Question(s) for those who published on Amazon Kindle?

[Naruzeldamaster]

So, I'm considering putting my first book (Yes yes 'finish the thing first' I know lol goal is to finish the draft this year.) on amazon Kindle.
What I want to know are three main things.

I'm assuming Amazon takes a 'cut' of the profit? Similarly to how youtube gets a cut when you monetize a video?

How complicated is the process of the publishing? I doubt it's as simple as 'upload pdf file, boop, done'

If I decide I want to Publish the same Book in Print at some point would I be able to?

Does Amazon decide the price of the book or is that something that the author / Amazon negotiate together?

 

[pmmg]

1) amazon pays royalties and has the best percentage rate as far as I know. You set the price and it will show you your royalty per sale.


2) amazon has an app that you can download that you can use to format your book for ebook format. Print books are just PDFs.

3) yes, you can make a print book then or later. Just dont do another ebook of it without unenrolling from amazon select.

 

[AlexS]

So, I'm considering putting my first book (Yes yes 'finish the thing first' I know lol goal is to finish the draft this year.) on amazon Kindle.
What I want to know are three main things.

I'm assuming Amazon takes a 'cut' of the profit? Similarly to how youtube gets a cut when you monetize a video?

How complicated is the process of the publishing? I doubt it's as simple as 'upload pdf file, boop, done'

If I decide I want to Publish the same Book in Print at some point would I be able to?

Does Amazon decide the price of the book or is that something that the author / Amazon negotiate together?

Amazon takes 30% of the ebook sales, and 70% go to you.

The process is in fact as simple as 'upload pdf, boop, done', believe it or not.

You can also publish in print via Amazon, at the same time or later. If you want to publish in print NOT via Amazon, it depends on the publisher. Some publishers are ok with your book also available on Amazon, others won't publish unless you remove it from Amazon.

You decide the price of the ebook (minimum $1)

 

[skip.knox]

I did not find the process quite so quick. I have always had to fiddle with the print cover, and especially fussing with getting the back cover just right.

On the inside, it's making sure the Table of Contents navigates properly, that you have page numbering right. Layout for ebooks is not the same as it is for print. Going with something like Atticus (Windows) has been a great help for production.

But yeah, if you nail the homework, then the actual steps at Amazon are a breeze.

 

[Dahygu]

Hiya all, slightly adjacent question here. I have a first draft that could probably be split into two novels. Does anyone here have any suggestions as to how much time I should allow to pass after publishing book 1 on kindle before pushing book 2? Thanks!

 

[Prince of Spires]

To go a bit deeper:

If you publish directly on Amazon, the main thing you need to decide is if you use KDP select or not. When you choose KDP select, then you have to publish your ebook to Amazon exclusively. The one exception is that you can upload to libraries, but not to any other store. And please, make sure that you obey by this rule. If they find your ebook in another store while you are in KDP Select then they see this as a breach of the terms of service, and they will block your account for life. And there are (almost) no ways to appeal this decision. And they do check. So just never, ever even think about doing this.

The reasons to go with KDP select are:
- You can enroll your book in Kindle Unlimited. Which basically lets users read as many books as they want for a fixed monthly fee. You get paid per page read. It fluctuates per month, but you can expect about half a cent per page read.
- You can price your book for free for 5 days every 3 months
- You can run count down deals
- You get higher royalty rates in some countries.

The downside is of course that you're tied to Amazon.

As for royalty rates, Amazon pays 70% for books priced between $2,99 and $9,99 in most territories, and 30% for books priced outside that range. This aren't they highest by any means, though they are fairly standard (since Amazon is the biggest ebook store and the rest just follow them). Expect to get the same rates elsewhere.

One asterix here though. Amazon charges a delivery fee for books that get 70% royalties (which isn't industry standard), which depends on the size of the book (as in, in MB). That fee is substracted from your royalties.

As for publishing, the hard part probably is setting up your account, where you have to prove who you are and upload tax information and stuff. It's not particularly hard, but it is fiddly.

When uploading your book, you need the file for your book, either in epub format (which is easiest), or some format which is accepted by their conversion software (they do accept Word for instance). Not sure how good their conversion software works. I just go with creating an ebook.

You also need your cover and your blurb. As well as a few minor things like author name etc.

