Nomad Internet Marketing March 2017 Issue 03 | Page 28

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Five Profitable Tips for
Uploading Your Book Into
the Kindle Marketplace
Before you can start cashing in on the Kindle marketplace,
you obviously need to first get your ebook successfully
converted and uploaded.
Plenty of would-be authors balk at this step.
Some of them even scrap the whole idea of being a Kindle
author simply because they don't want to deal with these
technical details.
Listen, it's not that hard. And the Kindle Direct Publishing
program has plenty of documentation to help you out, which
you can find here:
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help
Those help files plus the following five tips will make sure
you get your book uploaded right the first time…
Tip 1: Format your book correctly. Your readers are going
to get a first impression about your book just based on the
way it appears on their Kindle screen. If the book is difficult
to read, most readers won't bother finishing it. And they may
even leave a poor review for you.
Certainly you won't get any repeat buyers!
That's why you need to pay attention to Kindle's
formatting requirements.
In particular:
• Don't use fancy fonts. Stick to one basic font, such as
Arial or Times New Roman.
• Don't change the font size. Readers can adjust the
font size up and down manually using their Kindle. If
you force font-size changes, the formatting may not
work correctly – and your book will be hard to read.
• Don't use page numbers. Because Kindle readers can
adjust the font size, any page numbers you put on
your pages will be irrelevant.
Example: If readers increase their font size, then they're
increasing the number of pages in your book. Thus adding
page numbers only confuses readers.
The bottom line is to keep it simple. Don't use fancy or
unusual characters, fonts or formatting.
Tip: Need step-by-step formatting and conversion
instructions? Then go to: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-
publishing/help?topicId=A2RYO17TIRUIVI.
Tip 2: Test your book. As you've going
through the steps of uploading your
Kindle book into the marketplace, you'll
come to a screen where you have the
option of previewing the book.
Do it!
And if you have your own Kindle, be
sure to buy your book and preview it again,
just to be sure that you formatted it
correctly.
Tip 3: Get a good cover. Don't just slap
any old cover on your Kindle book.
This cover makes the first impression
on your prospects, so you want to make
sure it looks professional.
If you're not a professional graphical
designer, then go to elance.com and find
a professional to create your cover for you.
Tip 4: Title your book carefully. Many of
your prospects are going to make their
buying decision just based on the title of
your book.
That's why you need to create a title
that speaks to your target market and
shares a benefit.
Examples:
• The Secrets of Seeing Everything
Europe Has to Offer When All You
Have is a Rail Pass, a Backpack and
a Sense of Adventure
• How to Quickly and Easily
Housetrain Your Puppy (Even if
He's Stubborn)
Tip 5: Pick the right category.
Sometimes your prospects search the
Kindle marketplace for specific keywords,
such as “lose weight” or “online
marketing.”
And sometimes they simply browse the
marketplace by category. That's why it's
so important that you put your book into
the right category.
Sometimes it's not always easy to
decide how to categorize your book.
When in doubt, research your direct
competitors.
Then place your book in the same
category as these competitors.