While many are turning to self-publishing as their primary source of income, for some it provides an additional source of income. Self-publishing provides authors the flexibility to pursue writing as per their own schedule. Services like Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) are help here, claiming to democratize content creation for writers across English and vernacular languages like Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Gujarati. As per KDP, the authors who use the pltaform retain their rights, get to market, earn royalties of up to 70%, have control over how their work is published and distributed globally as well in multiple languages. KDP does not charge content creators and authors for any of this.
Here’s all that authors need to know and follow to start their journey on this digital platform.
Prepare your manuscript
Writers can use various tools available on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to prepare their manuscript and cover. They can opt for tools such as Kindle Create, which helps turn a manuscript into a formatted e-book. Another option to to create cover is through Cover Creator.
Meet content and quality guidelines
Keep track of the content and quality guidelines that your manuscript must meet in order to get published. All this information is available for view on the KDP website. Not meeting these guidelines may lead to their work being pulled down.
Create an account
Authors can sign in with their Amazon accounts. They can also opt to create an account on KDP website using their name and email ID. Once on KDP, they are required to share name, payment mode, and tax information. This includes details like your name, mailing address, bank details and tax details.
Add your book to the Bookshelf
Once logged into KDP, go to your KDP Bookshelf. Navigate to the “Create a New Title” section and then click ‘Kindle eBook’ to add manuscript and cover. Once added, there’s information to fill out. This includes the title of the book, a short description and keywords that may help readers find their book when they search for particular genres.
Choose distribution and pricing options
After uploading the manuscript, they can set the price for their e-book and choose the territories where they hold distribution rights. They can also choose a royalty plan.
