Thursday 10 May 2018

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Print Formatting Tips and Tricks


You can now easily publish the paperback (Print) editions of your Kindle books on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) instead of the usual hopping over to CreateSpace. Although CreateSpace services are equally good and satisfactory, but publishing print editions directly through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing makes it possible for you to have access to all your sales reports (Kindle and Print) in one Dashboard.


Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Print Formatting Template

To make formatting the manuscript of your book to Amazon KDP standard easy, it is good you download the print formatting templates offered by Amazon KDP. To do that, go to the help pages on Amazon and search for “print formatting template” and then download the ones of your choice. The templates are available in different print sizes i.e. 5”x8”, 6”x9”, e.t.c.

Once you have the template, open it with your Word Processor program and use it to format the manuscript.


Image Resolution and Placement

To avoid image resolution errors during the publishing process, it is good you make sure all the images you used in the book have a resolution of at least 300DPI. Also insert the images as against copying and pasting them.

Center-align all the images and provide space before and after using the “Before and After” feature in Microsoft Word the image to ensure good reading experience


Conclusion

Note that the minimum number of pages for a KDP print book is 24 pages. Once you are done formatting the book, you have to convert it to quality PDF file. To do this, use the “Save As” feature in Microsoft Word to save it as PDF but make sure you select the option button “Optimize for (Standard online and printing)” before clicking the “Publish button.

If you need professional and affordable Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Print formatting services, check out our Fiver GIG for it here.


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Thursday 11 January 2018

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Tools


Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) has some book publishing tools that authors and publishers can make use of to prepare their manuscript for publishing or create a descent cover for their book. I will discuss the following here:

  • KindleTestbookCreator
  • Kindle Create
  • Cover Creator
  • Kindle Previewer

Kindle Testbook Creator

This is a Kindle Direct Publishing tool that allows authors and educators to convert a PDF file into a print replica digital book. Note that it is very slow and you therefore have to be patient with it. To download it, click here and then click on "Kindle Testbook Creator".


Kindle Create

This is a Kindle Direct Publishing tool that allows authors and publishers to format their book’s manuscript to Kindle (eBook) publishing standard. To download it, click here .

Cover Creator

This Kindle Direct Publishing tool allows you to freely create cover for your eBook or paperback (print) book. You have access to and make use of it during the actual publishing process of the book, in the second stage of the publishing processes.

To make use of it, click the option “Use Cover Creator” under “Cover upload”. Te cover creator tool will now be loaded and you can then navigate through it to choose and create a befit cover for the book. Please note that the output of the cover creator no matter how good fall short of being a custom cover for your book as other authors and publishers also have access to these background image and themes you made used.

Kindle Previewer 3

This is a Kindle Direct Publishing tool that allows authors to emulate or simulate how their .mobi eBook will display across all Kindle devices and Apps. To download it, click here and then click on "Kindle Previewer 3".

You May also Like


Check out these my new books on how to hack through eBook publishing and marketing skills which is live on Amazon.


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Amazon US

 Amazon UK
Amazon UK



The era of being rejected by publishing agents or publishers is quite over now. This is because you can now independently publish your book as an eBook or print book Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform the leader in the publishing world.


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Tuesday 29 August 2017

Book Writing Tips and Guides

book writing tips and guides on publishing through Amazon kindle direct publishing

Writing is an art. The more you practice it, the better you become at it. So, write, write, and write!!! Enjoy it and you will be astonished at your outputs with time.

Although it involves some learning and that is why you need to keep writing, learning, and getting better by the day. Never get upset by criticism, but rather, take it as a feedback and work on it.

THE ART OF WRITING

The techniques involved in creative writing are not constant but varies from period to period, genre to genre, and schools of thought. I will consider this topic from two broad perspectives, that is, fiction and nonfiction writing.

The Art of writing fiction requires the following skills:

  • Sharp and Organized imagination.
  • The ability to outline your storyline
  • The ability to create compelling and expressive characters.
  • The ability to create dialogues that flows.

