How To Self-Publish Your Novel on the Amazon Kindle

For too long, there were only two ways to distribute your novel: get accepted by a traditional publishing company—a long shot for most—or via the vanity press. The latter means the author pays someone else to publish his or her work, with little or no consideration for marketing or distribution. Paying to get published, though, breaks Yog's Law, which states, "Money should flow toward the author."

Today, we live in the age of electronic books. The high cost of printing and shipping is no longer a consideration, or barrier to entry. Publishers—once the middlemen in the process—aren't as important as they once were. The major ebook sellers have their own platforms, making it a breeze for any author to self-publish. (Amazon has Kindle Direct; Barnes & Noble has PubIt.) There are numerous services for ebook self-publishing that reach multiple markets, like Smashwords, BookBaby, and Booktango.

The old stigma that self-published books are of lesser quality is lifting fast. Often times, major best sellers originate in the self-published ebook space. Some authors, like Amanda Hocking, then get picked up by traditional publishers for big money. Others turn down the big money offers to retain creative control and to get a bigger piece of the sales (if there is any).

It's almost impossible to pinpoint what will make a book successful. That said, I have gained some valuable knowledge based on my own experience of having a novel traditionally published and now self-published. Here, I walk you through the steps to get published—with little to no help—on the biggest platform for ebooks that currently exists: Amazon's Kindle.

Why Kindle Direct?
There are a lot of ebook publishing platforms. Smashwords, for instance, is a particularly great and free service. Publish an ebook once and then disseminate it to several ebook stores, including B&N, Apple iBooks, Sony, Kobo, and others (but not Amazon). But Amazon's Kindle is the ebook reader most people own, even if the rumors say the Kindle's sales are "dropped out of bed." Amazon recently dispelled those rumors, though, when it announced that Kindle-only ebook downloads and purchases .

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service provides incentives for those choosing the self-publishing route. Foremost is the money. You get 70 percent royalty for each ebook sold. (The price is between $2.99 and $9.99; you can't go lower than $2.99). If you specifically choose the KDP Select option, your ebook becomes part of the Kindle Owner's Lending Library and you are eligible to earn a share of the $6 million fund available each month to authors whose ebooks are borrowed (not purchased). Ebooks are also made available in multiple territories across the globe.

Of course, there are also downsides. Ebooks that are part of KDP Select must be exclusively available from Amazon for 90 days minimum. That means you can't have that ebook on PubIt, Smashwords, or anywhere else online—not even your own website. (Selling print copies is fine.)

During that 90 days exclusive, you are allotted five days during which you can give your ebook away for free. That might not sound like a moneymaker, but many authors utilize the giveaway time to great advantage. The key to success on Amazon is getting an ebook to rise up the ranks of popularity lists, and the more ebooks you give away for free, the higher up the list it will go. If it's close to the top when the price goes back to $2.99 or higher, you're going to sell a lot of books. For a while. Then the cycle has to start anew.

When the ebook is not part of KDP Select and thus not exclusive, you still can't set the price below 99 cents, but if you make the book free on another service, Amazon will eventually price-match it.

If your ebook is in KDP Select, make sure to opt out if you want the exclusivity to end at the 90-day mark, otherwise Amazon will automatically renew it. You can take your ebook out of exclusivity at any time.

What You Need to Get Started
First, write a novel. It's got to be a book you believe in, even if it's been rejected by many agents and editors, because, let's face it, the competition is not only fierce but the numbers are overwhelming. The New York Times recently reported that there were 300,000 self-published books (ebook and print) in 2011. None is as easy to find as those that are published traditionally and will get a marketing push.

Remember, you're not going to get rich. The Guardian reported this summer that the average amount made by a self-published ebook author in a year is $10,000; more than half are lucky to clear $500 per year. But it's not about the money, right?

Second, get the book professionally edited. Period. Pay someone who knows what he or she is doing to make your words at least sound like English. That should include all the front-matter; you need a title page and a copyright page at the very least. Depending on the book, you may also have a table of contents (more on that below), a foreword written by someone else, a preface, acknowledgements, a dedication, and maybe even a prologue. The back-matter could be an epilogue, index, afterword, or glossary. At the very least, include an "About the Author" bio.

