Kindle Select Program Archives - Self-Publishing Tips

“Forget what you heard about book writing, publishing and promoting; the model just changed–for the better! Now you may print shorter runs at prices that make sense, publish your “books” in other (electronic) ways, sell them automatically and promote them for practically nothing. You will discover how to wring maximum value out of your work. This is an exciting time to be a writer.”

This is how Dan Poynter begins Writing Your Book: Cashing in on Publishing, Faster, Easier, & Cheaper, his 54-page ebook loaded with tips, steps and advice based on decades of experience and success. This Kindle version is free today, July 13 through July 14 until midnight.

You do not have to own a Kindle in order to take advantage of this. Amazon makes Kindle reader apps available free for your computer or mobile devices. Grab yours at Kindle Reader.

Dan is the authority on self-publishing and author of 130 books.

Always keeping up with changing technology, Dan admits that he is testing Kindle Direct Publishing Select Freebie Day. He says,

You can help me gain experience, figures, and even some money, by downloading this free book on writing books.
The above is the pitch I am testing.

He begins his book stressing the importance of researching your topic for comparable books, readers’ reviews to ensure that there is a market for your book. From there, he goes on to tell you how to

Build your book using the world’s largest library that’s on your desk, the Web.
Get your book professionally edited and reviewed
Register your copyright
Properly use quotations and other information from others
Create and publish ebooks as well as print books
Convert and post your ebook
Collaborate with a colleague, editor or ghostwriter
Package, publish and promoting your book

The greatest benefit of Dan’s book is learning that you don’t have to choose between self-publishing and traditional publishing or ebooks v.s. print books. You can do all of these if you wish. He tells you how to do so profitably.

Any time Friday or Saturday, log on to
Get Free Book
or Copy\Paste:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VP66Z

It’s my pleasure to welcome guest contributor, Tea Silvestre, aka the Word Chef (http://thewordchef.com), as she shares her recent experience with Amazon’s KDP Select program.

Now that my book is published, I’m finding more and more authors expressing opposing sides of the Yay/Nay debate on joining the Kindle Select Program.

My thought is this: if Amazon is THE 100 lb publishing gorilla, why wouldn’t you try it out?

Funny how when you know you’re going to be publishing a book, you start to see relevant thoughts and opinions everywhere.

That’s what happened to me and how I found my way to the Kindle Direct Publishing page and its Select Program

My experience with Kindle Publishing (and their Select program) has been pretty cool.

I reached #57 on Amazon’s list of nonfiction free e-books on my first day.

Not sure that the free day has increased subsequent sales, but that’s okay with me. I really just wanted to get my book into the hands of new people. To get exposure to new prospects.

KDP would work best for folks who have a series of books (where you give away the first in the series, and then folks are prompted to get the next one).

My biggest headache? Formatting the manuscript. And really — it wasn’t a full-blown migraine type of headache. Just the kind of dull sort of ache that happens after a long day.

Here’s what you need to know before we get started

I used to teach people how to use Microsoft Office software for a living (waaaay back in the day); so even though I’m not intimately familiar with the current version of MS Word, I know the functionalities and what they’re capable of accomplishing.

I’m comfortable with technology and don’t freak out when I need to learn something new; this is a state of mind you need to cultivate if you’re going to feel successful in the digital publishing (DIY) world.

I know how to use Google to look for answers to my questions. Need to know how to do a particular thing? Google it!

So that’s the place where I started from (technology-wise) in terms of launching this book.

Here are my tips for making your experience just a little bit smoother

Read the directions. My honey is constantly teasing me about my habit for not doing this. Yes, I’m a bookworm. Yes, I love to read. Just not directions. Those? I skim those (if at all). In this case, it’s a good idea to read the directions thoroughly before you start. Had I done that, I would’ve known that I needed to save my manuscript not just in html, but in html filtered. Apparently there’s a difference.

Zip your final files before you upload them. Html projects create a separate file for things like images. Your html doc needs to be zipped with that folder to keep everything together nice and tight.

Create your Table of Contents using Word’s heading styles

Format your pages to 3.5″ x 5″ so you can see what your book will look like (roughly) at those dimensions. It helps to see if you need to fix any line breaks. (Then put the margins back before you save and upload them to Kindle.)

My best advice? Don’t rely on the Select program as your sole marketing channel. It’s just one tiny piece of your entire book marketing plan. And when my 90-day contract expires, I’ll be adding my book to Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Apple’s iTunes and Smashwords (not to mention my own website!).

Until then, if you’d like to get my book for free, my last free download day is Wednesday, June 6th (24 hours only).

Bio: Tea (pronouced like Tay’ah) Silvestre is the author of “Attract and Feed a Hungry Crowd: How thinking like a Chef can help you build a solid business.” She’s also the founder of the Tastiest Small Biz Brand Awards and a sought-after marketing consultant and speaker.