Amazon Newsletter

March 2015


























Behind the Cover:








J.F. (Joanna) Penn

























“It took me a long time to find a life that I love…” Joanna Penn left her job in the finance industry to follow her heart and write for a living.







Watch now

KDP Select
KDP Select News

KDP Select is an optional program for you to reach more readers, and it gives you the opportunity to earn more money. When you enroll your title in KDP Select, your title will be included in Kindle Unlimited (KU) for customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) for customers in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Japan.

Featured Resource
Social Media Swap
By Richard Ridley

You have a resource that more than likely you have been ignoring as a marketing and branding tool. It may have never occurred to you that you are not alone. You have fellow authors who are also working all the angles to market their books and build their brands. They too are overlooking the same marketing opportunity you are overlooking.

Read more, courtesy of CreateSpace.

Tip of the Month
Promoting Your Book Series







If your Kindle books are part of a series, you can add the series title and volume number by updating your book details from your KDP Bookshelf. Numbered books with the same series title will be listed on a series page on Amazon.com so customers can browse the whole series at once.







Learn more

Your Voice
KDP Author Angela Muse

Angela Muse, author of The Bee Bully, shares her experience with Kindle Direct Publishing.

“I wrote my very first children’s book in 2009 as a gift to my two young children. If not for my son and KDP, my experience as an author would have ended right there. One day in 2011, he asked me why I wasn’t publishing any more children’s books, and I didn’t have a good answer. The stories were there. In fact, I’d written several that were just gathering dust in my closet. The platform for indie publishing was there. Amazon had launched KDP, and many authors were finding success. Of course, those voices that keep us from following our dreams began to mount in my head. What if people can’t find my stories? What if people do find my stories and they hate them? What if I can’t find a good illustrator that I can afford? After quashing all those voices, I decided to go nuts…literally.

“While collecting acorns with my children in the fall of 2011, I created a story entitled The Nutt Family: An Acorny Adventure and decided that this would be my next release. I found a brilliant illustrator in Poland, held my breath, and hit the publish button. In 2012, my journey as an independent author began by publishing more titles including The Bee Bully, The Pig Princess, and Suzy Snowflake.

“When I first started, I didn’t have a clue about where to find good illustrators, how to get book reviews, and most importantly, how to effectively market my books. In the beginning, I researched and networked with other authors to gather as much data as I could to help me in all these areas. The biggest hurdle was the marketing. I tried many different techniques, but one of the most effective was utilizing the free promotion days in KDP Select. Once my books were free, there were lots of websites and social media outlets that were willing to promote them. I also tried to focus on my audience as much as possible. For the most part, I write children’s picture books, but the children are not the ones who will purchase them. I focused on the parents and finding blogs and sites specific to that audience who would want to promote or feature my books.

“I wasn’t one of those people who sought out an agent for my work and tried to go the traditional route. With KDP, I have a golden opportunity to go at this myself and do things my own way. I can set my own goals and deadlines. I can market my books in the manner I choose. I can decide my price structure. I have full control.

“Did I make mistakes along the way? You bet, but I also learned a lot in making those mistakes. I found support from many great authors who were also forging ahead in the indie publishing world, and we were all doing this together. It felt like we were all out in this big ocean trying to catch oysters, each of us looking for our own pearls.

“It’s been almost three years since I began this journey, and I’m so grateful to KDP and the KDP Select program for giving indie authors a chance, that not long ago, we never would have had. I wouldn’t have received fan mail from preschool aged children who enjoyed my stories if not for KDP. One of my goals as a children’s author is to get kids to read. KDP allows me to publish quality children’s picture books to help me accomplish that goal. The smiles and giggles from the kids who read my books are just the icing on my indie publishing cake.”

–Angela Muse

IN THIS ISSUE

Behind The Cover: J.F. (Joanna) Penn

KDP Select News

Resource: Social Media Swap

Tip: Promoting Your Book Series

Your Voice: Angela Muse





















Industry Events

London Book Fair







Headed to the London Book Fair this year? Visit KDP staff and meet KDP authors at booth 4A31 on April 14–16, 2015.




























KDP Kids







Children’s book authors can easily prepare, publish, and promote their books. Learn more about KDP Kids.




























KDP EDU







Publish textbooks and educational content in Kindle Stores, and reach millions of students worldwide. Learn more about KDP EDU.




























Expand Your Book’s Reach

CreateSpace is a leading provider of independent publishing tools that empower authors to produce, publish, and distribute their printed work.







Join CreateSpace

The Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) makes it easy to turn your book into an audiobook and create a new revenue stream. ACX connects authors with professional audio producers to create audiobooks.







Read more

Explore writing in popular Kindle Worlds, where you develop the plot.







Learn more

Introducing Kindle Scout–reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books.

Learn more

Manage your author profile and view detailed sales reports for your print books for free.

Sign in to Author Central on Amazon.com here or on Amazon.co.uk here.

Kindle Reading Apps







Did you know your readers don’t need a Kindle to read your book? Simply download one of our free Kindle reading apps–available for smartphones, tablets, and computers.











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