The Art of writing nonfiction requires the following skills:

  • The ability to outline your book idea.
  • Being a good researcher.
  • The ability to organize your research.
  • The ability to creatively write the actual book in a manner that it will be informative, interesting, and great.

WRITING GOAL(S)

It is very important you create a writing goal(s). This is because; we perform better when there is a desired target to attain. So, always have daily word count targets, monthly word count targets, and number of books to publish annually, daily and monthly sales targets, etc.

WRITERS BLOCK

We all experience this now and then, but the most important thing is how you handle it in such a way that it will not affect your creativity, writing goals, and productivity.

So, anytime you experience a block, just remember that it is normal and remain calm too. You can do any of the following to offset the block or at least shorten its lifespan:
  • You can temporary switch from the title you are working on to another one if any.
  • You can go take a walk or do some exercise.
  • You can do some social media or blog buzz to promote your published books.
  • You can check your email and respond to some important messages.
  • You can login to your favorite author/book forum and learn some things or comment on posts.
  • You can go have some quite time.
  • You may go have your shower and refresh yourself.
  • You can go take some snacks and probably coffee too.

After some of these things, you may become filled with new ideas or flow that will enable you to continue your writing or just lie low till the next day before you come back to your writing.

NEW BOOK PROJECT STRATEGIES

When you are about to start a new book project, it is very important you put some things in place and some of these things are as follows:
Research the sales potential of the supposed genre of the book idea and see if it is worth it or you will need to optimize it for a different genre.
Properly outline the book's chapters and sections/scenes.
  • Research any relevant information.
  • Start building sales momentum for the book by posting your writing progress on your social media outlets to carry your followers along.
  • You can now start the actual writing.
  • Research the nature of the eBook cover design you will need for the book and start work on it too.
  • Plan and document the launching strategies you will use to promote/market the book. Make sure you used these strategies to give the book a good standing in sales and ranking once it is published.

AUTHOR FORUMS

As an Indie author, you need to know which social media platforms or forums will offer you the opportunity to meet and socialize with other authors, share ideas with them, critic works, and even learn from them. The following are some of such forums or platforms:
  • Facebook Author Support Groups
  • Goodreads
  • KindleBoards (KBoards).

OPEN US BANK ACCOUNT THROUGH PAYONEER AND USE IT TO RECEIVE YOUR ROYALTIES

If you are a published author, you can use Payoneer payment solution which opens a US bank account for you. You can use then use it to receive royalties from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Streetlib, and Draft2Digital.

You are also issued a master card which you can use to withdraw your fund from any ATM that accepts master card. To register with Payoneer to open your own US bank account now, click here.


You May also Like


You may like this my book which is Live on Amazon:

AMAZON KINDLE DIRECT
PUBLISHING COMPLETE GUIDE






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Tuesday 11 July 2017

Effective eBook Publishing Strategies

effective book publishing strategies through Amazon kindle direct publishing


If you are a writer who is about to launch an indie publishing career through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or any other eBook publishing company, it is advisable you first write and publish short stories in at least three different genres to see which of the genres works best for you with respect to sales!

Once you get this important information, you can then concentrate your efforts on writing and publishing full length novels in that genre. This method is called write to market and it works!

GENRE RESEARCH

There is one great secret to being a good and successful author that you need to know. This secret has to do with having a good knowledge of the genre you write. You need to know the expectations of readers of that genre, the plot styles of successful books in that genre, and how cover designed so that it appeals more to readers of the genre.

To be able to get a firsthand knowledge of these important factors, find out who are the bestselling authors in that genre on Amazon. Get and read at least five books by these authors. Learn their approach to all the factors listed earlier and then create your own writing style from what you learned from these authors’ books.

If you do this well, your writing will be good, top notch, and meet the expectations of readers of the genre and hence you will get sales and good following early enough once you publish any book.

