Things to know before publishing with Amazon KDP
Today’s post is a little different, but I thought it could be helpful to some people, so here we go. I recently published my first book (a cookbook/memoir/devotional), and I learned some helpful tips along the way. If you’re a new author looking to be published, I hope this post will be useful to you!
Here are a few things to know before publishing with Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
In this post:
- Why I chose Amazon KDP
- Purchasing an ISBN
- Printing cost
- Hiring help
- Ask friends and family to proof-read
- Before you hit “Publish” (It will forever be set for that date!)
- Publishing updates
- Ordering proof copies (+tips to save you some heartache)
- Author copies
- Print locations
- Advertising
- Conclusion
Why I chose Amazon KDP
As a first-time author (with a small internet following), I had no idea what my options were for publishing my book. It took me a while before I chose to use Amazon KDP, and I learned a lot in the process. Here is a summary of my findings on various publishing options, and what finally led me to choose Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
Traditional publishing
Wanting my book to be done well, and desiring its best chance of success, I really hoped I could somehow land a traditional publisher. Looking into that, however, I realized that I would need an agent to represent me, and it didn’t take long from there to see that no agent would consider me unless I had a significant online following first. Makes sense, right?
I pursued an agent for a while, but quickly learned that I wasn’t likely to find one to represent my niche book, especially with the small following I had. Disappointed, I let go of that hope.
Hybrid publishing
My next move was to look into hybrid publishers. This would be the publishing model that allows your book to have a recognized “publisher,” but it requires you (the author) to pay for it (or at least share the cost). The publisher can provide all of the typical services (design, editing, printing, etc). The more books you print, the better the price is (to you) per book. The lower the price is, the better a profit you can make on each sale.
This looked like my best option at first. As a pastor’s wife and mom of 5, however, publishing a cookbook/devotional/memoir this way felt like a far-distant future investment. The minimum number of books I would print would end up costing me 10’s of thousands of dollars… and then I’d be sitting on a large inventory of books that I’d need to sell in order to make back my investment.
A note about my specific project:
The reason it would be so expensive (for me) is that my book is a large, full color, hardback book. In order for me to get the price low enough to make a profit, I would have had to print a lot more books than I could afford at the time.
For some books, the printing cost would be much lower and the profit margin much higher than mine.
Amazon KDP
Finally, I looked into Amazon KDP. This is by far the best option I found.
With this model, Amazon will list your product, print the books on demand (rather than having you stock many copies), stock extra copies, ship them for you, and handle returns. As an author, you can also purchase your books at a discounted rate to sell in person for a better profit. The profit margin per book is lower than with the hybrid model, but the risk is also much lower.
To me, being able to outsource the inventory and shipping alone was well worth it! Also, having gone through this process now and seeing the quality they offer? You bet I’m a fan. My book is gorgeous, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out.
Purchasing an ISBN
ISBN: International Standard Book Number
If you know the title of your book, getting an ISBN is one of the first things you’ll want to do.
Amazon KDP will offer that you can use an ISBN number from them for free; however, if you opt for this, you will limit your sales to Amazon exclusively, which will limit your ability to sell the book through other channels in the future.
If you’re in the US, you can purchase an ISBN online through an official ISBN agency.
If you (like me) live in Canada, an ISBN is free; however, it can take a significant amount of time (several months) to set up your account and get your numbers. That said, apply right away! Once you have your numbers and your book is printed, the only thing required is that you send a copy of your finished book to the national archive in exchange for the ISBN.
You can apply for Canadian ISBN account here.
One thing to note:
You will need a separate ISBN for every physical version of your book. In other words, my book comes in both hardbound and softcover versions, and both of these versions require their own unique ISBN. Kindle ebooks (non-physical books) do not require an ISBN.
Printing cost
This one might go without saying, but different books are going to cost more or less to print. The type of paper you use, whether the book is in color or black and white, etc are all factors that will affect the cost of the finished product.
I knew right from the beginning that my book was going to be expensive. My book was estimated to be 300+ pages, full color, with lots of pictures. I also really wanted to offer it hardbound with heavy paper to make the book more quality. All of those things add up to make for an expensive print!
If you haven’t considered the cost of printing your book, I highly recommend looking into that. Check the Amazon KDP printing cost and royalty calculator before you set out to publish your book to get an idea of cost. Set your expectations right from the beginning: how much investment will this project require? Remember, you’ll have to mark it up from the print cost to make a reasonable retail profit. Make sure you consider that so that you can plan for what your customers will see as the finished price tag.
