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Tutorial: E-book Publishing for Amazon Kindle

Self-publishing has become a popular trend that has provided a way for people to earn money online and become authors. Not only does self-publishing provide another way for people to earn extra income, but it also helps others share information, personal experiences, stories, imagination and more with people around the world. With many online self-publishing providers, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is one of the most used and well-known self-publishing services. If you have your e-book ready for publishing and want to start your online career as an author at Amazon, learn how to publish your Kindle e-book with this simple guide.amazon-kindle

1. Sign up for an account at Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Before you publish your e-book, you must sign up for Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. This Amazon service provides you with the tools you need to publish your e-book when you are ready. When you sign up for an account at Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, you can also receive helpful information on how to improve your e-book content and appearance before publishing.

2. Format your e-book to fit Kindle requirements.

There are several formats that can be converted to Kindle, and most of those formats include:

  • Word document
  • HTML
  • Rich text format
  • Plain text
  • Adobe PDF

Most of the formats listed can be converted to the Kindle version; however, there can also be limitations on how much can be converted. For instance, images in a Word document or PDF may not be converted due to complicated formatting. HTML, plain text and rich text format are formats that provide smoother and more accurate Kindle conversion. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing also offers a generous list of various professional online companies that can help you convert your e-book.

3. Design your cover page.

A cover page for your e-book is crucial to catch the eyes of readers, so be sure to create your cover page before publishing. You can use Photoshop or GIMP to create a simple yet attractive cover page. You can also hire an online contractor from a trusted site, such as Fiverr and oDesk, to do your cover page for a reasonable price. If you are an artist, you can design your own cover page to give it a unique edge. Make sure that your cover page meets the minimum requirement of 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1,000 pixels on the longest side of the image. It should also be saved as a JPEG file before uploading to Amazon.

4. Publish your e-book.

When your e-book has been proofed thoroughly and cleared of any errors in formatting, it is time to publish it. Here are the simple steps to publish your e-book:

  1. Log in to your account. Click on the “Add a new title” link or button on your Kindle dashboard.
  2. Enter your book details, such as title, book language and publishing rights, in the form provided.
  3. Upload and preview your e-book to see what it will look like on a Kindle, iPad and iPhone. In this step, you can also upload your cover page.
  4. After ensuring your e-book has been uploaded successfully, you will be taken to a page where you fill out rights, royalty and pricing information for the book. When you reach a question that asks to verify your territory rights, be sure to check the option for worldwide territories.
  5. Choose your royalty rate; put in the price for your e-book. When you enter the price for your e-book in USD currency, it will be converted to international prices as well. However, you can choose which currency you want your e-book to be available in.
  6. Publish your e-book when you have completed the steps, and your e-book will be available for purchase in the Kindle store in approximately 12 hours. Amazon will contact you when your book is officially uploaded in the Kindle store.

For more reference, you may watch this video tutorial below. It will explain how to publish your MOBI/KF8 eBook through Amazon’s KDP or how to update an existing eBook that has already been published. The process is the same for small presses and self-publishers.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iqNVb9SLo8]

Bonus Information and Tips

Don’t expect that you will receive many sales right after publishing your e-book; you need to promote your product and gain exposure after publishing. The first thing you should do to gain exposure is to create an author profile at Amazon. Amazon has a program called Author Central that provides you with your own author page where you can share information about yourself. Amazon’s Author Central program gives independent authors the exposure they need to be seen by online visitors. With Author Central, you also receive a way to track your sales and see where your book is selling the most. You can use your author page to share your blog link, website link or even articles you have written online for various websites, such as Ezinearticles.com, HubPages.com or Squidoo.com. By using this program, you can create effective backlinks and gain more exposure.

The information in this article was provided by Elite Web Group, a Fort Lauderdale based Company that provides comprehensive internet marketing Services.

If you have any questions, please ask below!