Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is a tool that makes it easy for authors to self-publish their works and make them accessible as hardcovers or ebooks on Amazon.
Amazon controls approximately 80% of the world’s ebook market.
That makes it a platform of choice for authors who want to reach a wider audience.
Authors who use Amazon KDP to publish their books also have much more control over the entire process.
They are able to control prices, control the market and they also have full control over the creative process.
In this article, we give you a quick overview of KDP publishing, and why it is a viable choice for your publishing needs.
What Are the Benefits of KDP Publishing?
If you’ve been doing your research on self-publishing, then you know one of the biggest benefits of KDP Publishing is the zero costs to publish.
This leads to a greater convenience for authors and entreprenurs who want to advertise their works on the platform.
However, although that is one of its biggest benefits, there are others that make it worth tapping into.
The following are only some of KDP Publishing’s biggest benefits.
Access to a Global Audience
As we mentioned earlier in the article, Amazon controls most of the world’s ebook market.
Having your book published on Amazon KDP means that even more people will be able to access it.
The more people who have access to your book, the more sales you could potentially make.
No Upfront Costs
If you choose to use a traditional publishing house, you will need to pay a fee before having your book published.
KDP Publishing has made the entire publishing process accessible to many people.
Publishing your book on Amazon KDP is completely free, however, you will need to share a percentage of your sales with the company.
Depending on the type of plan you choose, you can control your royalty options and this gives you more flexibility and control over your profits.
You Can Create Both Ebooks and Paperbacks
Although Amazon KDP is predominantly an ebook platform, they give authors the option of having their books published as paperbacks.
If you want to sell a hard copy version of your book, KDP Publishing will have your book printed, and shipped to your customer’s address.
For authors who want to sell their paperback books personally, this is a great option.
Life without a Kindle is like life without a library nearby.
Franz. S Mclaren
Simply make a wholesale book order on the KDP Publishing dashboard and Amazon will ship your books to you.
Like with any other print on demand business, there are some costs to this and in this case, you will have to pay the printing costs for each book.
However, once you have your books, you can sell them for whatever price you feel is suitable.
What Content Is Sold on KDP Publishing
Amazon KDP offers authors the option to sell a variety of books.
Sellers can create anything from novels to low-content books like journals.
The following books can be published on Amazon KDP:
- Novels
- Journals
- Cookbooks
- Comics
- Poetry
- Textbooks
- Book Series
- Children’s Books
Once you find the niche that you want to tap into, you can review these categories and determine the present market for each.
KDP Select and KDP Unlimited
Authors on KDP Publishing have the option of having their books under one of two plans: KDP Select and KDP Unlimited.
KDP Select gives users the ability to earn higher royalties of up to 70%.
To be eligible for the higher royalty (70%), authors must meet the following criteria.
Their books must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99.
You must own the copyright to your book, and it should not be available in the public domain.
Authors will pay a delivery fee that is dependent on the size of their book.
Once you have your book accepted to Amazon KDP, it cannot be sold on other platforms like Nook, Apple, or Kobo.
Users under the KDP Select will also have access to promotional tools that KDP Unlimited does not provide.
KDP Unlimited is a subscription service that gives users access to as many books as they can read for a monthly fee.
Unlike KDP Select, on KDP Unlimited authors are paid by the number of pages read instead of by the number of books bought/downloaded.
It should be noted that any book that is enrolled under KDP Select is automatically available on KDP Unlimited.
Signing Up
The signup process on Amazon KDP is fairly straightforward.
Simply go to the Amazon KDP website and click signup.
You’ll be prompted to fill in your information including your name, email address, and password.
Once you have an account, you can start creating your ebooks and paperbacks.
Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.
Stephen Fry
Choose the “Create A New Title” option and fill in all the required entries.
You will need to include your book title, edition, author name, description, publishing rights, and keywords.
After that, you will upload your manuscript, book cover, and book preview.
You’ll then set a price for your book and here is where you will also choose if you want your book in the KDP Select plan.
Marketing and Advertising
Although self-publishing is accessible, KDP Publishing is extremely competitive.
Since it offers a lot of convenient tools for users and readers alike, breaking into this platform can take time.
To beat the competition, you will need to market and advertise your book both on Amazon and on any other platforms of your choosing.
Authors can take advantage of KDP Publishing’s promotional tools to market their books.
You can also look into creating and paying for Amazon-sponsored ads so your books can reach an even wider audience.
If you have a substantial following for your work outside of Amazon KDP, you can market through your networks.
Social media is also a great free resource that will help you with your marketing.
In Conclusion
KDP Publishing is a great tool for authors.
It has made publishing within the reach of more people who have work that they would love to share.
Whether you’re an author or not, you can still use Amazon KDP to make additional income.
They allow for low-content books like journals to be sold, and creating these books does not require a lot of effort.
There’s a lot to learn about Amazon KDP publishing guidelines and their royalties.
It would be wise to look into these before you choose to publish your books on Amazon KDP.
Tapping into this platform and investing time can be profitable especially if you consider the current demands in the market.
We hope that this article gave you a quick overview of everything you need to learn about publishing on Amazon.