Hiring help
I knew I wanted my book to be beautiful (and it is!). However, I also knew that designing the interior and formatting it properly would be a challenge for me.
That said, I hired two people to help me get my book ready. I hired an editor, and I hired a book designer. All of the photography I did myself, but I really wanted to make sure those two elements (editing and design) were done well. I’m so glad that I did!
Ask friends and family to proof-read
In addition to my editor, I also asked a number of friends and family members to read through my manuscript. I appreciated their feedback tremendously.
If you do ask for some help, make sure to put their names in the “Thank-You” section of your finished work. It’s a gift of their time that you’ll want to make sure you recognize and appreciate!
Ordering proof copies (+tips to save you some heartache)
Before you officially publish your book, you can order a proof copy that will get shipped to your house. The proof will have a grey band across the front that says “Not for resale,” but it will show you exactly what the cover and interior will look like in print. I highly recommend doing this (even though it’s true, you do have to pay for the proof and for shipping).
In fact… As much as you’ll want to call it finished, with all of the work that goes into getting your book to that point, I recommend re-reading your book again at this stage. Look for errors in the proof copy. There is something about seeing it in print that can give you fresh eyes. For some reason, looking at your raw manuscript just doesn’t give the same perspective.
Once you’ve re-read your manuscript, if you make any changes, I recommend ordering a second proof copy. This is just to make sure everything looks right before scheduling your book to be published.
Before you hit “Publish” (It will forever be set for that date!)
This is something I really wish I had known before I got into this process. You can schedule a release date for your book, but once you hit the “Publish” button, there is no going back.
In my case, I thought the book was perfect, and I was so eager to get it out there! I agonized over what day I wanted to release it, hit publish for a date several weeks out, and realized a minute or two later that the images on my hardbound version were slightly off center on the front and back of the book. It was one of those things that you don’t notice until you do, and then you can’t “unsee” it.
Since I had just hit publish (and the book wouldn’t even go up for a while yet), I thought there should be an option to go back. To my regret, however, there was no option to undo clicking that button. The book had been queued to publish on the date and time I had selected. I could not undo that until the book went live to the public.
That said, I also could not reset the publishing date to reflect when the error had been corrected. My book’s publishing date will now always be the date that I first set for its release (even though I immediately pulled it down after it went live).
Publishing updates
Once a book is live, you can go ahead and re-upload an edited version of your manuscript at any point and publish those changes. One thing to know with that, however, is that if any copies of the book have already been printed and are in stock, Amazon will ship those before printing new copies with the updated manuscript.
If you want to make sure Amazon is not stocking an outdated version of your book, you can contact them to make sure. They will be able to let you know.
Author copies
Once your book is live, you can order author copies at a lower cost than the retail rate for your customers. This will allow you to purchase books for yourself or loved ones at a lower rate, or sell the books to customers in person with an improved profit margin.
As an author, don’t be tempted by Amazon’s “free shipping” offer to regular customers! Author copies can’t get free shipping, but you’ll still be paying a whole lot less for your books (even with the shipping cost) than you would by purchasing them as a regular customer.
Print locations
I didn’t realize this at first, but when I went to order hardbound versions of my book, the hardbound books were being printed and shipped from Amazon.com (the American site). As a Canadian, that meant that my books cost more than I expected, since I had to pay the currency conversion, import fees, and a higher shipping rate.
There are a handful of countries that are able to print the hardbound books, but that’s something to be aware of ahead of time. My softcover books are printed and shipped within Canada, which makes the process of printing and receiving them much quicker and a little cheaper for me.
Thankfully, my customers in Canada can still order hardbound books, and there are no surprises for the cost to them. The print location is something that only affects the discounted rate for the author (and yes, even with this, you’re still getting a cheaper price per book than the retail rate).
Advertising
Having a plan in place for advertising your book is really important. You can use your blog, social media accounts, and collaborations with other creators to promote your book. Additionally, you can pay Amazon, Facebook, or other online channels for ads to promote your book as well.
Having a plan in place for making sure people know about your book is crucial to making sales and seeing it succeed! Make sure you have a budget and a plan, and work according to your means.
Conclusion
All in all, publishing a book is a big endeavor with lots of layers to factor as you go about the process. I hope this post has been helpful to you as you “Count the cost” to see what really goes into this process. I also hope that I can spare you some of the mistakes I made!
If you want to see how my book turned out, you can read about it on here, or you can check it out on Amazon. I’m so pleased with it, and all in all—I highly recommend publishing with Amazon KDP! For me, it was the most practical, financially feasible option for a new author with a small following.
All the best to you on your publishing journey!
–Naomi
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