So, You Want to Publish on Amazon?
Well, it’s less daunting than you might think but there is also quite a bit you should know. For a start, I am no expert but I have published seven books on amazon, so, I have some experience. I would certainly recommend picking up books on the subject written by people far smarter than I, but here is my brief rundown.
Step 1: Write your story. Seems like the natural first step, but it can often be the hardest. Just sit down and write the thing that has been in your head. If it a story you would want to read, chances are, others would, too.
Step 2: You have finished your story, but now what? Get it edited! This step is skipped by so many people just starting out and it shows in the reviews. Most readers will overlook a few errors, make note of several and will stop reading altogether at an abundance (after returning the book and giving it a one-star rating). Don’t make this mistake- get your book edited. Can’t afford a pro? Ask a friend or another author. Just get some eyes on it! They will catch the typos and continuity errors that your brain autocorrects. There are also computer programs that you can use if you are not keen on sending your erotica to others just yet (though, really, get used to it if you plan to publish).
Step 3: Get a cover. I don’t need to tell you, literally everyone judges a book by its cover. That being said, it doesn’t need to break the bank. One of my covers (Left) was made using nothing more than stock photos and a free phone editing software. My other covers were made by an artist I found on deviantart. Places like that and Fiverr are excellent for finding people whose style fits your sensibility, as well as what you want to tell the reader about your story. As cover design can take some time, it is wise to begin thinking about this while you are producing the book, rather than waiting until you are ready to publish.
NOTE: Be careful with erotica covers! If they show too much skin or are implicit in any way, Amazon will ‘dungeon’ it and make it so your books won’t come up in any searches. As an example, type ‘mailgirls’ into amazon and you will find that two of my books don’t show in searches. That is because there is too much nudity on the cover. So, keep that in mind when you design your own.
Step 4: You have an edited book and a cover, now it is time! Create your KDP account AND Author Page- they are different for a reason that makes sense but is unimportant here. In your KDP dashboard, create your ebook. To do so, you will need to format your book from whatever you used to write it into a file that Kindle can use- be sure to check the KDP formatting guide. Amazon offers a free software. It’s not the best but it totally works, and the price is right. Use the program to create your file and upload it. Upload your cover and you are almost there!
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Step 5: Lot’s ‘o details… When you begin to create your book, you will be asked for a blurb and keywords. A blurb is many indies least favorite part but is a key to getting readers interested in your work. I am not going to try and teach you how to write a blurb but there are lots of great resources out there for it. It is not something to be overlooked and is most important after the cover. You will also need to write the additional backmatter of an author bio where you can link to the places your fans can find you and your other works. You don't want to skip this and let passionate readers forget about you.
Next, keywords: these are the things that people type into the amazon search bar and, hopefully, lead them to your book. Here is a link to an explanation of keywords but, as an example, I make sure that ‘mailgirls’ and ‘ENF’ are keywords for all my books since that’s what I write. You just want to be sure that a person
Finally, set your price and decide if you want to enroll in KDP select (for kindle unlimited readers) or go wide. ‘Going wide’ means you will make your book available in places other than amazon and Select means that your ebook is exclusive to Amazon and you will be paid for sales and page reads.
If you choose to go wide, it is wise to make a landing page for your book that can direct people to all the places they can get it (Right) but it also means you will be going through this same process on other sites or is what you will have to do if your stories are on Literotica.
HIT PUBLISH!
Now you can sit back with a drink and rake in the cash... or, more accurately, hustle for every sale
This is not part of the publication process but seemed important to mention: marketing. You will not get any sales unless you get your books out there (it's why US companies spend about 200 billion dollars a year on advertising alone). At the very least, you should have a website (where people can find your stuff), an email list (where you can send people your stuff) and a twitter (where you can promote your stuff). You should pick the social media that works best for you but I have found twitter is a good starting place.
Remember, even if you get thousands of clicks a day, you will probably only get a handful of sales. It doesn't help that you cannot advertise erotica on amazon...
I hope you found this helpful and if you want to know more, you can use the link below.