WHAT IS AN INDIE AUTHOR?
Indie Author can mean different things to different people. It can mean somebody who literally publishes their books themselves (like me) or even somebody who sees their work as “edgy” and independent in regards to the subjects they address.
But what options are there for people who wish to go the self-publishing route?
I would say the main beast is Amazon.com but there are many other sites where you can self-publish that could also prove lucrative, for instance, Barnes and Noble.
To publish on Amazon you will need to use the site Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It’s free.
Uploading the manuscript is simple. It can be done from a Microsoft Word document and a paperback version is very similar in its simplicity. Royalties are quite generous depending on the price of your book but for most people it is 70% of the sale price. You could even publish the ebook on KDP and then use something like Lulu.com to produce a paperback as that company has more options for book size and also a colour or black & white option. They will even distribute to all the main websites including Amazon. You can even set up a Shopify account and sell the book on your own website with the free Lulu plugin.
KDP offers a few advantages for your ebook (Their format is for their own product the “Amazon Kindle”) meaning that you can discount your book or even make it free for a period of time. With book publishing on Amazon, customer reviews are what really shift units, and so getting a load of free downloads may be good for getting these reviews in a larger volume so that when you start charging for your book, you should get more sales.
The beauty of self-publishing of course is not only keeping all of the profits rather than a Publisher taking a cut, but in the freedom to be able to write about what you want. You won’t have some guy in a suit saying “Does the character HAVE to be transgendered? I don’t think the readers would like that.” You can write freely without censorship. If the book bombs simply either remove it from the internet or just write another book. You don’t have a contract that threatens to end if you get it wrong so what does it matter?
Amazon will help allow the best writers to shine through without the gatekeepers of the publishing business. A lot of garbage may come through too but that’s what the review system and charts are for. Rubbish books will just sink to the bottom of the charts and good books will rise to the top being exposed to more and more people. If you have a book inside you (and most of us do) then get it on Amazon. A guy that really helped me to learn the skills needed was Stefan James of the website “Project Life Mastery”. He has a very good course that shows you how to launch your book properly and ensure success. Check out his YouTube channel for some free tips. He also releases videos for affiliate marketing and general motivational stuff. I hope he can inspire you the way he inspires me.
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