How to Start Successfully Using the Kindle Publishing Platform

Start Successfully Kindle Publishing

You can create a book on anything – fiction, non-fiction, self-help or inspirational.

The choice is up to you and is based on your own imagination.

You may not think you have much to share with the world, but you’d be surprised.

You may have skills you never thought could be useful to someone else.

Of course, you won’t know this until you put your thoughts and ideas into a document and publish the book.

Of course, the Internet is in constant changing motion, which means how people get and understand information changes.

It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that publishing your writing is much easier to do.

The Kindle Publishing platform is one such option for you to use.

You take the information you know and write it.

Once it’s done, you can upload it to the Kindle Publishing platform for it to be seen by Amazon users.

Although it’s simple to publish, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to start.

This is where a few useful tips can come in handy.

Consider the following guidelines to help you write your next “masterpiece.”

Just Write and Write Some More

The first thing you need to do is write your subject.

You’ll need at least three rough drafts before it’s perfect.

With a blank page in hand, jot your ideas down.

Have a basic outline and lay out your TOC.

It’s okay if it appears on jumbled and confusing.

That’s not important right now.

The key is to start writing and save all your good ideas.

This is known as the “vomit” draft.

Sort through the “vomit” draft and come up with ideas that can be used and eliminate the ones that seem not to work this time around.

You can always use it as a second e-book down the road.

Consider what it is you’d really like to say and write down things in a more organized manner.

This is noted as being the “review” draft.

Ask someone to go through the third draft and offer their opinions.

By reading it, they can tell you the points you’ve overlooked or veered away from.

They can find the mistakes – not just in spelling and grammar – but also in structure. 

This is noted as being the “editorial” draft.

Designing and Formatting

The fun starts now!

You have to create a visually-enthralling cover that fits with the book’s content.

Format the File for Kindle

A program known as Calibre will help you to professionally format your book – something that’s necessary if you have little to no experience with the program or are uncomfortable with it.

Sort the Cover

Your cover is the book’s face, which is why you need to spend some money on it as well as time.

There is an array of ways to design your cover such as outsourcing.

Hire an artist to do the work for you if you don’t have the talent yourself.

Publishing the Book

Of course, to get anywhere with the public, you have to publish the book.

How can you successfully do this?

  • Visit kdp.amazom.com and sign up for an account.
  • Type in your tax information to attain royalties.
  • Hit “Bookshelf” and hit “Add new title.”
  • Completely fill the form out.
  • Upload the cover of the book.
  • Upload the book.
  • See how the book appears using the Amazon online viewer.
  • Hit “Save and continue” before you go to the “Rights and Pricing” page.
  • Hit “Worldwide Rights.”
  • Choose the 70 percent royalty rate and settle on a price. This will ensure that international prices are adjusted on the U.S. price.
  • Hit “Save and Publish.”
  • You’ll get an e-mail from Amazon letting you know when the book is ready.

That’s all there is to it!

Here’s an important tip to remember though – you don’t want to rush the creative process of your e-book.

After all, quality rules in all cases where money is concerned.

Even if you published a lot of books at one time, if the quality is no good, you’re not going to make a lot of money from them.

The idea is to entice people with your content and have them looking forward to the next thing you publish.

Focus on your writing, offering them something of value.

This is when the money starts to happen.

It’s All In the Details

It’s become harder and harder for an author to get a publishing company to accept a book and publish it.

That’s why many authors have turned to the self-publishing option to release their works.

Thanks to Amazon’s Kindle Publishing platform, people can take their works of art and publish their book a little easier.

You also get paid a 70 percent royalty, as they are in charge of collecting the money and distributing it to you.

While you need to ensure the book is well-promoted, Kindle deals with everything else.

Yes, you have to promote your book yourself!

Before you can publish the e-book on the Kindle Publishing platform is to ensure the e-book is in word document format.

From there, use your Internet connection and create an Amazon account so you can upload the document to the system.

Use the steps below to help you publish your e-book on Amazon:

  • Use the word document and convert it to HTML format.
  • Be sure to hire an editor or ask someone to review the book for you. Amazon does not have an editing program for you to use.
  • After you’re on Amazon, check out the Quick Start Guide on dtp.amazon.com and download it. Follow the instructions in the guide. It’s important to note that PDFs don’t typically work well with the Kindle platform.
  • You’ll be asked some questions like description, author biography, price, genre, etc. Use this opportunity to represent your book in a positive light. Save it and reread it before you submit it.
  • When on the platform, test and examine the sales, price and royalties.

