I’ll post what I think is the most important from the KDP newsletter for those who are interested in self-publishing, those might try it someday, and for those who have really self-published without their literary agent’s e-publishing services backing them.
KDP is Now Available in the Kindle Store for India!
We’re excited to announce Kindle Direct Publishing has launched in India!
If you have distribution rights in India for books you’ve published through Kindle Direct Publishing, they are now available in the Kindle store for India (sold to customers in India on Amazon.com). New features for authors and publishers in India include the ability to set prices specific for India, as well as receive royalty payments in INR. For the full press release on India click here.
Marketing Tidbit of the Month
If you are about to use your free promotion days, offered as part of KDP Select, make sure you actively announce these days in advance so you can make the most out of this valuable promotional benefit. You can announce this to your readers through your social media presence, like Facebook, Twitter, blog, email list, etc.
KDP will be at the Frankfurt Book Fair
The biggest book and media fair in the world is just around the corner. We’re referring to the Frankfurt Book Fair (Oct 10-14) of course. Every year this event attracts about 7,500 exhibitors from over 110 countries. KDP will have a joint booth there with CreateSpace and will give a session on ‘Indie Publishing with Amazon’. See here for a full list of events planned during the fair. As always, we love to meet our KDP authors and publishers in person so make sure to come by our booth at Hall 8, F914.
As we had mentioned before, we’ll be attending more events in the U.S. and around the world, so stay tuned for more announcements.
New KDP Author Story Featured on the Amazon Homepage
Another one of our KDP authors, Theresa Ragan, has been featured on the Amazon.com homepage as of 8/21. In the story, Theresa shares her struggles trying to publish her work over a period of 19 years, and how she finally reached readers by deciding to publish using KDP. In case Theresa’s story is no longer live on the Amazon homepage, you can also read it below.
Overnight Success, 20 Years in the Making
As a mom who worked full-time while raising four kids, romance author Theresa Ragan knows about struggle. But when it came time to publish her first novel, Theresa didn’t expect a battle that would threaten her commitment to writing. Return of the Rose took Theresa five years to complete, and though she received good feedback from the publishing community, no one wanted to publish the book. With her next two books, it was the same story. One prominent editor even asked her to add 20,000 words to one of her manuscripts and resubmit it. Theresa did. Then she never heard from him again.
“I was crushed by that. I truly thought my time had come, but then… nothing. I knew rejection was part of the deal of becoming a published author, but I had no idea it would be that hard. All I wanted was to get my work in front of readers. After over 100 rejections, there were days I thought about quitting altogether.
“It felt unfair, somehow. It was like my success wasn’t being based on my writing abilities but was instead decided by two dozen people in New York. I knew I deserved better, and that readers deserved to read my books!”
That’s when Theresa discovered a way to take success into her own hands. She learned that any author could publish their books on Kindle by using Amazon’s independent self-service publishing platform. “In 2011, my youngest child was going off to college, and it was time for me to get back to work, so I decided to give it a shot. With nothing to lose, I published two of my romantic time travel novels electronically and print-on-demand through Amazon. I hoped to sell maybe ten books. I was stunned when I sold thousands. For the first time, my stories were being read, and after nearly two decades of working hard to get published, I felt like an overnight success!
“In a little over a year, I have sold nearly 250,000 books for the Kindle. Four of my books even made the Top 100 Kindle Best Sellers List. I have been approached by agents, foreign sales people, and two movie producers, and have received mentions in the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, and PC Magazine, and was recently interviewed by USA Today.
“I am so excited that writers have the opportunity to get their work in front of readers without jumping through insurmountable hoops. The publishing world is changing fast, and I plan to enjoy every minute of the ride.”