Third, select a fantastic, eye-catching cover. This is an area where book authors with traditional publishers rarely get a say, but now you're the art director. Of course, covers are highly subjective. I held a focus group on the cover my talented friends put together for my novel, Kali, and received critiques on my favorite aspects. Go with your gut, but know that once it's all said and done, you need a high-quality graphic that measures 800 pixels wide by 1,066 pixels tall to be a perfect fit for Kindle publishing. If the cover has a white background, put a narrow grey border around it so it won't get lost on the background of Amazon pages. A larger image is okay—Amazon suggests you have 2,500 pixels on the longest side—but the size may impact the amount of money you make (see "File Size and Delivery Fees").

What's even more important is how that cover looks when reduced in size to about 160-by-240 pixels—that's the size of the thumbnail that appears on a book's Amazon sales page. The logo and byline and other important info should still be visible and readable. Hell, Amazon will shrink it down again by one-quarter that size if you end up on a "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" list on other pages, and you definitely want to be on those lists.

If you don't have talented friends who can design a killer cover for the price of a six-pack, there are many places where you can go and get a great looking image personalized for your book. Start with Extended...Imagery, the artist/designer for self-publishing writer guru J.A. Konrath. He charges $200 for pre-designed covers and $350 for a customer design. Those prices are actually on the low side.

If you're concerned about the copyright protection of your book, it should be enough for you to know that once a book is in a "fixed tangible form," it's copyrighted. If you're still worried, MediaShift has an entire step-by-step guide about how you can register the book with the U.S. Electronic Copyright Office for $35.

File Size and Delivery Fees
That 70 percent royalty in the KDP Select program comes with some caveats. Namely, there's a delivery fee if you pick that option. (Your other option is to only collect a 35 percent royalty, then there's no delivery fee.)

The delivery fee is based entirely on the size of your book in megabytes (as calculated by Amazon) multiplied by a certain amount of money per territory. In the United States, that's 15 cents per MB. The minimum fee is one penny.

That means that if you upload a big file, Amazon is going to take a much bigger cut for each book sold.

For example, on my first upload of my novel Kali: The Ghosting of Sepulcher Bay, there was no special formatting. I merely uploaded my cover graphic and a Microsoft Word file of the book itself.

There's something important everyone—even the big publishers—should known when publishing to Kindle: in the end, Kindle files are nothing but HTML. All you need to do is upload an HTML file. (More on that later.) Anyone who's ever converted a Word file to HTML knows that the result is a mess of code that is utterly unnecessary. That's what I got. I re-uploaded the book after going into Word, selecting Save As and choosing "Web Page, Filtered" to get that messy HTML file and this was the difference.

File size and associated fees by format

Uploaded File	Amazon Reported Size	Delivery Cost	Estimated Royalty on $2.99
DOC	2.37MB	$0.35	$1.85
HTM (no editing)	0.44MB	$0.07	$2.04
HTM (edited)	0.39MB	$0.06	$2.05

The "HTM (no editing)" file is directly exported from Word, with no adjustment from me. It didn't look perfect on the Kindle however, so it needed some tweaking. Still, it showcases that size truly matters to the author's bottom line.

File Formatting Tricks
The difference between the two HTM files noted above is that on the second, I ran the file through a HTML stripper at CleanUp HTML. It cleaned up almost too much. I used Notepad++ to go in and edit the raw HTML file and the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) code inside it. I put in several hours perfecting the formatting. It didn't save me much money (only 1 cent per book), but the file was infinitely more readable.

Here are other tricks you should know. (These tips assume basic HTML knowledge.)

• Remove page numbers, headers, and footers. Do this before you output to HTML. Kindles don't show page numbers.
• Insert two bookmarks. Using the Word bookmarks feature, you need to insert two bookmarks. One is called "Start," which you should put at the beginning of the first page of actual content. Then insert another called "TOC" where you'll put your table of contents. (See the next bullet.) When you make your HTML file, these will become and anchors. Kindle will use them for menus in the final ebook.
• Table of contents. Amazon recommends that ebooks have a table of contents. Not all novels need one, especially if each chapter doesn't have a title (like in Harry Potter). I titled chapters in Kali, however, so I created a ToC. Start this process in Word, by using a style (probably Heading 1 or Heading 2) for each chapter. Place your cursor in the document where the ToC should go, then (in Word 2010) go to the References tab and select "Table of Contents." The built-in "Automatic Table 1" choice is fine. The ToC will be automatically generated in the Word doc, with page numbers indicated.
  
