Self-Publishing means putting your book online instead of going through an agency or the traditional press. You’ll get higher royalties, but you also need to manage the marketing and promotion side of things yourself. Amazon KDP offers a great platform for authors to self-publish.
However, if you want the bigger picture, learning about self-publishing on Amazon pros and cons will help you in your journey. In addition, you can get our Kindle Direct Publishing Success Guide to transition into self-publishing easily.
Amazon Kindle Self-Publishing in a Gist
Self-publishing offers a relatively inexpensive method to get your digital book out there. You publish the book yourself without paying royalties to publishers, retailers, or agents, which is common in traditional publishing houses. Many authors choose to self-publish because it bypasses the gatekeepers that tend to hold back books from becoming successful.
Moreover, self-publishers also tend not to worry about meeting the strict guidelines required by traditional publishing. They can easily proceed to consider the demand of their potential readers and target audience. Physical copies are still needed in some instances, but having digital books can change your life.
Some marketing campaigns and publishing platforms will help you pass the tedious process of starting a self-publishing route without any background. You should be ready with the book layout and book covers before the self-publishing process begins.
The benefits of shifting to a self-publishing route will lessen your worries about delivery fees and book print costs. Kindle Direct Publishing will help you get started, and Kindle Unlimited will present you to your readers.
Traditional Publishing
When looking for a traditional publishing house, you should start looking for publishers who seem interested in your book idea. Sometimes they will require you to have a monthly budget to settle the expenses. This is how the book publishing experience works.
Then once you’ve found an interested publisher, you’ll need to send them a manuscript that will become your first draft. Once you receive feedback and positive reviews from the editor, it’s time to write another version.
If they like it, the editor will offer you a contract, and you’ll need to sign it. Once you’ve signed a contract, you can begin editing the final version of your book. Once done, they may negotiate with a common book pricing strategy and book print cost.
Most traditional publishers will handle the book formatting and book promotion tools. They will also require reputable authors to settle royalty rate agreements and determine the share of royalties. This means that more expenses will be attached to your publishing experience.
Self-Publishing on Amazon Pros and Cons
Suppose you are still used to the traditional way of engaging through book distribution programs. You must think twice because you can save more money if you shift to being a self-published author.
Let’s discuss the ups and downs of taking a self-publishing route, starting with the pros.
The Pros of Self-Publishing Through KDP
Amazon KDP is a platform that allows authors and publishers to publish books in its store. Authors can also sell pre-published titles directly through the website. It offers an intuitive interface that will guide you through creating your book.
Once your book is published, Amazon will handle the rest, including marketing and selling the book. If you get stuck or need help, the team at Amazon will provide step-by-step guidance to help you achieve your goals.
Also, you won’t even need to worry about formatting your book. The KDP Select team does that for you in case you need an editor. Custom ads will help you turn this into a profitable venture which will determine your earnings.
Publishing books on Amazon may seem easy, and indeed it is! But many factors will influence whether your book becomes successful or not. Let us take a look at why publishing on Amazon is beneficial and can be quite complicated at the same time.
The following is a summarized list of self-publishing advantages:
- Easy to Use
- Quick turn around of the article
- Able to manage costs
- Wide audience
- Monthly revenues
- Higher book sales
- Access to digital platforms
Royalty and Payment Options
One of the best perks of self-publishing is royalty options. If you’re going to print your books, you may choose to go the DIY route, meaning creating your book cover design and printing them yourself. You can also opt for a self-publishing contract with the largest book distributor company to help you with your sales.
Amazon KDP offers three royalty options. You can choose from 35% and 70% royalties for digital masterpieces. On the other hand, paperback publishing through Amazon provides 60% royalties.
However, there are also publishers that offer royalty options ranging anywhere from 70%-100%. Nevertheless, Amazon KDP is still one of the biggest and most far-reaching book marketplaces. Either way, you’re still making money from ebook sales and selling your work in book stores.
A royalty plan will normally affect the amount of money you’d get if you sold through a bookstore or online retailer. Hence, it is important to review the terms of the exclusivity clause that you normally encounter in KDP Select or Kindle Unlimited.
Full Control of the Project
You’ve got lots of skills and knowledge to offer when you focus more on honing your skills to be the best author you can be. Your expertise in areas like writing, web design, graphic arts, marketing, and social media management can contribute to the success of your work.
That means they can set your prices based on the audience you want to reach. In doing so, you ensure that the costs of buying your work will fit your value as an author. KDP Select and other self-publishing platforms are finding ways to help authors get paid quickly and reliably.
Through this approach, they will help more writers to shift self-publishing and manage their time easily. The pressure coming from the printing houses will no longer affect your work. Also, the other expenses you should settle before your book can be printed are no longer an issue.
