Kindle self-publishing

It has suddenly occurred to me to do a post on Kindle self-publishing. After all, I initially set up this blog with the intention of promoting my Kindle books, because that is what those who know advise. Unfortunately, the blogging elbowed out the writing. Ah well, I suppose blogging is a form of writing and I certainly enjoy it. For one thing, it's much less lonely than novel writing.

So first some history. A year ago, I had two completed novels which I was touting round literary agents and publishers. I had some very encouraging comments sent back too, but for me the problem was time. These people, at least in my experience, take ages to reply to a submission and usually it’s just a standard rejection slip. Even the comments are extremely brief.

For a while I’d been interested in self-publishing as a way round this problem, but then I bought a Kindle, liked it and stumbled across Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). So I tried publishing the Amazon way and find it suits me and what I do very well. The reasons I went down the KDP route were:

• I already had a Kindle and liked it very much.
• KDP is free.
• And it’s easy.

The strongest reason though was that it allowed me to move on. I needed to write something else, but I have this strong tendency to fiddle around endlessly with what I’ve already written even if I know I've given it my best shot. So I gave the Kindle route a try.

If you fancy self-publishing in this way, then you need an Amazon account and a reading device with a Kindle app – it doesn’t have to be the Kindle itself. Your book needs to be some suitable format such as MS Word and you need a cover picture. You don’t need an ISBN, although if you have one you can add it. Drop me an email if you want the benefit of my limited experience.

The other thing I’ve recently discovered is - if your book is free you get lots more downloads. Hmm.