Publish an Ebook on Amazon

You can publish just about anything you've written as an ebook on Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon. It doesn't cost anything to upload written works and make them available on the open market. There are a couple of things you should invest in if you are planning to sell your works as an indie author. Professional content and line editing turns manuscripts into industry standard products, and professionally designed book covers catch the eye of potential readers.

A good editor is the best asset your writing has. I mentioned how to find an editor in an earlier post. You should have two types of editing performed on your writing before sharing it with the world. First content editing weeds out any unnecessary scenes or narration, and gets the story in order. Then line editing goes over every sentence, word and punctuation mark for correct usage, spelling and flow. It's amazing what an editor can do to cut through a cluttered paragraph and get straight to the intended thought. You may also want to pay a proofreader after all is finished unless you trust yourself to do that job. I'm glad for every penny I spent on editorial services.

The other thing most writers should get professional help with is book cover design. There's info available on finding book cover designers in another post. Personally, I can't draw decent stick figures. A professional book cover designer is not only capable of extraordinary artwork, but also neatly fits it into a scene that includes your title and pen name. My book cover designer is another one I am extremely thankful to have on my team. As you can see by the cover of the first episode of Eusta Diddoo – Runaway Pony on the right, these guys did a fabulous job!
To publish your writing on Amazon, create an account if you don't have one already. Then click the appropriate button to create a new title. You will be asked to fill in a couple of web forms with info on your book including a description that would replace the blurb on the back cover.

There's a space that asks who your publisher is. It's optional, but you can create a name for your self publishing operation and file it with your state under “doing business as” to avoid simply listing yourself as the publisher. Then you can paste a company name on your releases like "Happening Press," or something that may add credibility for some readers.

You'll also be asked to verify your rights to the material. If it's original work that you created and you haven't given or sold the rights to anyone else, then you own the rights.

There's a place to upload your cover art. Designers will give you a JPEG for Amazon in the proper format and size.

Then you'll be able to upload the text file in a format used by Amazon. There are several acceptable file options including Word documents and Rich Text Format docs. I'm told it's a good idea to click the “Preview” button once the upload succeeds to make sure nothing was jilted in the process.

Uploading your file for publication is very easy. KDP even permits you to submit a manuscript for pre-orders, then upload the final draft for your sale product at a later date. My Eusta Diddoo pilot is officially taking pre-orders for sales even though the line editing is still underway. It will be available for distribution by June 10th.

Then you can move on to list your pricing and decide whether or not to remain exclusive with Amazon for at least 90 days through the KDP Select program. I discussed the pros and cons of that choice in the last post.

After that the real fun begins- marketing! So far I've got a whopping 6 pre-orders for my book, and three of those came from relatives. I'll keep you posted on what works best for me.

Thanks for dropping in
- Jonra Springs