As a writer, you’ll enter a world of opportunity. You’ll have complete control over your schedule and your writing. As long as you write well, there will always be work available, even if it’s just for small projects.
Your primary responsibility is to finish your work and publish it on various available platforms. Since you’ll be working on your terms, you’ll remain comfortable earning and working at your own pace.
Kindle Direct Publishing Success Guide
Details in our Kindle Direct Publishing Success Guide provide a direction for writers still hesitant to shift to self-publishing.
Some claim that they have zero ideas about this new trend. However, with the help of the guide, authors all around the world can earn more.
Most writers already have experience in these fields — working for others or running their businesses to help fund other projects.
The Cons of Self-Publishing Through KDP
Self-publishing could be great if you’re just starting. However, if you already have a large following, there will probably be someone else who can help you spread the word. If you’re not sure what kind of platform you need, consider trying both.
Understanding the cons of self-publishing can help authors weigh their decisions. This will dictate their career and future in the industry.
However, you may need to pay extra to have a marketing team boost your platform, attract book buyers, and increase customer sales. They will help in advertising your work on different platforms available.
Suppose you’re looking for a bigger audience. Try self-publishing on Amazon first to see if you like the experience or in Kindle Direct Publishing. If it works for you, you may decide to go all out and start your own publishing company. Nevertheless, there are still some problems you may encounter in a self-publishing platform.
Here is a list of the most common disadvantages:
- Not acquiring the 70% royalty plan
- Having bad deals
- Crucial steps in transitioning from traditional to digital copies
- Pressure from the publishing industry
- Competitive marketplace
- All around work for authors
- Lack of built-in marketing strategy
Self-publishing Authors Need To Do All the Marketing and Legwork
You’ll need to market your book yourself and use promotional tools. If you’ve ever tried editing books before, you probably know that it doesn’t come naturally to most writers. This is where the role of graphic artists starts. They are often hired to do the book layout and design.
Most authors also need to consider selling their books to stores and distributors when they’re finished. Best-selling books are in printed copies because traditional readers are used to reading from an actual copy of the books on their hands.
Traditional publishing provides an intermediary service that does both those things for you. They can ease your worries related to a self-publishing route. If you choose to become a self-published author, you’ll likely be doing all these things yourself.
This will demand more time from authors for the marketing strategy after finishing their book. Thinking about the book content and the time to market allows them to be keener with their schedule.
Prone to Errors
You will need a professional editor if you want to put out quality writing. A good editor can help you organize your thoughts and polish your prose. In addition, they can also catch spelling mistakes and grammar errors before publication.
Nevertheless, the best editors are expensive and, depending on what type of books you’re publishing, can increase the book cost. You can publish without editing but be prepared for criticism and questions about errors in your writing.
Hence, If you want to publish your book online, you will need editing tools to avoid creating a bunch of grammatically incorrect statements. If you’re unfamiliar with editing software, there are plenty of web-based options.
However, if you want to have a professional-looking product, you may have to pay someone to help you edit your manuscript. All editing work should happen before publishing, even on Kindle. An editor will go through your book page by page and correct any spelling errors, grammar issues, and formatting mistakes.
Competition with Other Self-published Authors
There are currently many different self-publishing platforms available to writers today. These sites offer various features and services to help writers publish books and articles. However, most of them require you to pay money for each piece of content you produce and publish. You may ask for your ebook title to go on sale on the platforms of publishing companies or service providers.
Suppose you’re not charging anything at first. There will eventually come a time when you need to charge readers so that you can gain revenue from writing, especially if you’re just starting. This is the reality of understanding self-publishing on Amazon pros and cons.
The competition on these platforms is very high, especially in this digital era. Most authors need to produce unique and interesting work to attract readers from different countries. They also create mailing lists for product ads and hire a writing coach to develop their skills.
Amazon KDP select is one of the most in-demand platforms for self-publishing books, and Kindle Unlimited is a vast resource for readers.
Amazon is very competitive when it comes to book sales, especially so that millions of authors publish through the KDP platform. It is not just competitive in terms of sales but also in terms of marketing and getting a reputation for book publishing.
Final Thoughts
Having a platform that allows authors to connect directly with readers while readers can share their thoughts about books they’ve read is engaging. As an author, you can also create blogs and websites to promote your books, significantly improving your marketing strategy.
If you look at the pros and cons closely, you can align your preferences and determine whether self-publishing through KDP is really for you.
Indeed, self-published authors are now enjoying these online platforms’ success. By checking the Kindle Direct Publishing Success Guide, writers may understand the basics of self-publishing and help them achieve their best potential.
