Your Success Starts by Following the Kindle Publishing Guidelines

Success Kindle Publishing Guidelines

There are so many things you have to do before you publish your book on the Kindle Direct Publishing platform, especially if you want to be successful.

If your goal is to be a successful author, you must understand what these guidelines are.

What are some of the things you need to have an understanding of?

Navigating Kindle Direct Publishing

A book’s table of contents (TOC, for short) needs to be rational and HTML-based.

This type of TOC lets readers go back to parts of the book, either by clicking or tapping the links.

This is a necessity for most books – textbooks, novels, etc. – but it’s not usually good for children’s books or manga.

Be sure the TOC is on the first few pages of the book.

Many writers have made the mistake of putting the TOC at the end of it, but readers naturally go to the front of the book to learn how many chapters are in the book and what the book is about. 

The TOC should be added to the book’s downloadable samples for them to review as well.

What are some important things to remember?

  • Avoid table tags in the TOC
  • You must include “clickable” TOC in Kindle books.
  • Use MS Word’s TOC and Heading Styles when using that program. Books using these features will have an easier time converting to the Kindle format.

If bundling books, be sure the book includes an overarching TOC page, which allows readers to quickly find the book they want.

Cover Image

Your e-books need a cover image, which will show up on the detail page in the Kindle bookstore.

Bear in mind that this image is separate from the book file.

For Kindle, images need to be a minimum of 2560pi x 1600pi.

Images that fit into the guideline will appear sharp and crisp on the Kindle devices and apps.

The cover image’s maximum file size is 5 megabytes.

What are some other things to bear in mind?

  • Don’t stretch a small image to meet Amazon’s required dimensions. This will distort the image and look horrible.
  • Your cover image should mention nothing about pricing or promotional offers.
  • Don’t use copyrighted images. Many people make this mistake, infringing on the work of other publishers, authors and artists.

HTML and CSS

There are a few things to be mindful of when dealing with an e-books HTML and CSS such as:

  • The Kindle platform isn’t completely compatible with HTML frames and forms and JavaScript.
  • Every anchor needs to appear before formatting tags.
  • Don’t incorporate scripting. In the conversion, the system eliminates these from the file.
  • Avoid negative values when setting up the margins and content.
  • Don’t use Unicode characters as they’re not completely compatible on Kindle devices and apps.
  • Include external links to the e-book if it can help your readers with more information.
  • File references are both spelling and case sensitive. If you reference an external file, you want the original file’s right spelling and letter capitalization.

4 Reasons Your Book Should Be Published Through Amazon Kindle

No longer are the days where it took weeks, months and even years to get a book published.

You don’t have to worry about the long, tedious editorial process anymore.

Many well-known writers – Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Lee Child, Michael Connelly and Suzanne Collins – have moved into the 21st century and began selling e-books to make their money.

How so?

They used the growing power Kindle’s self-publishing program has to offer.

If you like to write, it could be a lucrative venture to use the Kindle self-publishing tool.

After all, it’s a trend that is sure to continue.

With Kindle, you can effortlessly publish your e-book without having to deal with the traditional publishing firms or getting an agent.

You attain immediate exposure, and there is little to no cost to pull it off.

Best of all, the profit margin is far more extensive then you see with the traditional routes.

How Easy Is It to Do Kindle Self-Publishing

It takes little effort to publish your book on the Kindle platform.

You just need a computer/laptop, a connection to the Internet and your properly formatted e-book.

When you register with Amazon, you submit the e-book and the book is published in 48 hours or less.

You don’t have to worry about printing, shipping or storing a plethora of books.

With Kindle self-publishing, Amazon will handle everything.

No need for an agent or publishing firm.

Don’t Have to Contend With Agents or Publishing Firms

With Kindle Publishing, you don’t need to seek the advice of an agent or publishing firm to get the book published.

This allows you to be your own boss, write about what you want and the kind of writing style you want the book in.

You have the power to write how you want to write.

You don’t have to worry about an editor, striking words out here and there, demanding revisions.

Kindle self-publishing eliminates the red-tape since with other methods.

On top of that, your book gains immediate exposure.

Immediate Exposure

Unlike traditional publishing, your e-book will be viewable to visitors within 48 hours.

The Kindle self-publishing method, every e-book gets a page on Amazon with various product options like reviews and ratings.

Since Amazon Kindle can be used as an app, it means people with any kind of mobile device can access your content anytime you want – immediate exposure with no costs

You Don’t Pay to Publish

Traditional publishing means you have to pay for your book to be published.

