Some Thoughts On Kindle Publishing
Fair warning … I’m writing today’s blog post more for myself than for you. Please excuse the indulgence, but hopefully you’ll be able to get something out of it as well.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading on Kindle publishing over the past six months or so. I have owned a kindle for well over a year and love it. Being able to download a book on just about any topic is a dream come true for a bookworm like me.
I’ve enjoyed reading quite a few business books and short reports by my colleagues. The image on the right is the cover of a report I picked up just this morning by Denise Wakeman.
Each time I go through these reports and ebooks, I keep thinking that I really should get something up there as well. I have lots of content already written that I could easily turn into a report for Kindle.
…And I’m constantly telling you to repurpose everything you write. Yet, for some reason I haven’t taken my own advice when it comes to publishing on the kindle.
I honestly don’t know what my hangup is. But it’s time to step out of my comfort zone and commit to publishing my first book on Kindle. Consider this post my commitment to get that done before I head to NAMS in Atlanta on February 9th.
There are so any reasons to publish on the kindle platform. It’s an easy way to broaden our reach and further establishing ourselves as experts. Plus there’s the Amazon Author pages, something I took another look at today.
I’ve been following both Ellen Britt and Denise Wakeman on their respective blogs and both have a lot of information about self publishing in general and Kindle publishing in particular.
Today I took a look at their Amazon author pages and noticed something interesting …
You can pull both your twitter feed and your blog feed into your author page and thus share all that content with people browsing the Amazon Website.
As people come across your book and your author page, they may or may not end up buying one of your books or reports, but even if they don’t, they may end up reading your blog (and hopefully signing up for your list). The best part… once you have one book up on kindle and take a few minutes to set up your author page, there’s no extra work involved in capturing that extra traffic.
You can click on the respective images and take a look at the full author pages of Ellen and Denise.
So to recap, you can take existing content and repurpose it into a small ebook or short report to be published for Kindle.
Amazon will then take care of some of the marketing (by giving you exposure in their market place) as well as delivery and customer service.
You also get to syndicate your twitter and blog feeds on your author page.
And let’s not forget about the marketing you can do directly within your short report by encouraging readers to sign up for your list, read your blog, watch some bonus videos etc.
I think I’ve definitely talked myself into giving Kindle publishing a try and will report on the progress I’m making and what I’m learning right here. Stay tuned for more Kindle related news.
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Hi Susanne,
It’s funny, I have been thinking the same thing. It’s time to get something on kindle!
My problem is the formatting. I have tried a few times formatting my Word doc into kindle format but have never been too happy with the result.
Can you recommend a good way to do it?
Susanne,
I know you will be using your blog content to publish but could you walk me through the steps you take as you go toward writing and publishing on Knidle?
Oh wow, that feed on your author page tip is fantastic. I had no idea.
I’ve been meaning to get my ebook course formatted for Kindle – definitely need to do that!! (writing it down on my list this minute)
Congrats on taking action AND on taking your own advice Susanne! It’s a whole new world out there :-)
Go for it, Susanne! I know you have tons of fabulous content so it is clearly time to get it out to a wider audience. On Amazon’s AuthorConnect page you can also include videos and images so your readers and fans can get an even deeper connection with you.
Keep me posted on your progress. If you have questions about Kindle publishing, don’t hesitate to ask…blog on!
Lauri, I’m wondering about the formatting as well. I’m looking at a few different products and found one inexpensive one with a word template. Give me a couple of days to check it out and I’ll let you know if it’s something I would recommend. I’ll keep you posted on my progress in my kindle adventures here on the blog.
Carol, my content will come from a few different sources, but yes, I’ll report on every step right here. – heck that might turn into another kindle book ;)
Congrats Susanne! Let me know if I can help you with a little “but” kicking… and formatting if you get frustrated trying to figure out the code yourself.
Lauri – The technology is ever changing, which makes it nearly impossible for the average author to keep up. Kindle books are (currently) MOBI format, which is a fancy term for a giant zip file full of XHTML (think website) files. Any programmer will tell you code loves inserting “junk” code, which causes poor spacing, inserted letters and more formatting issues. The only way to get rid of these issues is to get rid of the “junk” code. And the only way to do that is to invest in an eBook programmer who can read code as well as you read English. Click my name for a detailed article I wrote about this topic. :)
Loretta, I never noticed that either. Let’s set a deadline and get our first kindle book up there. Up for a challenge?
Denise, thank you so much for your words of encouragement and the offer to answer questions (but you do realize you may have opened a can of worms … )
I’m one of those people that are thinking about publishing on Kindle, but not following through. To do so is one of my main goals in the next two months.
Thanks for an encouraging and interesting post. I hope you fulfill your goal!
If there’s a challenge, I’m in. Like you, I’ve been dragging my feet – and need to get cracking on this.
It really isn’t that hard to create a book for the Kindle. I took a tutorial from Debra Conrad and turned my cookbook that was already on Amazon into a Kindle book. I would still like to learn more about the subject. Here is a link to my cookbook that was made into a Kindle book.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Two-Candles-Romantic-ebook/dp/B005M325N0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327550404&sr=1-1
I love how you keep challenging yourself, Susanne!
Kindle publishing is sure hot right now, and it’s a nice little stream of income that gets bigger the more books you get online. Do keep us posted with how it goes!
Peggy
Marilyn, I agree, from everything I’ve seen and read it really doesn’t look all that complicated. It’s just a matter of sitting down and doing it.
I’m wrapping up some content this week and will work on formatting and figuring out the rest of it next week. I’ll report on progress here on the blog.
Thanks Peggy. I’m so glad you suggested this little challenge. I’m getting more work done all around (even my house is cleaner :) )
Got to tell you though… I”m getting tired. Can’t wait for NAMS to get here …
I’m always up for a challenge! I really do want to get my transcription info product on there, but the formatting throws me a bit. Will be interested to hear about those templates you’re checking out!