How to Publish an E-Book on Amazon

Ready to publish your E-Book?

E-books sales have continued to rise since they first came on the scene in 2011. Since then, people have begun to publish all sorts of material in e-book format, from the typical fiction to cookbooks, how-to books, guidebooks, and more.

While most authors use e-books as a secondary option to their print books, some authors choose to go directly to e-book, especially if the book is shorter in length and a more informative book that doesn’t necessarily fit into a specific genre or category.

Here’s how you can publish your E-book on Amazon.  

Finishing Your Manuscript

It’s easy to get tricked into thinking that just because you are creating an e-book that you may not need to go through a professional editor. But don’t be fooled by this idea. Getting your book professionally edited prior to publication, whether in print or as an e-book, is critical to your success. I’ve seen many negative reviews on e-books because authors didn’t take the time to properly edit their work.

Once your manuscript is finalized, you will then need to get a professionally designed cover and have the book designed for e-book formatting.

Have an E-book Cover Designed for Your Book

An e-book cover is just as important as a cover for the printed book. The cover sets the tone of your work and will attract the right browsers and buyers when matched correctly with your content.

If you have already published your printed book, you will need a high resolution JPEG of your front cover. If you only publishing your book in e-book format, you will need to get a cover design made.

Please do not make your own cover unless you are a professional designer, people really do judge a book by its cover.

Get Professional E-book Formatting

In order to publish your e-book on Amazon’s Kindle, you’ll need your book to be formatted. There are a variety of formats that are supported by Kindle, but many have issues and limitations. Click here to see the full list. https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634390

Check which format you’ll be using before you begin your formatting. What format you use will depend on your designer, the software you use, and your skillset. Creating your own e-book can be challenging, and you’ll be very limited in your design options.

Setting Up Your E-Book on KDP Amazon

Once you’ve finalized your manuscript, completed your cover and formatting, it’s now time to get your book live on Amazon. You’ll want to begin by creating an account with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), if you haven’t already. You can do that here: https://kdp.amazon.com

Once you’ve created an account, you’ll need to create a new title for your book and begin to add all the information. You’ll need the book title, description, author information, as well as pricing information.

When looking at the pricing structure, you’ll want to take into account the payment tiers Amazon has set up for you, and which pays the most. You’ll also want to consider the typical price of similar books in your genre and to price your book comparably.

Once you’ve uploaded your book, you’ll want to review in the previewer on the KPD site. This will allow you to check for any errors or formatting issues and get those resolved before the book is published to Amazon.

After you’ve approved the book, you’ll make it go live with Amazon. You can then hone in on your marketing and promotional work.

Link Your Book to Your Amazon Author Page

Additionally, after the book is live, be sure to connect your book to your Amazon Author Central page. If you haven’t set up your author page, do that here: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/.

You can add additional information about yourself, your blog, and have a few pictures as well.

Don’t have time or don’t want to figure out how to publish your e-book? No problem, let us help! Contact us to schedule a consultation about your project.