Click the video below to learn how to make a signature for your Kindle Message Board profile.

Go to the Kindle Store website:

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/edit-book/one?digitalItemId=A3A497848G9L7I

Make an account and sign in. You will be prompted to fill in some information, like bank account, routing number, etc (to establish an electronic transfer for your royalties).

Adding a title

Once you are done setting this information up, you will be able to add a title. On the main screen, click “Add title.”

Add your novel’s title, description, publisher (you!), and any other information you wish. Then type in an enticing description. Next, add contributors (author, co-author,  illustrator, etc.)

If you own your work and you are the writer of it, then your work is not in the public domain. When you are prompted to specify if your work is a work in the public domain, respond “No.”

Next you will have to add two categories (Ex: Horror, Thriller) and some keywords that will help people searching stumble upon your book. Choose the best keywords that suit your work.

From there you will be asked to upload the novel’s cover art (I hope you remembered where you saved this!)

After that, you will be asked if you want to enable digital rights management or “DRM.” This basically is asking if you want to make it impossible for Kindle purchasers to share your work. This is your choice, but I would recommending selecting “No.” You WANT people to share your work! People will still buy it. This is just a great way to market your book! Take advantage of it! Select “No!”

Now you get to upload the file for the novel itself! This is where that PRC file comes in handy (remember it from the last post?) This is the file you made with the Mobi Creator. Find it and upload it.

Click “Save and Continue”

You are almost done!

Select World wide rights for distribution purposes (you want your book everywhere, not just in select territories).

Time to set the price. This is entirely up to you. Keep in mind, however, that the price reflects your royalty percentage. In order to receive a 70% royalty your price must be between $2.99 and $9.99  Every other price not within that price range will  automatically be set to receive a 35% royalty.

Lastly, allow lending. This is just another way to market your book.

Congratulations! You’re all done! It usually takes up to 12 hours for the book to become “live.” When it does, you may copy the link and past it on your website, Twitter, Facebook, and any other promotional tool you use!

Since I’m putting out a new ebook, I thought I’d take the time and explain the process to those who wish to do it, too. It’s easy, it’s free, and it’s the wave of the future, so if you have a book in paperback to which you own the rights, or you’re a writer with a new novel and wish to go the indie rout . . . self-publish in the Kindle store!!!

I use Microsoft word to write my novels, so if you do the same, then follow these simple steps.

PARAGRAPHS:

First off, for whatever reason, tab-spacing does not convert for the Kindle (hitting the tab button to indent each paragraph). To avoid this, delete the tab spacing (put the cursor next to the indent and hit delete) so that the entire paragraph is aligned with no indentation at the beginning. Once you have done this, highlight the paragraph and slide the ruler at the top of the screen to manually indent. If the ruler is not present, click on “View” and check the Ruler option. It’s best to do this a chapter at a time (delete all tab-spacing in a chapter, highlight the chapter, and use the ruler to re-indent).

If that sounds too confusing, here’s a guide:

  http://www.ehow.com/how_4477948_set-first-line-indent-microsoft.html

  GO TO:

The Kindle has the option to “Go To” places, such as the cover image, the beginning of the text, the table of contents, etc. To set these “Go To” places, place your cursor on a section of your novel that you would like to designate as a “Go To” item.

If it’s the cover image, click “Insert” then “Bookmark.” In the “Bookmark name” field, type “cover” (without the quotes, of course) and click “Add.”

Follow the same steps for the beginning of the book by placing the cursor there, selecting “Insert” then “Bookmark” and typing “Start” (once again without the quotes). Click “Add” when you are done.

For the table of contents, repeat the above and type “TOC.”
 
FORMATTING:

You may use bold characters, italics, and heading. You cannot, however, change the font or make the text bigger than . . . oh, say size 18 (I think that’s the size, at least). You also cannot use bullet points, headers, footers, or page numbers.

Page Breaks

It’s important to enter a page break at the end of each chapter. If you don’t do this, the Kindle might land on multiple blank pages even if your manuscript doesn’t have any simply because the Kindle allows the font size to be flexible.

To insert a page break click “Insert” at the top of the menu bar and then select “Page Break.”

Images

Use JPEG formatted pictures with center alignment. Insert these the same way you have been inserting your page breaks: “Insert.” In this case, it will be followed by “Picture.”

Remember that standard Kindles display pictures in grayscale. The more up-to-date models handle color.

Spellcheck

Use it!No point putting out a novel and having multiple spelling errors when it can be helped. Not only will this plague the reader, but it will make your work look less professional. Manually proofreading also helps. View my “Drafts” blog post for more information on proofreading.  

SAVING:

Once you have completed the above, you are ready to save. Select “File” then “Save As.” Where it says “Save as type” you will select “Web Page, Filtered.” (Remember the location you save this to, you’ll need it later!!!)

Note:  When saving the Word file as HTML, all the images will be extracted and stored in a separate folder (don’t worry about it! The images are like cats—they’ll find their way home).
 
Two great tools to use are the Mobi Pocket Creator and the Kindle Previewer.
 
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadsoft/productdetailscreator.asp

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Miscellaneous/Kindle-Previewer.shtml

Once you have downloaded the program from the first link, open the Mobi Pocket Creator. On the right, you’ll see an option that says “Import From Existing File.” The first link under it is “HTML Document.” Click on it. To choose a file, select the “Browse” button and find your HTML document (that’s the “Web Page, Filtered” document you saved earlier, cough, cough). Then click the “Browse” button next to “Create publication in folder” and designate an output folder (again, remember this location!!!)

Once you have done this, click on “Import” at the bottom of the screen. This should bring you to a new screen. You’re almost done! On the left, you’ll see a toolbar that says “View” with a bunch of options under it. The “Publication Files” tab should be highlighted right now. Click on the one below it. The one that says “Cover.” Once you are there, click “Add cover image.” Select the cover you wish to use for your ebook. Then click on “Update” at the bottom of the screen.

Now, draw your attention up to the icons on the top of the application window. There should be one for “Home,” “Open,” “Save,” “Files,” “Build,” “Deploy,” and “Settings.” Click on “Build.” “Standard compression” should already be selected. If it is not, select it now. “No encryption” should also be selected. If it is not, select it now. Once this is one, click “Build” and then “OK”

Abracadabra! A window should pop up with your very own compiled ebook with the location you have designated (ex. C:\Documents and settings\ etc.)

Feel free to use the Kindle Previewer (the second program) or your very own kindle to view your ebook.

That concludes part 1 of publishing in the Kindle Store. Part 2 will bring you through the process on how to upload your file, set the price, and start making some money!