season is upon us and sadly I won’t be attending. But in the spirit of sharing and presentations I thought I would contribute some knowledge that I’ve recently gathered to the forum.
I’m sure many of you are aware that publishing books on Kindle has become pretty popular lately. It may seem like damn near everyone is a published author these days. Amazon makes it extremely easy to become one! Hell..I can even call myself a “Best Selling Authorâ€. Cool..right?
I wouldn’t say that this is the best way to financial freedom but if you’re not working on anything else it may be an avenue to generate a few dollars outside of employment.
Why did I decide to publish:
I clicked on a thread where a member had recently released a book and was looking for opinions on his book cover. I read an excerpt on his website and found it hilarious. At that point I thought to myself..â€
You know what? I should publish a f’ing book!†– a Great reason to do so.
:smilielol:
How to get started:
Write a book! It doesn’t necessarily have to be long. My first one wasn’t. It’s a grand total of 26 pages. You can spend a couple of days writing a short book or spend a year writing a masterpiece. There’s no right or wrong here. I’m sure you don’t want to put your name on a piece of turd so I wouldn’t pump out trash though. Amazon starting deleting books people were putting up with PLR articles so definitely don't do that. Write or purchase original content.
Visit http://kdp.amazon.com to sign up for an account
Format you book for Kindle – You can follow this guide on Amazon https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A17W8UM0MMSQX6 or you can find someone on www.fiverr.com to do it for cheap. My first book cost me “1 gig†or $5 to get formatted. If you want to save time that may be the option you prefer as well.
Design a cover: I went to Fiverr for this as well. Search “kindle cover†select “rating†and you can find plenty of people willing to design a cover for you for $5.
Publishing your book: Once you have your book written and formatted getting it up on Amazon is very simple. Here’s the “how to†on Amazon https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A37Z49E2DDQPP3
Once you upload your book, cover, insert keywords, etc you will then have to decide if you want to enroll in KDP select or not.
KDP Select: This has some benefits but a few drawbacks as well. With KDP select you choose Amazon for the sole distribution point of your book for 90 days. It may sound awful but Amazon has an absolutely massive customer base so using KDP select to promote your book and tap into this makes up for it..IMO. With KDP Select you can give your book out for free for 5 days during a 90 day period. This helps build some traction via word of mouth and you will begin to show up in searches.
KDP Select also allows people to “borrow†your book and you get a percentage of the “Kindle Owners Lending Library†pool of funds. Generally $2.xx per borrow but this may increase over time. I’m not an expert here.
I’m not going to steer you one way or another but without a name, email list, high traffic website, etc..KDP Select will help you get your book out there.
Pricing: Amazon gives you 2 royalty percentage rates to choose from. 70% and 35%. If you select 70% royalties your book must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Under or over this range and you’re stuck with 35% royalties on all sales.
If you choose the 70% royalties you also get hit with a small delivery charge by Amazon. If your book is large the delivery charge will be higher.
The pricing of your book may vary depending on where the customer is based. You are allowed to set pricing on amazon.com / .co.uk / .de / .fr / .es / .it / .co.jp / .ca /and .com.br individually but Amazon will increase the price of your book in certain countries. I.E book is priced at $2.99 but Amazon sells your book at $4.99 and sticks you with 70% or $2.99 (Because they can?)
This is something to keep in mind when pricing your book.
So there you have it. I am by no means an expert but this will give you the basics should you decide to pursue this path to becoming published (and hopefully making a few $’s) I’m not making a whole lot of money off of my books but it is nice to wake up to see that I sold a few books while I slept. :coolgleamA:
I originally posted a similar guide in the INSIDERS forum when I was asked a few questions but I thought I would share this with the rest of you who may be interested. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
I know what you're probably thinking..This guy is horrible at writing! How can he publish a book? Well..you can find someone on Fiverr to correct grammar too. :eusa_clap:
$35 and a few nights after work is what it took to get my first book published. Much cheaper than having someone code software for me
I’ll add some additional tips in the post below.
