Books By My Students

How to publish your e-book?

For a writer publishing a book is a wonderful thing. It is like a dream come true. But it is not easy to get a publisher. Even J. K. Rowling got her story rejected by well known publishers. Publishers are also mere humans and thus at times lack the vision to see the potential profit in your writing. Then the competition is also tough for there are too many aspiring writers vying for attention and an audience. In the circumstances the best thing to do is to take things in your own hand. The internet has made things more democratic by making opportunities equally available for all those having access to a device and a connecting network. There is no need for you to go looking for a publisher. KDP or Kindle Direct Publishing is a free service offered by Amazon to all aspiring writers to publish their masterpieces on their own and make it available to a global audience. So, how to do that? How to harness the power of KDP to cater to the writer in you? It would be easier to grasp, if I present the procedure as a series of steps arranged neatly in a chronological order.

1. You must get your manuscript ready. The manuscript is the Microsoft word document which is the softcopy of your book.

2. A book must have content and a book must have a cover page. If you are comfortable about pen and paper, then write the content. But do understand that in the end, you will have to type it all. So, it might save you considerable trouble of doing the same thing twice, if you type from the beginning. Word by word make your content ready. Believe me it takes time. It may take months. Don’t hurry. Your content must thaw and sprout to bloom into fragrant flowers or savoury fruit. Once the content is ready, start work on a cover page. An interesting title and a drawing must adorn your cover page. The cover page is the first impression and you want it to be the right catalyst for instigating the reader’s curiosity. If you can draw and paint, then well and good. In case you can’t, then collaborate with someone who is willing to draw for you. A drawing or a photograph speaks a thousand words and your cover page should also do the same. There are many free drawings and photographs available online but don’t take from there. Instead make your own cover page. It makes your book a more satisfying experience. Copying never helps in finding contentment but creativity definitely does.

3. Now, you need a preface or foreword. You can ask someone, who is interested in your writing, to write it for you or you may do it yourself. In this part your book is introduced to potential readers. Here you may write about your inspiration, the process of writing, the purpose of writing, your experience of it all. You also show your readers, markers on the map and give them an idea of the journey ahead. In other words, the preface is an introduction to the book and it’s contents and makes the reader aware of what to expect if they decide to read the book. The main course is the book and the preface is the menu and the starter.

4. Then comes the acknowledgement. Do you need to thank someone? If yes, then this is where you express your gratitude. Writing a book is like going on a journey to find yourself. Did anyone help you in that journey? Of course, there must be people who inspired you through it all. Thank them all. Expressing gratitude is a great way of expanding your being and connecting with others. It is always better to be together than to be alone. Celebrate that togetherness, in effort and in inspiration, in your acknowledgement.

5. Arrange the content of your book in a tabular form. Connect the content with page numbers and chapter headings. Clicking a chapter heading in the content table will instantly take the reader to the page number of that chapter in the book. Then again clicking the chapter title in that page will bring the reader back to the content table. This networking helps the reader to easily navigate through your book and thus makes the task of reading more user friendly. How to do that? It is easy. Click to know more.

6. The last thing to do in making the manuscript ready, is to write ‘About the Author'. This should go in the end of the book with a photograph of yours. In this part you tell your readers about yourself. It is more like a salad, a bit of this and a bit of that, not cooked over the flame but served fresh telling the world of the greens in your garden. Write it in third person as if you are being introduced to somebody by someone else. As the title suggests, this is the space where you get yourself introduced to your readers. You may keep it very brief, just telling your readers about who you are i.e., your identity in society and your profession. You may also give a hint about your likes, dislikes, hopes and aspirations. This is also the right place to mention about any other book that you might have published earlier. The photo should be a portrait of yours making you look smart and attractive. The photo shouldn’t be a super model look or pose but the photo should be the real you looking fresh and bright.

7. After your manuscript is ready, you will have to open an Amazon account online. Wait! Are you above 18 years of age? If no, then take help from an adult. The adult must have a PAN card and a bank account. As you are going to sell your book online, therefore, PAN card details have to be furnished at the time of registering at KDP. If someone buys your book, then your royalty will be deposited in the bank account which you choose to connect with your KDP account. So, first open an Amazon account or you may also use an existing one. Then you register yourself at KDP. For more details click here.

8. Login to your KDP account and upload your manuscript. Give it some time. Once the upload is done, go for the cover page. KDP offers you some prebuilt layouts. Upload the cover page drawing or photograph. Try out the different styles and layouts. Choose one and get your book ready for publication. The final step is about setting a price to your book. The minimum price allowed is Rs 49. When someone pays to buy your Kindle book, you won’t get in your account Rs 49 or whatever price you have selected for you book but a percentage of the price. Amazon will take a portion of it. It is a fair deal for Amazon is providing you an international audience and a hassle free platform to publish. There is no scope to negotiate your percentage of the profit. But that you can do once your book becomes a best seller and you establish yourself as a writer with a million readers. Once you prove your worth, the offline publishers will be willing to publish your writing and that is when you can negotiate a deal better suited to your profit. A first time writer or a less well known writer doesn’t have that advantage.

9. The book won’t be available immediately. Amazon will verify the content and then publish after about 24 hours. In case they find something objectionable in your writing, they will communicate with you about that. If you edit or remove the objectionable part, then they will publish. How will you know whether your book is published? You will be informed through email. Then you may visit amazon.in and write your name in the search box. If your book is available at amazon.in, then the search result will show your Kindle e-book available online at Kindle Store.

10. Now, how can your readers access your published e-book? Do try to understand that the book will be available at Kindle Store and in order to access that the reader must have a device with the Kindle app installed in the device. The best thing to read a Kindle e-book is a Kindle reader called a Kindle Paperwhite. But it is not the only option. Any smartphone with the Kindle app installed in it will be an appropriate platform to read the book. The reader will have to buy a copy of the book online using either the Amazon app/website or the Kindle app/website. Once purchased, the book needs to be downloaded in a device (smartphone or computer or e-book reader) to read it. If your reader is unable to use Kindle or Amazon store, then you may share the PDF version of your manuscript. There is also an option at KDP, of publishing the paperback version of your e-book, but the process is a little cumbersome and in that you may need help of someone well versed in the skill of DTP or Desktop Publishing. However, you can also get your PDF printed and then share it with whomever you wish to share.