Your book’s price is going to be critical – asking too much could hinder the book from selling and selling it for too little may generate sales but no real profits.

You can always change the pricing or get a monthly trial price. 

If you notice price isn’t an issue, you can always increase it.

  • Use your Facebook, Twitter or other social media network to promote the book.

Add in keywords that help search engine users find the book.

Start up a community for the book, creating a reason for them to follow you.

You never know what ideas they have could entice you into writing another book.

4 Key Steps to Publishing Your E-book on the Kindle Platform

How does Kindle self-publishing starts?

It starts with you having an idea and typing it out.

It doesn’t matter genre you are writing – fiction, non-fiction, self-help, historical, etc. – you just need to have good grammar and offer something of value to prospective readers.

Establish a Good Reputation with Your Manuscript

If you’re going to be an author, your reputation is the key to your success.

You don’t have to be Stephen King or J.K. Rowling to use Amazon Kindle.

Any “would-be” author with a book has the opportunity to be published with the Amazon Kindle platform.

And, it doesn’t matter if you’re well-known or not, you must have material that is valuable to readers.

If not, you only isolate them.

The biggest goal you have as an author is to establish a fan base and build it up.

You want fans to stick beside you in your next writing endeavor.

Only then are you able to make money by writing e-books.

What Do You Do When You’ve Finished Your Manuscript

After your manuscript is done, you need to publish the e-book through the Kindle platform.

This means signing up for a Kindle Direct Publishing account.

You’ll need to log into Amazon so that you can publish the e-book.

Once you’ve made an account, take the manuscript and ensure it’s formatted into the right type of file format for the program.

The format is known as MOBI, which is what your e-book must have to be read through Kindle Fire tablets, Kindle digital e-Book readers or any Amazon developed desktop software.

Amazon uses Calibre for its program.

Be sure to follow the steps to change the text or PDF to the MOBI format.

Hire an Artist to Develop a Cover

Unless you’re an artist, find a person to design your e-book cover.

The only way you’ll make good money by selling your book is to give prospective buyers something that catches their eye.

You need a marketable book.

You can find a graphic design and pay minimal dollars to have them design you a cover that looks great.

Look at the money you spend as an investment and a necessity for publishing with the program.

Start Promoting Your E-book

Once you’ve done this, now you need to promote the e-book.

Any new product doesn’t get noticed until you let people know about it.

Therefore, you need to find your target audience and start marketing to them.

If you write self-help novels, seek out a forum dedicated to people interested in self-help.

If you have a children’s book, look for parent-related forums.

You could also buy an ad on Facebook announcing the book’s arrival.

Best of all, you don’t have to spend a lot to spread the word about the book.

So, if you don’t make any real money, you would have lost nothing really.

However, the efforts you put in will pay off.

7 Tips to Successfully Publish Your Book Through Kindle

The Internet is a huge world of opportunities that await anyone who wants to take advantage of it.

There are so many ways in which a person can make money through it.

While there are people who get online to find free information; others don’t mind paying for it.

Who Can Use Kindle Publishing?

• If you have a good story to tell or want to share some ideas and tips with the world, you need a platform that allows you to share your ideas with the world.
• If a traditional agent or publisher has turned you down.
• If you don’t have the kind of money it takes to publish and market your book.
• If you cannot find the right audience for your book.

If you meet any one of these, then the Amazon Kindle is the right platform for you.

Why?

Amazon Kindle lets you easily publish your books and have an audience yearning for their next read.

7 Key Tips To Using The Kindle Publishing Platform Successfully

If you decide to use the Kindle Publishing platform, be sure to read over these ten tips to help you get started so that you can be considered a success story too.

• Amazon Kindle wants high-quality, unique material from authors. Be sure you take extra care and review any problems with spelling and grammar. Hire an editor to help you do this.

• Readers don’t like being taken for granted. Many of them have become quite demanding, which is a good thing because it motivates authors to go above and beyond with their writing.

• Research your topic thoroughly, laying it out in clear terms for readers to understand. Use a step-by-step format to help you out. When choosing a topic, be sure to look at the in-demand books. Look at Amazon’s store, visit other online stores or even go local – with the library or brick-and-mortar bookstore.

•Don’t use PLR (Private Label Rights) content entirely. Rather, use them for ideas to develop your own stuff.

• Create a book cover that makes it appealing to would-be readers. Unless you’re an artist too, you’ll need to hire someone for this job.

• Be sure to review the free resources Amazon provides for formatting.

• Include an active table of contents, so your readers can easily find the chapter they want. A reader will enjoy the book more if they can easily flip through it and find what they wanted to learn.