Part five- Self Publishing on Kindle Direct Publishing

You have created a beautiful cover that attracts new readers to it like a magnet. Now it’s time to make sure what’s inside meets the expectations you created for the reader.

You may have written your masterpiece in word , a Google doc or in another program. Now you face an additional number of items from choosing fonts, setting margins and working with images all to ensure your book is properly, professionally formatted and ready to upload to KDP

Typography

The first step is choosing the right font or a combination of typeface. Why does font matter? Fonts allow us to channel emotions ranging from discreet, cunning, angry and in love, just by the shape, size, and curve of the letters. The same story written in different fonts will evoke different emotions in your reader.

In 1933, Poffenberger and Barrows explored how shapes as simple as lines could communicate emotions. They performed the experiment on 500 people, each person being asked to choose a line to represent 13 classes of feelings including, sad, quiet, lazy, merry, agitating, furious, and powerful.

Formats

Even with help from KDP formatting can be tricky, especially if your book has pictures or other heavy files. Fortunately, KDP has a great self-publishing guide that can walk you through the steps of ensuring your manuscript is accurately laid out. Below is an example of part of the KDP toolbox available for self publishers.

I want… Use this tool/resource

• A tool that turns my completed manuscript into a “reflowable” or Print Replica Kindle eBook. Kindle Create
• A tool to help me to design a cover for my eBook or paperback. Cover Creator
• A step-by-step video guide for formatting a paperback manuscript. KDP Build Your Book
• A tool that shows me how my eBook will look before I publish it on KDP. Kindle Previewer
• A tool that turns my illustrated children’s books into great-looking Kindle eBooks. Kindle Kids’ Book Creator
• A tool that turns my comics, graphic novels, and manga into Kindle eBooks. Kindle Comic Creator

You will be dividing your book into two main sections, the front material and the body of your work. Preparing your front matter is important and should include:

•  Title page
• Copyright page-  To register a book or other creative work go to copyright.gov, the website set up by the Library of Congress.
•  Dedication page
•  Table of contents – this is not needed for all books
•    Preface (if any)
•    Introduction (if any)

ISBN

Self-publishing your book significantly saves costs and time, however, you need to make sure your format is up to industry standards. To break down the guidelines into specific detail I recommend a great article “How to format a Novel Manuscruipt” by Kelly Hart

Another wonderful aspect and cost savings of using Kindle Direct is they will create an ISBN number for you. It can cost $125 per ISBN number if you purchase it yourself. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number.

It is a 13-digit number that is a unique identifier for books. ISBN is used internationally. You do not need an ISBN number for a Kindle book version. We need them to identify each book that is published, and each edition of the same book. ISBN also identifies the publisher of the book. It is the standard ID number used to identify books by booksellers, libraries, book wholesalers and distributors.

ISBNs can be done even before the book is written. The bar code is a representation of the ISBN in a form scanners can identify . The bar code might also have other information embedded in it, like the price of the book and the currency in which it is priced. KDP will create your barcode for your free.

I wouldn’t recommend writing your novel in a specific template, as other formats will give you the freedom to experiment with various fonts, sizes, graphs, and pictures. Word is great and most of us have access to it already. Then when you are done you can upload your manuscript into the template which will auto format for you. KDP is there to guide you in the right direction

Want to make sure your book looks right before releasing to the public? KDP lets you preview your e-book online but for paperbacks, they offer 5 proof copies

KDP states the following

Proof copies are snapshots of how your paperback would currently print. You can check for grammatical errors, typos, and formatting. You can also review images or graphics to make sure they meet your expectations. If your proof doesn’t print as expected, it may be because of formatting issues. Ordering proofs is not mandatory, and you need not wait to submit your book for publication if you order a proof. However, if your submission doesn’t pass our quality review, you must edit your files and resubmit them. Learn more about paperback formatting.

Proofs differ from regular copies. They have a “Not for Resale” watermark on the cover but no ISBN. During printing, we place a unique barcode in the lower right-hand corner of the back cover. If you have images or text on this part of the cover, the barcode will cover them. (Source Kindle Direct Publishing)

You’ve chosen the right fonts, formatted the content and have registered your book…its now ready to sell!

You did it! You are ready to release your masterpiece to the anxiously awaiting public. There is absolutely nothing more thrilling than seeing the finished copy of your e-book or paperback. Now it’s time to move from self-publisher to self-marketer

This is the 5th in an Article Series about Self Publishing. The first 3 articles are :

The Strange New World of Publishing

KDP University…Do you need a degree to self-publish?

Self Publishing…Let’s start at the very beginning

 You do Judge a book by its cover

About Patricia

Patricia Brusha exploded on the literary scene in 2018 with the debut of “Another Hot Mess” series. After over 30 award-winning years in the digital marketing for travel vertical, Patricia now adds authoring a series of contemporary fiction novels and article series to her resume

Co-founder in 2005 of two innovative companies ‘A Couple of Chicks e-Marketing’ and ‘Online Revealed Canada’ in Toronto Ontario, Patricia is now exploring the new world of self-publishing in Cave Creek Arizona. Current works include Another Hot Mess, “Would you Rather?”, “P.S. jr”  and the “Brusha Touch, A Culinary Adventure”

Patricia Brusha Publishing

http://www.anotherhotmess.com

plbrusha@gmail.com

Author & Self Publisher