However, with Amazon Kindle, you don’t pay a thing.

So, if you don’t make any money, it also means you don’t lose any money.

Of course, if you do, you do pay royalties to Amazon.

Other than that, the rest is yours to keep.

Why Kindle Publishing Is A Much Better Alternative to Publishing Houses and Self-Publishing

Most aspiring writers, five to 10 years ago, would have had a difficult time getting their works of art published.

Unless you were a respected professor or a politician, it was unlikely your fiction or non-fiction work would have seen the light of day for years to come.

The problem isn’t the writing itself.

Granted, that is an issue for some people, but taking two or three hours out of your day is not impossible if you set your mind to it.

Publishing Houses Picky About Who They Make Deals With

It’s the problem of printing out the manuscript and taking it from one publishing house to the next, only to be turned down.

Finding an agent is almost impossible for writers.

And, even if you found an agent to take you on, it would still be a couple of years before a deal was struck between you and the entity.

Looking at it from a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense especially in light of the purchasing process online or in stores.

The majority of people have no desire to spend money on an unknown author. Books are expensive, and chances are a person will spend a couple of weeks or more reading it.

No one wants to waste time or money on a book that isn’t worth it.

It’s why most people buy from an author they know – Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, James Patterson, for example.

It’s risky investing time in an unknown author.

Self-Publishing Was Costly Venture That Didn’t Equate to Success

When unknown authors are trying to get their books published, the agents and publishers have to know that the book is going to do well.

The only viable alternative in the past was a self-publisher, but the cost for this was around $2,000 and didn’t mean success.

In fact, many people who went through the self-published route ended up losing money.

Kindle Publishing Is A Better Alternative

Times have certainly changed. Today, if you have a book – no matter its genre – you can publish it through Kindle.

It’s quick and simple.

Best of all, it’s free. You don’t have to contend with any upfront costs, so if you don’t make any money from it, then you lost nothing.

The majority of first-time authors who use Kindle to publish their books put the price for $0.99, and usually see great results.

Now, look at it from a buyer’s perspective. You find what looks to be an interesting book on Kindle.

The name of the author is someone you don’t know but decide it’s just $0.99 so why not try them out?

You buy the book, download and read the first couple of pages.

You like it, and realize you got it for a bargain.

However, if you don’t, you just lost maybe an hour of your time and a dollar.

What You Should Understand about Publishing a Kindle E-Book

The reality is that writing a book is the easiest part of the entire self-publishing process.

It’s really easy if you know what type of book you want and have the content for it.

You can learn to overcome the technical stuff such as cover art or file conversion.

The difficulty is making money from it. 

After all, the Kindle Publishing platforms and others similar to it is filled with competition.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

There are things that can be done to boost your chances of being noticed by prospective readers (buyers).

What should you keep in mind?

Marketing Your Book

The average self-published e-book sells up to 150 copies, even after marketing it to your family and friends (with friends marketing it to their friends.)

Many self-publishers have a hard time marketing their work.

Why is that?

They don’t have the support and finance a huge company would have like promotional tours and advertisements, but this is where your brains can come in handy.

Be sure to use social media as much as possible to market and advertise the book.

It’s going to be a slow process, but if you put forth the effort and always release good content, you can see your reader base grow (and so will your revenue).

Stick to What You Know

If you have an idea that you know a lot about, stick with it. Come across as an expert in the field.

Don’t venture into something you don’t have experience in.

For example, if you have great self-help skills, don’t try writing fiction even if the authors seem to sell more books.

Use the talent you have and go with your gut. It won’t let you down.

Blogging

Take advantage of blogging.

While Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are great to use, blogging appears to be the better choice of them all.

It allows you to sample some of your work without giving out all of it.

You may be surprised to know that many self-publishers had blogs before books.

A blog helps you to know what the market is yearning for and also engage with the audience.

Make an Investment

You will need to spend money to make money.

Spending a $1,000 on Facebook ads is not that much in the grand scheme of things.

It’s also a very effective way to promote to your target audience.

You can also use AuthorBuzz, and with its $1,500 a week price, you can get design work too.

This will give you the much-needed exposure you want to 500,000 readers.

Of course, you don’t have to spend that kind of money, but you don’t want to spend cheaply either.

Design

When it comes to your book cover, you want the design of it to be eye-fetching.

The font needs to be clear, and the message should be conveyed in a direct manner.

When designing the cover, put yourself in a buyer’s shoes.

Would you want to read something with the design the book has on it?

If you can’t read the words on the e-book because of the design, chances are your prospective readers won’t be able to either.