GENRES THAT ARE SELLING

The following are some genres that are selling well on Amazon with respect to whether you are into fiction or nonfiction.

Fiction

  • Romance
  • Erotica
  • Science Fiction and Fantasy

Nonfiction

  • Health and Relationship books
  • Food and Weight Management books
  • Travel and Tourism books

Note that the book needs to be good, well written, properly edited, professionally formatted, and a good eBook cover designed for it.

EBOOK PUBLISHING PROCESSES

These are what you need to do to publish your manuscript as an eBook:
  • Typeset it in Microsoft Word.
  • Edit and proofread it.
  • Format the manuscript to eBook publishing standard.
  • Design a Cover for the eBook.
  • Go and create a publishing account with publishing platforms like Amazon, Draft2Digital, or Smashwords.
  • You can then go ahead and publish the book through your publisher account.

INDIE PUBLISHING SUCCESS FACTORS

There are four most important factors that guarantee a successful eBook publishing career. These factors are:
  • The book must be good, and has a target audience, and also well edited.
  • The eBook cover design must also be genre specific and professional.
  • The marketing/promotion must be strategic.
  • A well written, audience targeted, properly edited, and proofread book will surely sell well on Amazon or any other eBook retailer’s store platform.

PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE IS THE KEY

As an Independent author, you have to exercise patience! This is because the more books you have published, the greater the chances of sales and a successful publishing career.

So, never give up if your first published book did not performed up to your expectations or did not even get traction at all. You learn and improve your writing, packaging, branding, and marketing in the process, and these will eventually lead to a greater productivity and success in your subsequent published books.

WRITING TO MARKET

One of the best success strategies of independent authors is "writing to market" that is writing in a genre or subgenre that is currently selling very well and not just writing what you love to write about. To find out these genres, study the Amazon "best seller" list.

CATEGORIES AND KEYWORDS

When publishing your eBooks, placing them in the right categories and also using appropriate keywords is very important. This will ensure your books gets to the right audience some of which can become your faithful fans.

EBOOK PRICING STRATEGIES

It is always advantageous to first put your eBook's list price at $0.99 during initial release. This will encourage many potential readers to give it a try.

Once it picks up well in sales, you can then republish it and put it at a list price of any amount you want like $2.99 or above.

EBOOK PUBLISHING IS A GAME OF NUMBERS

Never make the mistake of thinking that if you published only one book through Amazon, you are going to make a lot of dollars with it. This is because if you have such mentality, you will easily see a reason to chicken out if your expectations were not met!

Rather, have it in mind that it is a game of numbers and time! Once you are able to discover the genre that gives you the best results, and you focused on it, in no time and with five or more books, you will be surprised at the outcome you will be getting.


JOIN AUTHOR/BOOK FORUMS

Whether you are an aspiring or established author, there are two author/book forums that can be of great help to you. They are:
  • Goodreads.com
  • KBoards.com

PAPERBACK PUBLISHING

If you are just starting a publishing career, I advice you take it slowly and stage by stage too. There is really no good reason to go and produce paperbacks of your first book for either local distribution or international distribution through Amazon KDP/Creatspace. In fact, doing that in a rush will overwhelm you and hence can lead to frustration if things did not favor you.

It is therefore important to first publish it as an eBook and if it picks up well in sales, you can then plan and produce a print version of it (paperback) later.

GET US BANK ACCOUNT THROUGH PAYONEER AND USE IT TO RECEIVE YOUR ROYALTIES

With Payoneer payment solution, you get a US bank account which you can use to receive royalties from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and Draft2Digital.

You are also issued a master card which you can use to withdraw your fund from any ATM that accepts master card. To register with Payoneer to open your own US bank account now, click here.


