31 August 2024
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Millions of readers buy eBooks via Amazon making it the first port of call for many self-publishing authors
Although many of us love the idea of holding in our hands a physical book we’ve written, self-publishing an eBook is far simpler. Millions of readers buy eBooks via Amazon and so the platform is the first port of call for many self-publishing authors. As Simon Whaley reveals in this comprehensive guide, there’s much more to self-publishing a book on Amazon than uploading some text and a cover image.
Digital-first is a popular business model for self-publishing authors, and many traditional publishers follow this path too. They publish in eBook format first, and if sales do well, then they release the book in paperback format.
Publishing with Amazon is hardly straightforward, but there’s less to think about when publishing digitally compared to creating a print book: an eBook only needs a front cover image, not a spine or back cover.
There’s less to worry about the book’s interior design, too. We don’t have to concern ourselves about font, font size, and widows and orphans at the top and bottom of pages, because readers can change the font and font size on their electronic reading device.
Quick links
- Is amazon the best platform for my book?
- Amazon’s KDP Select programme explained
- Self-publishing on Amazon: creating an account
- What to consider before you self-publish on amazon
- Your step-by-step guide to uploading your eBook to amazon
Is amazon the best platform for my book?
The most well-known eBook platforms are Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Tolino, Baker and Taylor, and Everand (formerly Scribd), but there are many more.
Again, keep it simple. Publish on one platform first. Pick the biggest to begin with. In the UK and US, that’s Amazon. Once you have published your eBook on Amazon, then you can explore the other platforms when you’re ready. There’s another reason for publishing to Amazon first: you’ll be able to enrol in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited programme.
Amazon’s KDP Select programme explained
For a monthly subscription, Amazon’s customers can enrol in the Kindle Unlimited programme. This lets them download eBooks without paying for them. Effectively, they can borrow up to twenty eBooks at a time.
Authors are paid by page-reads. Amazon tracks how many pages customers read and at the end of the month they total these page reads across the platform and divide it by the total subscription income received that month. Using this price-per-page-read figure (fractions of pence), they multiply this by the number of page-reads your books have had.
This encourages readers to experiment with new authors. If they’re not enjoying an eBook after reading several pages, they can return it and start another book. The author is still recompensed for the pages the reader has read.
For your book to be available to readers via the Kindle Unlimited programme, we have to enrol our book in Amazon’s KDP Select programme. However, doing so means we must be exclusive to Amazon in eBook format. If we enrol in KDP Select, we cannot self-publish our eBook anywhere else – not even on our own website.
This does not stop us from self-publishing our book in other formats, such as paperback, on Amazon and everywhere else. The exclusivity only applies to the eBook.
Enrolment in the KDP Select programme is for a rolling 90-day period. The exclusivity is not forever, but we can only opt out again at the end of the current 90-day term.
Some first-time self-publishers launch their eBook on Amazon and enrol in KDP Select for the first 90 days to see what happens. They can only self-publish their eBook elsewhere when they’ve opted out of KDP Select.
Remember, it’s the title that is enrolled in the programme, not the author or publisher. So if we self-publish more books, we can have some enrolled in KDP Select, and others not.
Self-publishing on Amazon: creating an account
To self-publish on Amazon, first we need to create a KDP Account. KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. If you already shop with Amazon, you can log in with your existing Amazon log-in.
When Amazon asks for your business type, most self-published authors should select Individual (unless you’re setting up a publishing business with a separate legal identity, such as a limited company).
When asked for your first and last name, Amazon wants your real name, not any pseudonyms. Pen names are dealt with when we upload our manuscript.
Naturally, Amazon needs our bank account details so they know where to send our royalties. Enter your bank’s IBAN number (22 digits) and your bank’s BIC/Swift code (8 digits). These should be on your bank statement.
We also need to complete a tax declaration. This ensures Amazon pays our royalties in full. As an American business, they must withhold 30% of any royalties, unless the account holder has confirmed they’re not a US citizen and not liable to pay US tax on their earnings. Our tax liability on our royalties depends upon our personal tax situation, but completing this form ensures we don’t pay tax twice – once in the US and then again in the UK.
To complete this section, authors either need to quote their UTR (Unique Tax Reference with HMRC) or their National Insurance number. Amazon has a helpful video on how to complete this questionnaire (watch it below). These questionnaires have to be reviewed every three years, and Amazon will contact you when this is due.
What to consider before you self-publish on amazon
Are you going to write a series of books?
If our book is going to be the first in a series, perhaps with the same detective character, then we can set this up when we upload our first book.
Amazon will then display this title as the first in a series, and will also create a series page for all books that we add to it later. Think about a suitable series name. My cosy crime novels come under my Mortiforde Mysteries series. My non-fiction writing guides are part of my The Practical Writer series. Don’t worry if you’re unsure at this stage.
A series page can be set up at any time and previously published books can be added later.
What keywords should you use?
We also need to choose seven keywords, or search terms, readers might use when looking for a book like ours. These can be single words or multi-word phrases.
Try typing a few phrases into Amazon’s search bar to see what it suggests. For example, for my The Positively Productive Writer, some of my keyword phrases include writing productivity tips, how to be a productive writer, and writer’s block.
Which Amazon marketplaces should you choose?
