Changes in the publishing world have made it possible to publish and sell your own eBook for free on Amazon’s website. Publishing industry professionals who were once the gatekeepers and kept many good books from being published are no longer a barrier to publishing.
Even a guy like me can write a how to ebook and publish it on Amazon Kindle. Anyone can now publish an eBook overnight on Amazon’s Kindle platform. There are no more legitimate excuses for writers to use.
Why Publish an eBook on Kindle
Since there are fewer authors publishing books on Kindle than in the print world, there is less competition. This factor gives Kindle authors a better chance to show up in book search results. So let’s talk about how to submit and market your eBook on Amazon Kindle.
Kindle is very user friendly and makes it simple to assign relevant keyword tags.
Getting Your Book Ready to Publish on Amazon
There is no reason to be intimidated over formatting a book for Amazon. Using Microsoft Word is a good place to start with a manuscript.
You need to save your book in DOC format. Adding italics and boldface using Word’s toolbar will translate into Kindle when you convert it onto Amazon.
You need to also use indentation and page breaks on Word when preparing the final draft that will be published. These standard publishing tools are accepted by Amazon and will make your eBook look professional. Images can also be added to an eBook using JPEG. Spellcheck and grammar tools on Word are also recommended to catch typos and other grammatical problems that the editor may have missed.
When I wrote my ebook on how to clean your bed’s mattress, the writing part was easy. It was the formatting and submitting it to Amazon that made it a bit challenging.
Certain pages that fall in the front of many books can also be added. At the very least, a title page should be added. A copyright page is usually the next page following the title page. Page breaks should be placed after each of these pages to be sure they format properly. When appropriate, a dedication page, a preface and a prologue can be added to the front of the book.
When you are finished formatting the book and like the visual look, it is time to upload the file to KDP. It is as easy as clicking save and publish to send your book to Amazon. The book will be instantly published. In about 48 to 72 hours the detail page should be completed.
Setting the Price
Prices for eBooks are much lower than prices for print books. Pricing a book correctly is critical for achieving success. Fiction eBooks written by indie authors are reported to sell best at a price point of about $2.99.
The good news about pricing is that you can test it to see how the price impacts the number of purchases.
Marketing Your Kindle eBook
Compelling sales copy is critical for selling any book. A great cover and good title are also very important for marketing success. In addition to these three key elements. identifying and using the best keywords will also dramatically impact the number of prospective customers you will attract.
It is a good idea to experiment with keywords, pricing and sales copy. Fortunately, the Kindle platform is conducive to making changes easily. Like so many aspects of marketing, using a trial and error formula to test these important variables for success is a good way to establish a winning formula that delivers desired results.
It is important to remind prospective customers that they do not have to own a Kindle to access your eBook. Making customers aware of this fact can increase sales, since many people still do not own Kindle readers yet.
Letting interested customers know that there is a free compatible reading app that can be downloaded that is compatible with a Mac, iPad, Blackberry, PC, or iPhone will definitely sell additional books. The cheaper price of digital products definitely makes them more attractive and sought after, even for readers who have still not invested in a Kindle.
It is imperative that your physical book in print be linked on Amazon to the Kindle eBook. Reviews posted for your print book version should also show up on the Kindle eBook page. Conversely, the sales page for the print book needs to be clear that there is an available Kindle version. If the links don’t show up within two weeks or so after initial publication, then it is important to contact support at Kindle to get help.
Commissions and Affiliate Status
One of the most attractive aspects of selling eBooks is the percentage paid to writers. Writers can earn as much as 70 percent of the price. Many writers report that they earn more commission selling eBooks for $2.99 than they did previously selling hardback books via traditional bookstore marketing efforts.
One way to make a little additional cash on each book sold is to join the Affiliate program for Amazon. This allows you to promote other Amazon products as well as your own. There are online marketing professionals that never sell their own products but that earn a living as an affiliate marketing company selling the products of others.
Deciding on What to Write to Make Money
Writers of both fiction and non-fiction are earning money writing eBooks. One way to determine the best subject matter or types of books to write is to study the books that are making the Kindle best seller list. For non-fiction books, it is important to pick a niche market that has a lot of demand. Providing answers to help people solve painful problems is a key component of success for informational books.
In the fiction market, books that you can brand as part of a series work well.
What’s your book going to be about?
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