How to Publish Your Stories for Kindle
If you're an author looking for a way to get your work out to the world without going through a formal publisher, Kindle Direct Publishing might be for you. Through this Amazon service, users can upload their own books for distribution through Amazon's Kindle e-Reader, with the ability to profit from their creative work and gain almost immediate exposure. Publishing your book through Kindle requires a bit of preparation, not only to write the book but also to properly format it for use on the Kindle device.
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Things You'll Need
- Amazon.com Account
- Word processing program (must be capable of saving as DOC and as a filtered HTML file)
- Mobipocket Creator
Instructions
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Preparing Your Book
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Write your story in your preferred word processor, but the save file must be in DOC format. While most text formatting like bold, italics and indenting are supported, others, like headers, footers and unique fonts, will not be. Images included in your story need to be in JPEG format and inserted with center alignment. Kindle displays in grayscale, so colors won't be supported.
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Double-check your story for spelling, grammar and formatting errors and edit it as necessary. When finished, save the DOC file and then select "Save As" from the file menu to save as a "Web Page" with the "Filtered" formatting option.
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Download and install Mobipocket Creator (mobipocket.com) and run the program.
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Select "HTML Document" from the "Import from an Existing File" section and browse through your file folders for the HTML file. Then click "Import" to begin book editing.
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Click on "Cover Image" followed by "Add a Cover Image" to add any cover you may have created for your book. If you don't have one, the Kindle Direct Publishing Service offers a simple cover for your title at no additional charge. When finished, click "Update" to save your cover and "Build" to compile your book into the PRC format required for Kindle uploading.
Uploading the Book
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Sign into the Kindle Direct Publishing website (kdp.amazon.com) with your Amazon account and click "Add a New Title."
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Fill in the required information in the appropriate text fields. Required information includes the title, the names of any contributors to the book, the language it was written in and categories for genre information. Other required information includes publishing rights verification, which requires you to check whether you own the rights to the book or if it is in the public domain. If you own the rights, you'll be prompted to verify whether you own worldwide rights, or only rights in individual territories. If your rights are limited to individual territories, you can indicate the territories in which you hold the rights through a checklist. You must also select whether or not Digital Rights Management, or DRM, will be applied to your e-Book.
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Fill in the optional information in the appropriate text fields. Optional information includes a description that must be between 30 and 4,000 characters, the date of publication if the book has been published before, the name of any individuals or companies you wish to list as publishers. If your book has an International Standard Book Number, or ISBN, you can also enter it in an optional text field. Other optional information includes search keywords and a personalized cover for the product's detail page.
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Click the "Browse for Book" button when you finish entering information and have selected a DRM option.
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Browse through your file folders for the .PRC e-Book file and select it. Then click the "Upload Book" button to upload the book to the Kindle Direct Publishing server.
Pricing and Publishing
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Scroll down to the "Royalty Option" section after uploading your book in the "Rights & Pricing" section.
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Select a royalty option (35% Royalty or 70% Royalty) for your book.
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Scroll down to the "List Price" text fields and enter your desired price in the "US Dollar" field. The price will be automatically converted to British Pounds or Euros for those pricing options.
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Check the box labeled "By clicking Save and Publish Below" check box and click "Save and Publish." Barring any errors or further inquiries on Amazon's part, your book will be offered in the Kindle store to potential customers within 24 to 48 hours.
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Tips & Warnings
Publishing your own book in this fashion can help you earn some money and get some exposure if more traditional publishing avenues have proven unfruitful or difficult to pursue.
If you create a custom cover and/or custom art for your product detail information, use only images you have a license for or the right to use. Otherwise, you risk possible legal action from the image's copyright holder.