Amazon currently has thirteen market places operating in 245 territories around the world. For example, other German-speaking territories like Austria, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland can access the German marketplace (Amazon.de).
We can select which marketplaces we want to sell our book in. The Worldwide option publishes our books to all thirteen marketplaces. Even though we’ve written our book in English, we can publish it in non-English-speaking territories.
Think about any limitations to where you might want to self-publish your book. For example, if you have licensed a traditional North American publisher to publish and sell your book in North America only, you can still self-publish via Amazon in the twelve other marketplaces.
BISAC codes explained
All publishing platforms allow us to categorise our book using the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communication) codes. Typically, we’re allowed to select up to three, so it’s worth browsing the list of codes before we’re ready to upload to determine which three categories our book best fits.
Non-fiction BISACs include biography, crafts and hobbies, gardening, history, music, nature, psychology, travel, true crime and self-help. Fiction BISACs include adventure, crime, fantasy, historical, LGBTQ+, Mystery and Detective, romance, science fiction, thrillers, and women’s literature.
Each code can have a sub-code. Cosy crime is a sub-category of mystery. Cyberpunk is a sub-category of Science Fiction. Romance sub-categories include erotica, fantasy, historical, military, romantic comedy, and workplace.
Check out the BISAC codes in advance to choose which ones best suit your book. Not only will this help readers find your book, but the platforms use these codes for marketing similar books to readers.
What will be the royalty rate for my self-published book?
Amazon offers two royalty rates – 35% and 70%. Why might you choose the 35% rate instead of the 70%?
In the UK marketplace, self-publishers opting for the 70% royalty rate must sell their eBook for £1.77 or more. At the 35% royalty rate, the lowest price we can set is £0.77.
Read Amazon's guide to royalty here.
Self-publishers can charge whatever price they want for their book. Research how much other authors writing in your genre charge for their books. Price is an excellent marketing strategy. A common promotional eBook price is £0.99. To offer that price, we have to accept the 35% royalty rate.
A book’s file size also affects the royalty rate. If the file size is between 3Mb and 10Mb, the minimum price we can charge is £1.25 on the 35% rate. Any greater than 10MB, and our book must be more than £1.49 on the lower rate. There are no file size limits on the higher 70% rate.
For most text-based novels and non-fiction books, file size won’t be an issue. My 90,000-word novel Blooming Murder is 0.52Mb. Manuscripts with images have larger files sizes, so my Photography for Writers book, which contains photographs, is 3.54Mb. This means the cheapest price I can charge on the 35% royalty rate is £1.25.
We can change prices and royalty rates at any time. I charge a minimum of £1.99 for my eBooks, so I opt for the 70% royalty rate. Occasionally, I drop the price to £0.99 as a special offer, but to do that I have to switch to the 35% rate. When I increase the price, I switch back to the 70% rate.
Your step-by-step guide to uploading your eBook to amazon
- Log into your Amazon KDP account (https://kdp.amazon.com), select ‘Bookshelf’ and then ‘Create’.
- Enter the book’s title, subtitle (if it has one), and the author’s name/pseudonym that will appear in the book. If part of a series, enter a series title and classify this as the series’ first book (you can create a series later).
- Upload your book description (your blurb).
- Copyright. Confirm you have the publishing rights or are the copyright holder. Declare any sexually explicit material (on the cover or in the book). Set a minimum reading age, if required.
- Primary Marketplace. Choose your home country (Amazon.co.uk if UK-based). Amazon calculates world prices based on the primary marketplace price.
- Categories. Select up to three. Common fiction categories include romance, crime, thriller, literary, and fantasy. Non-fiction categories include self-help, reference, travel, and local history. Check for sub-categories. Cosy crime is a sub-category of mystery. Choose wisely, although we can update these later.
- Keywords. Choose seven – single words or search-term phrases readers might enter when searching for a book like yours. Select words not in your title or subtitle.
- Upload your manuscript file (Word, ePub, Mobi), followed by your cover (jpeg/tiff). Amazon reviews them to ensure they meet production standards, and it checks for spelling errors.
- AI-assistance. Confirm whether you used artificial intelligence (AI) to create any of your content. This includes AI spelling and grammar checkers during the book cover creation, and your book’s content. As always it’s good to check and, if needed, rewrite any AI-generated content to ensure it’s correct and reflects you and your work.
- Preview. Check everything, page by page, to ensure it is correct. Make any changes necessary in your original document or cover and then re-upload and recheck.
- ISBN. You don’t need an ISBN for an eBook on Amazon. If you’ve bought ISBNs, enter the one you’ve allocated to the eBook version. You cannot add an ISBN later.
- KDP Select programme. Check this if you want to enrol in Amazon’s exclusive subscription programme. You can only opt out at the end of a 90-day period.
- Territories. Amazon has thirteen marketplaces operating in 245 territories. Readers in Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland can access the German store (amazon.de). Selecting the ‘Worldwide’ option means Amazon will publish your book in all their marketplaces. To limit the availability, only select the marketplaces where you want to sell your book.
- Royalty rate. Select the 35% or 70% option, depending on the price you wish to charge. We can change these at any time.
- Pricing. Enter your preferred price for your primary market place. Amazon calculates the prices for all other market places. You can accept these suggestions or amend them.
- Press ‘Publish’! Be patient, it can take up to 72 hours for your book to appear, but it’s often quicker than this.