Self-Publishing

A recent fall in Kindle Unlimited royalties is a concern for self-publishers with ebooks in KDP Select. Many elements are at play, and only Amazon knows the determining factors. Amazon’s monthly announcement of the Global Fund allocated to paying authors per page read on Kindle Unlimited (KU) is the only known definite. What we don’t…

For authors, a writing and grammar checker has to perform many more functions than simply checking for errors and typos. Yes, you can find a lot of free and paid tools to check your writing. But most of them have restrictions, particularly with maximum word count limitations. A manuscript is a very long document. If…

When you check your books on Amazon, hopefully, you will see new book reviews for your titles. If you do, you may see a mix of verified purchase reviews and non-verified reviews. For an author of a new book, any reviews you receive, good or even not-so-good, can all help to sell your book. However,…

Can you publish a paperback book for free? Yes, you can, and it’s a great way to add credibility by offering a print version of your book in addition to an ebook. Like an ebook, when someone buys your print version, you will earn a royalty payment with no upfront costs. If you publish with Amazon,…

Self-publishing with Amazon is easy. But if you live in a country where Amazon KDP pays by check (or cheque), receiving your royalty payments can be a problem. It is not only very slow, but you will be subject to minimum thresholds before you can receive any payments. In addition, you will need to pay…

Once you self-publish a new title, you can’t delete a print book in paperback or hardcover versions. It applies to books published using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or any other publishing service. When a new book is published, the ISBN identifying numbers are registered with many catalogs and listing services. Even if you remove a…

ChatGPT authors are self-publishing Kindle ebooks at an astonishing rate on Amazon. Amazingly, many are not shy about adding ChatGPT as the author or co-author of their titles. However, it is probably only a minority of authors who admit to it so blatantly. New technology is always disruptive, and in this case, it’s the trend of…

Yes. You are a published author if you self-publish, and here’s why. The definition from the Oxford Dictionary makes it clear. You are published when a book, journal, piece of music, etc., is prepared and issued for public sale or readership. So you are a published author as soon as you make your book available…

Enrolling ebooks in KDP Select is popular with self-publishing authors. But Amazon can penalize authors if it finds a breach of its exclusivity agreement because of pirated ebooks. There is no ebook exclusivity with standard Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It is only when ebook authors choose to enroll in KDP Select that the exclusive selling…

Here comes a game changer in self-publishing. Ebook to audiobook production using AI or digital narration is starting. While it’s early days yet, Apple and Google are now offering AI (artificial intelligence) narration for ebooks. For self-publishing authors, it will make a massive difference in how they publish their books. The big question is if…