Step 1 – Create the book
I’ve found that when I upload files to Kindle, web page filtered or.doc files seem to work the best without messing up the formatting.
OpenOffice (which is 100% free) let’s you save the file as both a .doc file as well as a .pdf. I prefer Microsoft Word 2010 as it creates hyperlinked table of contents automatically and you can just save the file as web page filtered. Word 2010 also creates a pdf file.
I like to save it in both file formats. The PDF version is so I can give out free copies to people for review and the web page filtered file is the one that I actually use when uploading in Kindle Direct Publishing. (if you need support with this, I can help. Just ask me.)
Step 2 – Get an awesome cover made
If there’s anything that I’ve learned so far when it comes to Kindle books, it’s that covers sell books. (AKA people judge a book by its cover)
You could use an ebook cover generator – software that can create good looking ecovers such as ebook cover creator that has free and paid subscriptions.
Another site where you can have ecovers made for only $5 is called Fiverr.com.
Step 3 – Create an opt-in page
This step may seem a little bit strange in the context of a book but I’ve found it to be very very important to the marketing process. It will also be a huge asset to you when you go to release a second or third book.
An opt-in page is basically a website online where you can collect the email address of the people that purchased your book. Amazon does not provide book sellers with this information, therefore, you need to ask for it.
On your wordpress site you can easily create an opt-in page or just add a opt-in form to your side bar widget.
On this page you can offer to give a free bonus such as a video trailer of your book, an audio recording of one of your chapters, or a pdf of how you get inspired to write your books. You use your bonus in exchange for an email address.
Also, inside your book, at the beginning and at the end, you can direct your readers to your website to get your bonus. Direct readers to your opt-in page link and marvel at all the opt-in emails your receive.
Once you have their emails on your list you can do several things…
– email that mailing list and ask them to leave a review on Amazon (boosting sales and credibility).
– email that list and inform them of a new book that I release.
– email that list and promote your virtual tour dates
– email that list and share thoughts of this and that letting your subscribers get to know you
It opens up so many opportunities to further push sales of existing and new books.
I highly recommend implementing this strategy in to your book marketing.
Step 4 – Create an account as a Kindle Direct Publisher (KDP for short)
Once you’ve got your book written, your book cover, and your opt-in page, it’s time to create a KDP account and submit your first book to the store.
To do this, we need to create KDP account, which is really as simple as going to http://kdp.amazon.com and signing up…
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll see an area called your Bookshelf…
Go ahead and click on “Add new title” because this is where we’re going to add our latest book…
Step 5 – Adding your book in to Amazon
For the most part, this is pretty straight forward from here on out…
Type in the name of your book.
Write a description that’s going to help sell the book.
In the description, put a lot of benefits as opposed to just describing the book. Try to describe what the reader’s end result from reading the book will be instead of just describing what the books about.
With Amazon, even the simplest of sales copy can be very effective because you are already borrowing on Amazon’s credibility.
Now… For categories, you have the ability to pick 2. So look through the categories that they provide and choose two that best fit your book’s topic. These categories don’t always match the categories that they will actually rank under inside Amazon. It’s a bit strange. Just pick the most relevant.
For “Search Keywords”, type the things that you think others would type to find your book. You can have up to 7 search terms so choose wisely.Those are terms that, if people searched them, they would probably find your book .
Now you can upload the book cover and your book file (in web page filtered format if using word 2010 or if using Open office it will be a .doc format)
Digital Rights Management.you can select “Do not enable digital rights management”… This allows people who buy your book to read it on multiple devices if they choose.
Finally, where it asks if you want to allow lending,you can check yes. When people borrow one of your books you still get a little money for it.
Confirm that you’ve read the terms and conditions and click “Save and Publish”.
Give it 12-24 hours and your book will be live on Amazon!
Step 6 – Create an Author Central Page
With Author Central you can edit your editorial reviews, your books description, your personal profile on Amazon, track book sales, and much much more. This is critical for anyone serious about making Kindle work for them.
After your book is finally live on Amazon, you can go to http://authorcentral.amazon.com/ and create an account.
Once you’re logged in to Author Central, click on the “Books” tab at the top of the screen.
Click the button to “Add More Books”.
Do a search for your book. When you find it, click the button that says “This is my book”.
Your book is now linked to your Author Central account.
Next, click on the “Profile” tab at the top of the screen.
I recommend adding a photo and a biography about yourself. The biography will be added to your actual book sales page and helps people browsing books get to know a little more about you. Most people who sell Kindle books skip this step. It’s just one more thing to make your book page stand out.
Admittedly, marketing Amazon books is not easy. Other than writing the actual book yourself, this will probably be the next hardest part.
Share your experience with Kindle, I would love to hear from you