  This is where it gets tricky. When you output the Word file to HTML, the ToC will output and work as links to each chapter. All the page numbers are hidden when you view the file in a browser until you clean up the HTML. Then you have to go in and remove all the page numbers by hand when you edit the HTML file. Annoying, but it works.
• Page breaks. Your novel needs page breaks inserted before every chapter. Do so in the Word manuscript; they'll appear as <br clear="all"/>when you output the file to HTML. You need to globally search and replace that with <mbp:pagebreak/>. For some reason, that's the Kindle's preferred tag.
• Scene breaks. If you have scene breaks—as in breaks in the middle of the chapter, usually indicated in a novel by an extra space between paragraphs—use a hash character (#) or some other unique character to mark them in the manuscript. Then leave them in when you convert to HTML. Otherwise, when you use an HTML cleaner, it could strip out what it thinks are blank lines, even though you want those blank lines. In fact, for ebooks, since you don't have control over where scene breaks happen on "the page" I'd suggest leaving scene-break indicated character(s) no matter what. I personally like the quadruple tilde (~~~~).
• HTML tags. Stick to standard HTML tags like <p> for every paragraph, <em> for italics, and <strong> for bolding. Chapter headings should be one of the headline tags, such as <h1> or <h2>. You can use all the tags you want and adjust them with the CSS code at the beginning of the document. For example, you'll want some <p> tags that don't have an indent for the copyright page. If you're a true CSS pro, you could go nuts and have an external .CSS file. If you're new to CSS, check out this tutorial to get up to speed.
• HTML clean up. Cleaning HTML files with a scrubber like CleanUp HTML will reduce the file to the most basic HTML tags and CSS codes you need, but it could also eliminate text elements you may want to keep, such as em dashes and smart quotes. Before you clean up the HTML, you may want to do a search and replace to turn the "—" into the HTML "—" element. It's harder to turn those nice curly quotes into the """ attribute, however, because they may also get replaced in the actual HTML. You could do it in the Word document manuscript, but I found that while books on the Kindle do support smart quotes, not all publishers, even the pros, bother.

You will see a lot of information on the Web stating that Kindle only handles .mobi files and that's what you should upload. While this is indeed the case, Amazon takes care of translating your DOC or HTM file to MOBI in the background, so you never have to generate one personally. In fact, I'd recommend against it at this stage; it is just an extra step you don't need. (If you absolutely do want to make one, the free Kindle Previewer software for MacOS 10.5 and up, and Windows XP to 7, will handle the transformation for you.)

You may also read about the command line-based Kindle Gen software for converting files directly to MOBI format. It's superfluous since the more user-friendly Kindle Previewer does that same thing.

In the end, while Kindle Previewer is useful for seeing certain aspects of how your book will look, it's not complete. For example, Previewer would not let me link back to my ToC, so I thought it didn't work. On the Kindle itself, though, the link to ToC worked fine.

There's a new Kindle format called Format 8. Amazon calls it its "next generation file format," but it's simply HTML5/CSS capable so you can create documents with color that look good on the Kindle Fire tablet. It works for ebooks with lots of graphics, from children's books to graphic novels. If you're simply publishing a novel, you don't need to worry about it.

Dealing with Images
Graphics are okay with the Kindle, even in your novel (like a stylized logo on the title page, for example). Embed them in the DOC file for your novel, but make them inline images instead of wrapping text around them. When you output the doc to HTM, you'll get a separate folder holding the images.

Before you upload the final file, take the graphics out of the separate folder and place them in the same folder as the HTM file you'll be uploading. You'll need to go into the file and use a global search and replace to change the image tags so they point to that route folder. For example,

<img width="265" height="135" src="/folder/kali.gif" alt="KALI" /> becomes <img width="265" height="135" src="kali.gif" alt="KALI" />

When you are ready to upload, make a ZIP file that includes the HTML and all the graphics. That's what you'll send to Amazon. (Don't include your cover image in the ZIP. That stays separate.)

