How can you successfully sell your books or e-books on Amazon? Amazon makes it possible for authors to bypass traditional publishing companies. Kindle is one of the biggest market place exposing your e-book to millions of people on Amazon who have kindles in order to purchase and read your e-book.
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) provides the tools to create e-books, print and sell paperback copies on demand, and sell e-books on Amazon.com. There is no charge to upload the file. Authors receive royalties of 35% to 70% of the sales price, depending on the price of your e-book and whether the book is sold on KDP or through KDP select.
KDP uses the format as “Mobi” which is the file format for digital books that Amazon uses and it works on Kindle devices.
You can write your book in Word and then convert it to Mobi using the free software Calibre. You can link to each chapter in a table of content. You can do it yourself or pay one of the many digital publishing companies that offer the service of converting a Word file to Mobie, or locate less expensive service through fiverr.com.
You can still sell the same e-book anywhere else on the Internet since Amazon does not require digital exclusivity.
CreateSpace is Amazon’s print-on-demand service for authors. It provides the opportunity to sell a paperback copy of your book on CreateSpace or directly from Amazon.com. You can upload a PDF file based on their specifications and set your price.
You don’t pay for printing, but collect a commission whenever it sells. Amazon pays 70% of the list to authors who price their e-books up to $9.99. The percentage drops to 35% of any price higher than $9.99.
The more well-known you are, the more you can charge. However, nonfiction authors should price according to the competition and what the market can bear. Depending on the quality and uniqueness of content, the prices can be as high for digital editions as print editions for nonfiction categories.
You need to design a cover, hire someone to design it for you, or use CreateSpace design for an extra fee. Once you upload the file in PDF format, you can download or view it directly on their website, or even order a proof copy to make changes before it’s made available for sale.
What to write about for Kindle?
How to guides are popular and have some of the highest sales. The value of good information motivates people to buy newer e-books on almost any given topic. However, picking the correct niche is the key to increasing sales.
Try to choose a subject that you have some knowledge or willing to research about. Don’t let saturated markets discourage you. In fact, competition is good for you. People who have bought specific topic are willing to purchase additional e-books on the same subject.
If you cannot come up with any subject, you can begin with a recipe book, gardening, resume writing, dog training, etc.
The title page should be only the title, the subtitle, your name or pen name. Do not add anything else. You need a table of contents page with links to each chapter of your book.
Every chapter should have unique information. In the conclusion, thank you readers and perhaps a link to other books that you have written. It’s also a good idea to ask for reviews, because more reviews usually results in higher sales.
Amazon KDP Select allows you to promote your book and to sell your e-book worldwide. However, this program doesn’t allow you to publish your book on any other site.
You need to download Calibre. It is free and it would allow you to view your e-book before you publish them. You also need to save your e-books in MOBI format since it is the only format that Kindle supports.
You need to enter your title, subtitle, and follow instructions. Add a detailed description to make it easy for potential customers to locate your e-book and to learn more about the description of your e-book.
Cover of your e-book is important. You should also provide a good description to motivate potential readers to order your e-book.
To increase sales for your Kindle e-book, try to promote it on social media, your blog, and even offline to make people become aware of your e-book.
By Paul Ziglar – 2019 – Update 2020
Copyright © 2019-2020 Allied Publishing
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For additional articles written by Paul Ziglar, see alliedpublishing.com/publishing. Paul Ziglar is the author of Ultimate Guide to Successful Self-Publishing.