Get Publishing

Make Your Own eBooks

An Article by Russell Perry

IN the June/July edition of Scope, I published an article on the growing publishing sector of ‘Kindle Short Reeds’

This sector continues to grow exponentially in all major markets globally, with genres such as romance, crime fiction, science fiction and non-fiction proving popular, although all of the popular genres enjoy success.

The now generation are looking for quick reads for limited time availability.

Stories are usually marketed by the length of time it takes an average reader to read them i.e. 30 minutes, 90 minutes, two hours etc.

I actually put the time on the cover of each story. You can also include it in the blurb of the story. If you google ‘How long does it take to read the number of words your book has, it will give you an average time.

It is relatively easy to create an eBook on Amazon (KDP). Amazon provides step by step instructions or there are many YouTube videos you can follow.

The first thing to do is sign up for an Amazon KDP account.

When you have written you manuscript, mine are between 5000 and 25000 words, get an attractive cover made (Or make it yourself. The same rules apply to eBooks as with print books, make sure they are edited properly, formatted and look professional. You can do all of these things yourself (I do) or pay someone to do it.

The best practice is to load it to KDP for publishing on Amazon and enter it into their ‘Kindle Unlimited’ program (This is where member readers can read registered books for free and you get paid for each page of your book that’s read.) If they are not members, they can buy the book. Depending on the length 0f the book, I usually set prices between 99c and $3.99.

You will be asked which market you wish to be sold in. I choose the US (Amazon.com) as it is huge, and because it is a download without shipping, Australian readers and indeed readers from all countries, can download in seconds.

You can also make your own eBooks; there are many programs these days to facilitate this. I use a program call ‘Calibre’. You can save it in different file types, the most versatile being ‘epub’ Kindle uses this. (You can add your cover to the process.)

If you have a Kindle or the Kindle app downloaded to your phone or tablet. (If not, do it, it’s free). Then if you go to the Kindle settings, you will see your Kindle email address. Now if you email your ‘epub’ file to that email address, the book will appear in your Kindle library.  In a few seconds.

It’s possible to sell your ‘epub’ books as downloads from your website, then your readers can purchase and send the file to their Kindle or kindle app.

I haven’t set this up yet but it’s on my to-do list. Meanwhile just do it through Amazon. Some writers are making a motsa.

A big plus is that you can build catalogue of titles quickly, which is one of the secrets of marketing books.

Give it a go. If you are not good with tech and need help, I can do that for a small fee. I do all except edit. I don’t edit other people’s work.

You can reach me at ru*****@**************om.au

My books so far are here  There are more to come in the Rural Crime genre with my new protagonist ‘Jackson Crafter’. Keep an eye out.