Uploading to KDP
You've got your fully edited book in HTML format (in a ZIP file if it also has inline graphics) and a separate JPG or TIFF image of the cover. You should also prepare a book description; it's what people will read about your novel while shopping. It's analogous to the "jacket copy" of a hardcover book in the store.

Visit KDP select and sign in. You don't need to use your personal Amazon account, but that's up to you. Before you can even upload a book, you need to provide Amazon with your bank info and tax information (your social security number if you're just an individual). You can't skip this step. Once you make $10 on your ebook, Amazon will automatically transfer the money to your bank 60 days after the end of that month. So don't expect to get rich during the first couple of months of sales.

Finally, you'll be taken to your KDP Bookshelf, which displays a list of all the books you've currently self-published. Click the "Add New Title" button.

Page 1 is where you enter book info. Click to enroll in KDP Select (or not). Give the book a name, give its series a name (if applicable) and paste in your book description.


The Book Contributors section lets you add the author's name (which is absolutely required), as well as the names of editors, illustrators, and others involved. You have the option of listing a publication date, publisher name (your own name or a fancy company name if you've got one), and an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) number. ISBNs are used by bookstores with physical books. Don't use one here unless you bought an ISBN just for your ebook from ISBN.org. Amazon will automatically assign you its own ASIN number that is unique to your ebook.

Once you verify that you have the rights to upload the book, it gets a bit tricky. You must choose one (but no more than two) categories for your ebook in Amazon's book store. Choose wisely. Then, list up to seven keywords that would help people searching for the ebook.

Finally, upload the ebook cover. It's used, as we said above, in multiple places, like in the ebook itself, on the Amazon sales page, and in search results. So it has to look good at multiple sizes. Upload the high-res version and Amazon does a good job of making the smaller files for you.


Then, upload the zip file with the HTML file of the ebook's text and all the internal images. Take the time to think about whether you want to enable Digital Rights Management or not. You can't change this option later. Putting DRM on a file means if a reader tries to share it after purchase, it probably won't work. In reality, DRM tends to gum things up more for legitimate purchasers. I'd recommend against it.

Preview your ebook right there on the website. You can save your document as a draft now if you're not ready to go forward.

Rights & Pricing
When you proceed to Page 2, it's time to talk Rights & Pricing. Specify if Amazon can offer your ebook worldwide or select any of the 246 territories. If, for example, the ebook is also available in French, upload that file version separately just to sell in France. You can also opt to sell the English version everywhere.

Pick your royalty (35 or 70 percent) and price (between $2.99 and $9.99). Watch the auto-generated table carefully to ensure that you're getting the lowest delivery cost and the best estimated royalty. If the ebook's file size is more than 1MB and you have few or no graphics, it's time to edit your HTM file even more.

Finally, you'll see the "Kindle Book Lending" box is automatically checked if you selected to enter KDP Select. If you didn't, you can check it here. Then it's just a matter of clicking "Save and Publish."

In 12 hours or less, after Amazon Customer Service has given it the once over, you'll be an author and a publisher. Download the published file to your own Kindle and examine it. You can re-upload the file again at any time if you need to make corrections. Better to do it at this point before customers find it for sale.

If you don't already have an account with Amazon Author Central, create one before you upload your novel. Link that account to the ebook and you'll have one author account to use on all your future ebook uploads.

Third Party Helpers
It's a lot of work to self-publish. You can't get around some of the steps Amazon requires, like uploading your own file, but you can pay someone to do the formatting for you. Here are five sites that can help you:

52 novels It preps manuscripts for Amazon, B&N, Apple, Smashwords, and others, as well as for print on demand.

eBook Architects Consultants do conversion, and they also run a helpful site called Kindle Formatting.

CreateSpace Amazon's own vanity press for print books will convert books in its system to Kindle starting at a price of $69.

Data Conversion Laboratory This ebook production service specializes in creating documents in Kindle Format 8, so they're perfect for the picture heavy books.

Kinstant Formatter The presentation of this page is iffy, but the reports from sites around the Internet are that this Web-based tool does a great job converting your DOC to the perfect HTML format for Kindle. It charges $27, but for that price, you get 100 formats.

Amazon KDP has a major list of other professional conversion services. Additional help is only a click away in Amazon's own KDP Community forum.