 |
| Amazon Kindle (Photo credit: agirregabiria) |
Crazy like a fox, I think. Amazon's Kindle Publishing platform may be the best opportunity for writers that has come along, well, since writing was invented, many thousands of years ago. You just have to abide by their rules, (most of which are simply common sense).
You will not have to endure the endless waiting game and frustration, of sending your manuscript to publishers, only to receive a politely worded response that your book does not fit what they are looking for. They never really explain exactly what they are looking for, do they?
There are some technical issues you will have to understand, such as formatting for electronic distribution. It is not as simple as uploading your text from Word, but with a little research, you can overcome this obstacle. You will also have to find a way to get your own book cover art designed, but this is not as big a problem as you might think.
Unfortunately, there is one huge obstacle that writers need to understand, and it may not be an easy thing to digest. When you write an ebook, you are not just a writer any more, like it or not, you are a now a writer/co-publisher. This means if you want to be successful, you will have to think like a publisher and learn to market your books as well as write them.
Note: if this seems distasteful to you, maybe you need to question how much you really want to be successful. It is simply a matter of learning a new skill. It just might be something you enjoy, so go ahead and taste the green eggs. Welcome to the new world of digital self-publishing!
Note to those who would like to comment on this blog. Recently there has been a flood of comments to this post in particular. Please do not try to post comments using the name Anonymous. Use your real name or a nickname that you are using on the Internet.
Any constructive comment on topic will be published. If you are merely trying to promote your own website or products, this is not a very effective way to gain links. It will not be a very effective strategy for your search engine optimization efforts to link back your website though a simple comment. I cannot encourage this kind of tactic, or technique. Google appreciates a wide variety of different types of links and various types of links through keywords, and phrases in their rankings. Please visit seomoz.org for a thorough understanding of effective link building.
Thank you for your understanding.
John Lombaerde
Note: if you are interested in blogging for personal or professional reasons. I run a group called Practical WordPress group at MarketHive. At the moment, it is a private Social Networking site for Entrepreneurs, but in February it will open to the public and it will be completely free to join. You can find out everything you need to know on my blog at Goldfinch Digital Publishing LLC