And that's it. Just a form to work through and fill in the fields. Not that hard.

Hiya all, slightly adjacent question here. I have a first draft that could probably be split into two novels. Does anyone here have any suggestions as to how much time I should allow to pass after publishing book 1 on kindle before pushing book 2?

No way to tell. Depends on if there is a book 3 and when you're expecting that.

Many people advice a regular schedule. So if there is a book three and you know it's coming in 4 months, then put book 2 halfway there. If not, then just publishing both right away is just as good an option. As is just putting up book 2 for preorder and publishing it in 6 months time.

All have pros and cons. And it depends on what your marketing and publishing plan is.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I know I'm jumping the gun here a little bit but while we're on the topic, what would be a 'good' price for a first book?
I was thinking $5-10 because I know I've been tempted by books in that price range before.
I don't think my books will be 'lightning in a bottle' or anything but I want to price them fair enough that more people will be inclined to try them.

 

[Dahygu]

To go a bit deeper:

If you publish directly on Amazon, the main thing you need to decide is if you use KDP select or not. When you choose KDP select, then you have to publish your ebook to Amazon exclusively. The one exception is that you can upload to libraries, but not to any other store. And please, make sure that you obey by this rule. If they find your ebook in another store while you are in KDP Select then they see this as a breach of the terms of service, and they will block your account for life. And there are (almost) no ways to appeal this decision. And they do check. So just never, ever even think about doing this.

The reasons to go with KDP select are:
- You can enroll your book in Kindle Unlimited. Which basically lets users read as many books as they want for a fixed monthly fee. You get paid per page read. It fluctuates per month, but you can expect about half a cent per page read.
- You can price your book for free for 5 days every 3 months
- You can run count down deals
- You get higher royalty rates in some countries.

The downside is of course that you're tied to Amazon.

As for royalty rates, Amazon pays 70% for books priced between $2,99 and $9,99 in most territories, and 30% for books priced outside that range. This aren't they highest by any means, though they are fairly standard (since Amazon is the biggest ebook store and the rest just follow them). Expect to get the same rates elsewhere.

One asterix here though. Amazon charges a delivery fee for books that get 70% royalties (which isn't industry standard), which depends on the size of the book (as in, in MB). That fee is substracted from your royalties.

As for publishing, the hard part probably is setting up your account, where you have to prove who you are and upload tax information and stuff. It's not particularly hard, but it is fiddly.

When uploading your book, you need the file for your book, either in epub format (which is easiest), or some format which is accepted by their conversion software (they do accept Word for instance). Not sure how good their conversion software works. I just go with creating an ebook.

You also need your cover and your blurb. As well as a few minor things like author name etc.

And that's it. Just a form to work through and fill in the fields. Not that hard.


No way to tell. Depends on if there is a book 3 and when you're expecting that.

Many people advice a regular schedule. So if there is a book three and you know it's coming in 4 months, then put book 2 halfway there. If not, then just publishing both right away is just as good an option. As is just putting up book 2 for preorder and publishing it in 6 months time.

All have pros and cons. And it depends on what your marketing and publishing plan is.

makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the advice.

 

[pmmg]

I know I'm jumping the gun here a little bit but while we're on the topic, what would be a 'good' price for a first book?
I was thinking $5-10 because I know I've been tempted by books in that price range before.
I don't think my books will be 'lightning in a bottle' or anything but I want to price them fair enough that more people will be inclined to try them.

I have no idea what is a good price or not. I looked to get myself a royalty of about $3.00 no matter what format they purchased in. Book 2, I am aiming higher.

 

[pmmg]

When you go to setup your ISBN's, assuming you are not just using Amazon (which BTW, you will need your own ISBN if you want to be separate from amazon), there is a place to enter the price of the book. You should leave that blank, as in, the price is variable and subject to shifting.

 

[pmmg]

Since I brought it up, things to consider before publishing.

Front and Back matter for your book. That is the title page, about the author, table of contents and things like that. (I would include a map in this area)
Book cover, front and back.
Blurb
Copyright - optional
LCCN (library of congress number) - optional
ISBN - Optional, Amazon provides one for free, but it is linked to them.
Formatting, for all formats, hardpack, paperback, ebook...

Editing
Illustrations
Marketing
a way to reach you...

And a way to keep your promises if you are saying there will be more to follow.