I’m sure many of you are aware that publishing books on Kindle has become pretty popular lately. It may seem like damn near everyone is a published author these days. Amazon makes it extremely easy to become one! Hell..I can even call myself a “Best Selling Authorâ€. Cool..right?
I wouldn’t say that this is the best way to financial freedom but if you’re not working on anything else it may be an avenue to generate a few dollars outside of employment.
Why did I decide to publish:
I clicked on a thread where a member had recently released a book and was looking for opinions on his book cover. I read an excerpt on his website and found it hilarious. At that point I thought to myself..â€
You know what? I should publish a f’ing book!†– a Great reason to do so.
:smilielol:
How to get started:
Write a book! It doesn’t necessarily have to be long. My first one wasn’t. It’s a grand total of 26 pages. You can spend a couple of days writing a short book or spend a year writing a masterpiece. There’s no right or wrong here. I’m sure you don’t want to put your name on a piece of turd so I wouldn’t pump out trash though. Amazon starting deleting books people were putting up with PLR articles so definitely don't do that. Write or purchase original content.
Visit http://kdp.amazon.com to sign up for an account
Format you book for Kindle – You can follow this guide on Amazon https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A17W8UM0MMSQX6 or you can find someone on www.fiverr.com to do it for cheap. My first book cost me “1 gig†or $5 to get formatted. If you want to save time that may be the option you prefer as well.
Design a cover: I went to Fiverr for this as well. Search “kindle cover†select “rating†and you can find plenty of people willing to design a cover for you for $5.
Publishing your book: Once you have your book written and formatted getting it up on Amazon is very simple. Here’s the “how to†on Amazon https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A37Z49E2DDQPP3
Once you upload your book, cover, insert keywords, etc you will then have to decide if you want to enroll in KDP select or not.
KDP Select: This has some benefits but a few drawbacks as well. With KDP select you choose Amazon for the sole distribution point of your book for 90 days. It may sound awful but Amazon has an absolutely massive customer base so using KDP select to promote your book and tap into this makes up for it..IMO. With KDP Select you can give your book out for free for 5 days during a 90 day period. This helps build some traction via word of mouth and you will begin to show up in searches.
KDP Select also allows people to “borrow†your book and you get a percentage of the “Kindle Owners Lending Library†pool of funds. Generally $2.xx per borrow but this may increase over time. I’m not an expert here.
I’m not going to steer you one way or another but without a name, email list, high traffic website, etc..KDP Select will help you get your book out there.
Pricing: Amazon gives you 2 royalty percentage rates to choose from. 70% and 35%. If you select 70% royalties your book must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Under or over this range and you’re stuck with 35% royalties on all sales.
If you choose the 70% royalties you also get hit with a small delivery charge by Amazon. If your book is large the delivery charge will be higher.
The pricing of your book may vary depending on where the customer is based. You are allowed to set pricing on amazon.com / .co.uk / .de / .fr / .es / .it / .co.jp / .ca /and .com.br individually but Amazon will increase the price of your book in certain countries. I.E book is priced at $2.99 but Amazon sells your book at $4.99 and sticks you with 70% or $2.99 (Because they can?)
This is something to keep in mind when pricing your book.
So there you have it. I am by no means an expert but this will give you the basics should you decide to pursue this path to becoming published (and hopefully making a few $’s) I’m not making a whole lot of money off of my books but it is nice to wake up to see that I sold a few books while I slept. :coolgleamA:
I originally posted a similar guide in the INSIDERS forum when I was asked a few questions but I thought I would share this with the rest of you who may be interested. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
I know what you're probably thinking..This guy is horrible at writing! How can he publish a book? Well..you can find someone on Fiverr to correct grammar too. :eusa_clap:
$35 and a few nights after work is what it took to get my first book published. Much cheaper than having someone code software for me
I’ll add some additional tips in the post below.
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