You May also Like


You may like this my book which is Live on Amazon:

AMAZON KINDLE DIRECT
PUBLISHING COMPLETE GUIDE






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Friday 16 June 2017

The Three Best ebook Publishing Companies

The 3 best eBook publishing and distribution platforms


All writers or unpublished authors require some important information that can enable them to earn some money or even a living from their writing. It is therefore good you know the viable ebook publishing companies through which you can publish your books as an indie author and make some cool dollars.

The good news is that I'm going to share with you three great publishing companies that you can use to launch a profitable indie publishing career. These platforms are discussed below:

AMAZON KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing controls about 60% of the eBook market share and hence the first point of call for any writer who wants to monetize his/her writing.

It pays two options of royalties to authors for each unit sales depending on the list price of the eBook. These royalty options are 35% or 70%.

To create a publishing account with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, click here and follow through the entire account creation processes.

DRAFT2DIGITAL

Draft2Digital is an Aggregator, in that it enables you to publish your books through it and it then distributes it to eBook retailers like Barnes and Noble, Apple iBook, Kobo, Scribd, etc. This makes it an important platform because it saves you time and also gets your books to big and successful eBook stores.

To create a publishing account with Draft2Digital, click here and follow through the entire account creation processes:

SMASHWORDS

Smashwords is also an Aggregator like Draft2Digital and hence it as well enables you to publish your books through it and it then distributes it to eBook retailers like Barnes and Noble, Apple iBook, Kobo, Scribd, etc.

One good thing about Smashwords is that it also has its own eBook store where your book is also listed for sales. This therefore, makes it an important player in the industry.

To create a publishing account with Smashwords, click here and follow through the entire account creation processes:

You can as well open a US bank account through Payoneer and use it to receive your royalties from the first two publishing platforms discussed above. To do that now, click here and follow through the simple processes involved.

You can as well check out this my blog post here if you need any further clarifications on the Payoneer Bank account opening and entering the account details in your Amazon KDP account.


You May also Like


Check out these my new books on how to hack through eBook publishing and marketing skills which is live on Amazon.


 Amazon US
Amazon US

 Amazon UK
Amazon UK



The era of being rejected by publishing agents or publishers is quite over now. This is because you can now independently publish your book as an eBook or print book Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform the leader in the publishing world.



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Thursday 9 March 2017

How Authors can Get the Best from KBoards

KBoards


What is KBoards?

KBoards being a community for Kindle users and authors, presents a great platform for authors to socialize and connect with readers.

It was formerly called Kindleboards before it was rebranded KBoards. Its main author forums are listed below:
  • The Book Corner: This is a forum where readers share book reviews, recommendations, and new book discoveries.
  • Writers Cafe: This is where you find all discussions about ebooks and self-publishing in the areas of Writing, formatting, publishing, and marketing. It is a forum for authors to socialize and share ideas.
  • The Book Bazaar: This is a forum for authors to post announcements of their free and bargain books so that readers can browse through to find their favorite from the books.

Creating KBoards Account

To create your own KBoards Account, follow these steps:
  • Go to http://www.kboards.com or click here to go the site directly.
  • Click the "register" link.
  • Under the registration agreement, click the link " I accept the terms of the agreement".
  • Fill the provided fields with the required information (username, email, password).
  • Answer the two questions.
  • Click the "Register" button.
  • Login to the email you used to register and click the KBoards' activation link to complete your registration.

Set up Your KBoards Profile

Once you are logged in to KBoards, you can set up your profile as follows:
  • To be able to modify your profile, make sure you have made at least one post since you signed up.
  • Click on the menu "My KBoards"
  • From the list, click "Profile".
  • Click the link "Modify profile" and from the list click "Account Settings".
  • From here, you can set a new password and then click "Change profile" button at the bottom of the page.
  • To further modify your profile, scroll to the top of the page and click the link "At this link" under "Note".
  • From there, you can fill the provided fields with your website or blog, upload your avatar, and select your gender.
  • Then click the "Change profile" button.
My KBoards Profile

