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Self publishing on Amazon?

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Hi All,

I also posted this on the Up Your Income board. Just wondering if anybody has tried this and how they found it?

Thanks ;)

Comments

  • System
    System Posts: 178,340 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I'm not sure about amazon, but kobo books seem to be a good way of self-publishing ebooks. Is it the electronic book market you'd be looking at?
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • wannabe_sybil
    wannabe_sybil Posts: 2,845 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    It is free to publish on Amazon for Kindle. It is really, really easy. They have an easy to follow guide which helps talk you through the process.

    However this depends on what you want from your manuscript. To get it registered as a book formally you need to get an ISBN number, for which there is a payment. I have no idea how much, but that is something to factor in. You can publish without an ISBN number, but it depends on how important to you that the title persists.

    You can also self publish through other companies for a wider distribution than just Amazon Kindle, I know that Lulu.com is one, but there are probably others. Do watch out for scams. I think if you publish through other companies you may need to purchase an ISBN. I shall be looking into kobo (thanks avogadro)

    Big HOWEVER.... People will only buy the book if they know it exists, or if there is something that catches their eye about the listing. There is a massive competition with loads of free kindle books on offer for current books and a massive catalogue of out of copyright books (you have copyright automatically when you publish). Kindle royalties are either 70% of the cost or, with more protection/flexibility, 30% I am not sure of the others, but I seem to remember a figure of 65% quoted by Lulu.com (could be wrong on that). If people don't know about it, and there is nothing that catches the attention, and you are priced above a lot of rivals, including free ones, then you will not make a lot of sales.

    If you can get the book mentioned/advertised or have information about it spread via Facebook, twitter or similar, then you may get a lot of sales and you may find it worth while. If you haven't bought an ISBN then any royalty is profit.

    You will need to register as self employed, or at least declare the earnings as self employed earnings and you and only you will be responsible for the cleanliness of the copy. If you have mix up with there/their/they're or misplace commas, unless you can get some one else to check the copy (and trust them!) it is all down to you to make sure that you publish something literate. There is no editor, no publisher, no agent, nobody to hold your hand and no-one to check that you have spelled the hero's name the same all the way through the manuscript.

    This is the linky to the Kindle self publishing entrance. There is a forum which I have never really spent much time in but they do cover a lot of the common questions.

    And apparently they do not allow erotica, which does beg the question of 50 shades...

    Good luck!
    Ankh Morpork Sunshine Sanctuary for Sick Dragons - don't let my flame go out!
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