To satisfy the growing demand for e-books, Amazon launched Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) alongside the physical Kindle device. Kindle device is for readers to read e-books published through Amazon. KDP is for authors to publish their book through Amazon.
Let us understand the basics of KDP to conclude later whether it’s worth it.
Basics of KDP
It allows you to directly and easily release a book onto the Amazon store without the need for gatekeepers/middlemen which is a must for traditional publishing. So, basically you save lots of time and energy and also save your manuscript from being twisted by traditional publishers.
Okay, but what about the profits?
Kindle self-publishing, Amazon offers different royalty options to self-publishers. The highest you can go is 70% if you price your e-book between $2.99 and $9.99. Most authors prefer to list their books at $6. Absolutely nothing is charged for publishing.
As opposed to traditional publishing, you earn more royalties with KDP- definitely.
Your actual earnings can be different depending on- if you outsource some of the book publishing tasks to best self-publishing companies, UK such as White Magic Studios, you can keep all the royalty to yourselves. They’ll charge for the tasks only. They will make your book available to all major distributors, retailers (including Amazon) and libraries over the globe, absolutely free.
Well, do self-publishers do it for free absolutely?
Nope! They charge for e-book cover design(an useful tool for marketing which should attract the reader even in the size of thumb-nail), creating illustrations too (it not only glues kids to your children’s books but also adults to other books as well, which acts as an explainer to your non-fiction books). They will charge for creating author’s website, animated book trailers, etc. for your book’s promotion.
However, these can also help you scale faster and sell multiple books at one time, thus increasing your overall earnings.
Check out the top reasons why your book absolutely deserves to be sold on the Kindle store:
Amazon dominates the world of e-books.
The Kindle Store is a diverse place.
You can easily sell your work in different formats.
Amazon has powerful free and paid marketing options.
Your profile in Author Central boosts your platform.
It’s “print on demand” option (It’s available on other platforms)
Don’t ignore the cons of KDP though.
Exclusivity trade-off. If you want to opt into programs like KDP Select, you won’t be able to sell your book elsewhere. You need to weigh up the benefits of being exclusive on Amazon VS featuring your book in other stores.
Diversify your income. By being featured in multiple stores, you protect against losing almost all your income should something go wrong on Amazon.
Problems with reviews. There are fake reviews, both positive and negative, in spite of Amazon’s attempts to shut them down. Sometimes, the company deletes what authors feel to be valid reviews.
Problem with marketing. If you are a novice and don’t know much about marketing books, you may drown in the huge ocean of books of Amazon publishing agency.
Hence, go through all the details and make an informed choice.