Self-Publishing

When you self-publish a new book on Amazon, you can order proof and author copies on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). Proof copies are essential to check your new print-on-demand paperback or hardcover book before publishing. But author copies are optional. If you want copies of your book to sign, use at book fairs, or sell…

Publisher Rocket is a popular book marketing tool for Amazon self-publishing authors. Essentially, it is a software program that gives authors access to the Amazon book database. It helps take a lot of the guesswork out of finding searchable Amazon KDP keywords and categories. But it’s not free, so is it fair value for money for…

For new authors, the biggest drawback of self-publishing is one word: marketing. Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to promote and advertise a new book. You only need to do a quick search to find hundreds of ideas to promote a book online. But these activities are not marketing. Here’s a quick guide to help…

Self-publishing very short books of fiction, such as pamphlets, novelettes, flash fiction, or short stories, can be challenging. With nonfiction, it would include essays, academic texts, or guides and manuals. Many of these generally have a word count of between 1,000 words and 5,000 words. However, this can cause problems when you try to self-publish…

Can you remove your ebook from Kindle Unlimited but stay in KDP Select? No, you can’t. Once your Kindle ebook is in Kindle Unlimited (KU), there is no removal option. Once you enroll your ebook in KDP Select, you can’t opt out of Kindle Unlimited KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages) page reads. The only way…

You can’t change the Look Inside percentage when you self-publish a new book on Amazon because it is set automatically. It is 10% for a Kindle ebook and 20% for a print book, either paperback or hardcover. The feature also takes 7 to 10 business days to appear on your book’s Amazon sales page. But…

How many book sales do you need to reach number one on Amazon? If you want to hit the bestseller lists for the major popular genres in the Kindle Store, you will need somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 book sales per day. However, Amazon has more than one bestseller list—there are hundreds if you know…

It can be a little disconcerting if you notice that your paperback version is not available on Amazon. But you’ll probably find that your Kindle or audiobook versions are fine. What you see is the result of geography, shipping costs, and delivery time. Unlike ebook and audiobook files, paperback or hardcover versions of your book…

Self-publishing low- or no-content books on Amazon KDP has been big business for a long time. However, it’s important to note that there is now no option for a free ISBN for low-content books, which could pose a challenge for publishers. You don’t need to do much research to discover that publishing books with no…

I often read posts by self-publishing authors complaining about Amazon’s Kindle ebook refund policy. Yes, it seems a little unfair that readers can buy an ebook, read it, and then return it for a full refund. But how long do readers have to claim a refund? If you have read a few articles on this…