Create Your KBoards Signature

To create your KBoards' signature which will be at the bottom of all your posts and comments in the forums, follow these steps:
  • Click on the "Author" menu.
  • From the list, click "Author Signature Tool" or click here to access the signature tool. 
  • Select the region ".com or .co.UK".
  • Under "book", input the ASIN of the books you want to show in your forum signature.
  • Add your website and social media links under "links".
  • Input your author brand short and long descriptions in the fields provided.
  • Check the box on " Show flags for worldwide readers".
  • Click the "Preview" button.
  • Check the box for "Update KBoards forum profile".
  • Chose the signature format as either (1, 2, or 3) by selecting the appropriate option button.
  • Click the "Save" button just under under signature format 3.
KBoards signature tool

KBoards Link maker

You use "link maker" to add links of Amazon items on your forum posts. To use it,
  • Click on the "Author" menu.
  • Click on "Link Maker" or click here to access link maker. 
  • Search for the item using the search box.
  • Click on the item in the search results. 
  • Select the link code on the right side of the screen and copy/paste it into your forum post.
KBoards link maker tool

Tips on How Authors can Get the Best from KBoards

To get the best from KBoards as an author, follow these simple tips.
  • Update your profile with links to your website or blog and social media.
  • Upload a good avatar.
  • Create your forum signature.
  • Be active in "The Book Bazar" forum.
  • Post your New Release, Free and Countdown Deal books in the "Book Bazar" forum.
  • Socialize with other authors.
  • You can even use KBoards paid adverts to promote your books.
  • Also make sure any of your books you post about in the Book Bazar forum is by the pen name you use to register your KBoards' account, otherwise it will be removed by the moderators.


You May also Like


Check out this my new book on how to hack through eBook publishing and marketing skills which is live on Amazon.


 Amazon US
Amazon US

 Amazon UK
Amazon UK



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Tuesday 28 February 2017

Book and Digital Publishing Tools and Software

digital publishing tools

Some of the software programs or applications use in book and digital publishing to typeset a document,  edit the document, proof read it, and format it for publishing are listed below:m
  • Microsoft Word.
  • Calibre.
  • Sigil.
  • Adobe InDesign.
  • Apache OpenOffice Writer.
  • Scrivener.
  • Mac Pages.
  • KindleTestbookCreator.
  • Kindle Previewer.

Microsoft Word

This Word processor is use for typesetting the manuscript of an eBook. It is then also used for formatting the manuscript to eBook standard for publishing through proper use of styles. It is most flexible and easy to master of all eBook formatting tools.

Calibre

This is an open source eBook application for management of digital books. It functions as an eBook formatting software as well as an eBook reader.

Adobe InDesign

This is a desktop publishing software use to create digital publishing contents as well works like posters, magazines, flyers, brochures, and newspapers.

Apache OpenOffice Writer

This is a Word Processor like Microsoft Word but an open source software. It is use for typesetting book manuscripts and formatting the manuscript with the use of styles for publishing as an eBook or paper back book.

Scrivener

This is an outline and Word Processing program usually used  by authors and writers. It is a premium application and is available both on Mac Operating System and Windows Operating System.

Mac Pages

This is also a Word Processor like Microsoft Word but only available on Mac Operating System. It is as well use for typesetting book manuscripts and formatting the manuscript with the use of styles for publishing or to print.

KindleTestbookCreator

This is a Kindle Direct Publishing tool that allows authors and educators to convert a PDF file into a print replica digital book.

Kindle Previewer

This is a Kindle Direct Publishing tool that allows authors to emulate or simulate how their .mobi eBook will display across all Kindle devices and Apps. 

Note that you can open a US bank account through Payoneer and use it to receive your royalties from the first two publishing platforms discussed above. To do that now, click here and follow through the simple processes involved.


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CorelDRAW How: The Fundamental of CorelDRAW


coreldraw

This tech manual guides you in learning and perfecting your CorelDRAW Skills in Graphics Design. It uses a step by step approach to help you get the best always.


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