What You Should Know About Self-Publishing on Kindle Hey there, Maggie Linders here. In this video we are going to be talking about a very exciting opportunity that exists for us today as freelance writers...the opportunity to quickly become a selfpublished author on Amazon Kindle. We live in a different world today. The day of waiting for someone to choose your book and publish it, is over. Nowadays, there are so many self-publishing success stories, and that is due in large part to the power that Amazon Kindle has given to authors. The Kindle platform enables authors to publish a book quickly and eliminates the long, laborious process of getting a publisher to get your book in print. With Kindle, everything is done on your terms. As a freelance writer, there are several major benefits to publishing a book on Amazon. The first is that you ll earn money from sales of the book. The second is that prospective clients may come across your book and see you as more of an authority in the niche you ve written about. After all, people with books are often viewed as authority figures, or experts. This can lead to an increase in both the number of gigs you get, and the quality of those gigs. In this video, I ll give you a list of key guidelines involved in Kindle publishing. At the end of this video, I ll give you a link to a great course I know of that will provide you with even more detail, along with step-by-step tutorials, on how to becoming a topselling author. Let s jump in! First, let s talk about the power of Amazon, which is the world s largest and most powerful product search engine. Years ago, they started out as an online book market and today sell millions of different products everything from pet supplies, to appliances, to gourmet food! They re still a dominant online book retailer, and have now branched out to digital books, also known as ebooks. In 2007, they released this nifty little device you might recognize it. It s known as a Kindle Reader.
This device allows people from all over the world to buy ebooks through the Amazon Kindle marketplace at the push of a button. As a book author, if you know how to use Amazon properly, you can get your book in front of these people and make a lot of sales. So I m sure you re eager to hear more about Kindle and how you can take advantage of it. Let's go over those key guidelines now: #1 Book length. Your book doesn t necessarily need to be long in order to sell well and make your customers happy. I d recommend keeping the length at or above 50 pages. If it s shorter than that, it may lower the perceived value of your book. The key is making sure that you pack real value into your book so that customers walk away happy. #2 Book topic. It s always a good idea to write about your specialty. For instance, if you specialize in finance, write a book related to finance. This will further establish your authority as a specialist. Prospective clients who learn about your book will view you as an expert and be more apt to pay to dollar for your freelance writing services. #3 Book content. A good strategy is to give detailed information on a very specific topic rather than general information on a broader topic. When you niche something like this, it can be an effective way to target a very specific audience, which can lead to more sales. If you want to tackle a larger topic, consider breaking it down into multiple books which leads me to point #4 When a reader sees that you have several books on Kindle, they consider you to be more of an expert. The more books you have, the more authority you have. #5 Links. Don t forget to add your links to your personal website, blog and/or social media profiles at the end of your book. This creates synergy for your online presence. #6 Cover Design. The design of your ebook cover is important. This image is very important because it s the first impression people will see when your ebook shows up in their results on Amazon.com. If it s effective, it will entice them to look closer at your book. To get some ideas for how to design your cover, take a look at some Kindle ebook covers in the bestsellers category and notice why some stand out to you. Your title is also very important. It should include at least one keyword, preferably in the first part of the title, that will identify your ebook to your potential audience. It should include a word or words that your target reader would type in the Amazon search engine to find your book. For example, if you wrote about exercising and
fitness tips, it s important to add the word fitness in the title. This helps readers find the types of books they want to buy and will help you get your ebook farther up in their search engine. #7 Pricing. Pricing is another important factor when publishing your ebook. I recommend keeping the price between 2.99 and 9.99. Check your competition to ensure you re not overpricing yourself out of the market. I ve tested ebooks at several price points and usually settle on $4.99. We had the most downloads at that price and we didn t over price the competition. It s also not such a low price that there is no perceived value. This price point may work well for you too, but there is no substitute for testing. #8 Getting Your Book on Kindle. Amazon has specific guidelines regarding booking formatting to upload to the Kindle platform. I ve discovered that the best and easiest way to do this is to convert my Word doc into an.epub file. The process can get confusing so it might help to request the aid of an outside service. Sometimes it s best to leave that technical stuff to the experts! But if you want to give it a shot yourself, go for it! Download a free ebook called Building Your Book for Kindle. Type that title into Google, and it should be the first result.
#9 Marketing Your Book. Amazon has taken a lot of the difficulty out of marketing your book. They have a program called KDP Select. It allows you to run special promotions for 5 days where Amazon gives your ebook more exposure. There is a stipulation though. You have to agree not to sell your ebook anywhere except for Kindle for 90 days. So that means you can t sell it on Barnes and Noble s Nook, or in the Apple istore during that period of time. KDP Select is a great program for new writers who need that initial exposure to get their book in front of potential buyers. You can even offer a FREE promotion for a
few days. I know sounds counterproductive but it works. It s basically a loss leader. A loss leader is a product that you sell at a loss or give away for free -- to attract customers and reviews. Using this proven business technique, you can get a lot of downloads for your ebook in a very short period of time. Amazon tracks these downloads and actually counts them as sales, which can increase your rankings in their bestsellers category. Also, getting so many copies of your book out there increases the chances that people will leave reviews for your ebook on Amazon. Reviews are of the most important ranking factors in the Kindle marketplace. The more reviews a book has, the higher it ranks in Amazon s search results it s that simple. #10 Getting More Exposure For Your Book. Don t forget to add a link to your ebook on your website, social media profiles and share it with your personal and professional email list if you have one. Although Amazon will provide a lot of exposure for your ebook without you having to do any extra work, it never hurts to put additional techniques in place that will give your book even more exposure. I hope this overview helps you get started with self-publishing on Kindle. I ve put these guidelines together to get you started on the right foot, but if you d like more detailed information, tips and strategies to become a bestselling author on Kindle, I highly recommend a Kindle Publishing course, which is available on Udemy.com. You can get there by going to www.freelancewritingriches.com/kindlecourse The course provides detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to get on Amazon s Top Ten list which is a great place to be. I highly recommend the course. Best of luck in your Kindle publishing endeavors, and I ll see you next time!