Ever wanted to write something people outside your social network might read one day? Are you like me in the sense that you enjoy writing but aren't sure if other people will enjoy your writing? A great way to put your work out there is Amazon's digital text platform. You can even earn up to 70% royalties off of your completed manuscript. People will be able to access your work from their kindles, iphones, ipads, blackberry phones, android phones, and/or home PC or Mac. Amazon makes it too easy. Allowing you to self-publish books in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian and even select pricing options in US dollars and Pounds Sterling.
However, the downside to fast, easy and hassle-free self-publishing is that there is a lot of mediocre work that clutters the virtual bookshelves out there. If you've ever experienced downloading (and paying to read) work that isn't fit to wipe your butt with when looking for something to read on your personal kindle then you know exactly what I am talking about; please be respectful of your potential audience. Especially because I am one of them. ;-) Their time, money and digital memory is valuable.
My Mom always told me, "It never hurts to try." Best advice anyone could ever give you, in my opinion. Give it your best shot. If you just want to put your feelers on to see if you can captivate your readers try self publishing an article, short story or a side project first. Leave your "baby" to fend for itself in good old fashion query letters. Better yet start a blog of your own (which you can now self-publish on amazon.com also).
Step-by-Step Guide to publish via amazon.com's DTP (digital text platform)
1. Complete your manuscript in a digital format like word, html, text, PDF, etc.
2. Write a mini-synopsis; basically sum up your entire word count in an intriguing single paragraph.
3. Design a book cover; you can use your own art or hire a local starving artist. You can find a free online book cover generator here: http://www.oreillymaker.com/
4. Edit your work and then have friends and family edit your work. If you have the extra cash splurge for a freelance editor (http://www.seo-writer.com/freelance/copy-editor.html); it's your name you’re putting out there so remember the old saying about first impressions.
5. Go to https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin; if you already have an account with Amazon you can start publishing. If not then sign-up.
6. Read the Quick Start guide. Then read and accept the terms and service agreement(s).
7. Click "add a new title" and input your information.
8. Click "save & continue" when finished.
9. Proceed to "Upload and Preview." Find your file.
10. Once the conversion is completed, please proofread. You have to download, edit, and upload your file again if you need to make changes. Save your work.
11. Next you head towards rights and pricing; I suggest you offer it free at first or at a very low cost like $0.99.
12. Start self promoting; give away copies, start a blog about your book, tweet, post references to your work in forums, have everyone you know read and review your work on Amazon, etc.
13. If your work gets higher and higher in the ranks and your reviews are good, that is a green light to raise the price just a little.
14. Find your right price; remember well known authors often get blasted for raising their prices over $9.99; my favorite author sells their older works between $4.99-$7.99 (and they have a whole team full of middle-men to pay).
15. Good luck :-) I really hope that I helped get you closer to your dream.
Some helpful sites are:
- http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com
- http://kindlegen.s3.amazonaws.com/AmazonKindlePublishingGuidelines.pdf
- http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry!default.jspa?fromSearchPage=true&categoryID=32&externalID=2
- http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx
- http://oreilly.com/oreilly/author/index.html
- http://www.bookwritinghelp.com/
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