This past November I was invited to a very exclusive Amazon Roundtable
to discuss the amazing perks of publishing digital with Kindle Direct Publishing. It should come as no surprise to anyone out
there that Amazon would be in the forefront of this new wave of self-publishing. They have already made themselves the leaders
in online shopping, as well as digital reading, it only makes sense that they
would create a program with that would be as user friendly to publish those
books as well! Amazon has set up two
wonderful programs, the Kindle Direct Publishing, and CreateSpace, which have
done wonders for the self-publishing industry.
To talk about how the process works, and
to give helpful hints as well as tell us their stories of success, we got to
talk to three highly successful writers in the children and teen genres. E.G. Foley is a real life couple that has had
real success in publishing their series of books The Gryphon Chronicles, both
in the printed book world and via online downloads. This husband and wife team live and work in
Pennsylvania and have been finishing each other’s sentences way before they
started publishing them.
The Gryphon
Chronicles is a series of books that although are published toward the young
adult audience but are as popular among the adults and they are within the
young adult genre. A period piece that
takes place in the Victorian streets of London, follow young Jake as he goes on
his magical and mysterious adventures, fights grand foes, and goes through the
trials and tribulations of also being a young boy on the brink of manhood.
Both Eric and
Gaelen (the E.G. of E.G Foley) agree that they have had a rise in popularity
that was largely in part with their partnering with Amazon Digital
Printing. They had a pretty big fan base
before, and Gael has had success writing in other genres as well, however
Amazon has done wonders with connecting with their current fan base, as well as
enticing new readers towards their books.
Eric especially
liked the try a sample feature, stating it gave the readers an opportunity to
go into their world without the commitment of buying it. Many people tend to like to try out the book,
However the days of pursuing the pages at a bookstore are swiftly coming to an
end, so this gives new readers a great way to really immerse themselves in the
world they have created, before purchasing. He makes a connection with this feature and
their high purchase rate on amazon.
Personally, I
always take advantage of the try a sample option, and I happen to be one of The
Gryphon Chronicles statistics. I did in fact download a sample before
purchasing, and am completely hooked on the series.
It was quite
amazing to meet the two that created the series which I happen to enjoy very
much. Eric showed a true passion for
writing, and was as shocked as anyone when he was able to quit his full time
job to dedicate himself in the creation of their written world. He attributes a great deal of the series success
to Amazon Digital Download and tablets like the Kindle Fire, to their
success. Of course the series is also
amazing, so that always helps.
Another Writer at
the Roundtable was the author of Captain No Beard. Carole P. Roman was named to Kirkus Reviews’
Best of 2012 for her very first title.
The “Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life”.
Writing was not Ms. Romans first love, and indeed she is thrilled as well
as surprised that writing is part of her “second Act” as she likes to call
it. Her first act was comprised of
raising her children and working in her “family Business”. She attributes all her success to publishing
on Kindle Digital, that and marketing.
She too enjoyed the ease of publishing through the Kindle Direct
Publishing, and the CreateSpace website.
She found it really easy to go through all the steps through both
programing. She even found her illustrator from the CreateSpace website. The one thing she really wanted to push at
this meeting was how much you have to believe in your own product, and how much
you have to work for it to succeed. “Yes
your book is out there, but you have to make it be seen.” So she put a lot of stock in marketing, “I
will put the book on bus stop benches if that means my book will get seen, and
then bought.” Her books are very
entertaining, and are great for the youngins.
Parents will enjoy reading the adventures of Captain No Beard, and it is
a great book to help your child start reading on their own as well.
The Third Writer
on the panel was Ally Nathaniel who is the author of “Fabulous Me”. She is not only a number one best-selling
author, but also an e-publishing coach.
Taking everything she has learned and helping others be successful in
the e-publishing world as well. She
loves the Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace so much she has
literally made a business helping others out of it. She helps writers find illustrators, editor,
and even gives advice on how to promote their works after publishing them on
Amazon. To date she has published ten titles for children 0-6 and has a truly
wonderful way of connecting to every kind of child through her work. She is a self-publishing
https://www.createspace.com/
With Amazons program, CreateSpace you gain
access to free and easy tools to create publish and distribute your book to the
masses. Using this website as the ultimate
tool, you get comprehensive and affordable services which include design, editing
and even marketing. There is even someone there for you 24/7 via phone or email
if the you get stuck and need some help.
Once your book is done, you can publish directly with Amazon. Your book
can be up and for sale as soon as a day once you publish. A DAY! To a writer like myself, that seems almost
too good to be true. Yet it is true, and available to everyone with a little
bit of talent, a whole lot of imagination, and the willingness to fight for
their work to succeed.
In a world
that is constantly moving forward, it was almost comforting, to see that not
only is a company trying to make it easy for you to move with it, but to do
everything in their power to help you succeed. Amazon will be making waves in
the future, and has started with some truly amazing writers and books, all available
now for digital download.
To Learn more
about publishing Digitally with Kindle Direct Publishing go tokdp.amazon.com. This free and easy site
helps you publish your books in mere minutes. Yeah I know it sounds crazy. It helps you with distribution on Amazon
sites, and even has multiple languages available. Worried about earning you do ray me from your
best seller (did I sound cool there? I was trying to sound cool). KDP helps you
with that as well!
CreateSpace.com has free and easy tools to help you publish
and distribute your book. There are also
other services that you can use- for a small fee, that will help you get a
editor, marketing plans, and illustrators.
You can email them directly at publishyourbook@createspace.com. You will be in a community with like-minded
writers and business people that will be there to support you, as will the 24
hour customer service that is available though the site every day all day.
Amazon also offers,
Author Central Tools. Go to amazon.com/author and use this free service to help
enhance your author page, twitter feeds, as well as track your sales and
Amazon.com ranking.
So what are you
waiting for? Let’s get publishing!
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