Monday, July 23, 2012

Why Publish Your Book via Kindle?


I have never really understood the attitude of unpublished authors who receive many rejections for their manuscripts and blame publishers for not wanting to take a risk by publishing their novel. I don't think publishers are evil, they simply have to put their money where their mouth is. If they publish your novel, they have to invest a certain amount to have it edited, produced, promoted and driven to various bookshops. That means they are very picky about what they publish, albeit not in a way that makes sense to the lay person. Sometimes their most hyped up book might sink, and sometimes it might swim, and sometimes it all goes pearshaped and the publisher goes bankrupt.

But don't blame the publisher for not wanting to take a risk on you. Get out there and do it yourself! Is there any more wonderful invention than the Kindle for the adventurous author who wants to get her book out there? Publish your book as a Kindle and it costs practically nothing, so you're not exactly plundering your retirement fund to get it into print.

Remember the dark days of self publishing, when you had to order several thousand copies of your book, which went moldy in your garage and no one bought off you, not even your gran? And if you ever saw them in a public place it was in the local dog pound lining the kennels? The other problem, apart from wasting your money, was you never got back any feedback on your book.

But now if you Kindle your book, you get readers without even really trying. Additionally, on the days you give it away free you will have about 10,000 people reading it. The down- or upside to all this is you will get a lot of feedback on your book because many people are reading it. For a fully paid up narcissist like myself, this kind of feedback is like manna from heaven.



When I published my novel Confessions of a Cake Addict as a Kindle, I was soon inundated with people telling me what they thought of it.

Some of it good like this:

"The title of Confessions of a Cake Addict was the first thing that struck me about the book. It instantly made me smile as I completely empathised with Kate, the protagonist, as I am a self-confessed chocaholic. Kate is the quintessential geeky girl with a great big heart. There were so many times during the book that I just wanted to hug her. We've all been where Kate finds herself in life; single, chubby and just a little bit lonely."

or this:

"This such a riot of a read! Grab this book and cozy up on the couch in the sunroom and just read! I found myself just laughing like silly. It's funny, improbable, but it's not exactly the fluff I was expecting. There is something very smartalecky about this that I really enjoyed."

While others said the book was fluff, but not in a good way, like Laila454:

"This was just total fluff. I expected more from but all I got was a quick beach read."

Well, I'm sorry Laila454 if you thought a book with a pink cover and a cake on it was going to be an indepth exploration of alienation and loss, possibly told from the point of view of a Husky dog Tinker who climbed up Mount Everest with his trusty owner, octogenarian, Mable Smithers. In the course of which, Mable loses her toes to frostbite, Tinker loses his tail to a rabid wolf and they hobble to the bottom of the Mount only to be gunned down by an assasin with cataracts.

No seriously, Laila454, I don't mind what you think as long as you're saying it!

So, if you're thinking of Kindling your book, just go for it!! Fifty Shades of Grey may well owe part of its success to it being available via Kindle so that horny mums can read it on the sidelines of their daughter's soccer games without anyone being the wiser.



Also another book that's selling well in Kindle and paperback is The Life and Death of an Unknown Celebrity by Darren Cockle. It's a tale of how Darren coped with life after his wife died of breast cancer and it's raw, moving, honest, funny and uplifting. 

So if you're feeling brave, I urge you to put your book out on the Kindle. I guarantee you won't regret it!!

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15 comments:

About Last Weekend said...

Wow, I do think that if a book can sell with a brave and honest cover like that (The wig, the stitches) then you cannot underestimate people!!! Also well done you for self-publishing. As a lifelong fan of Jilly Cooper, I love pink, funny and quirky which is what your book sounds like!

Charis said...

Wow, I didn't know that you could self-publish on a Kindle... now I just need to write a book!

Expat mum said...

Also don't forget to join the Kindle Authors group for lots of advice.
Talking of feedback, I can't stand it when someone says my book didn't help them - because they already knew a lot about the UK. Doh!
I am currently finishing up another one, and in the Introduction I am stating quite clearly who the intended audience is.

Honest Mum said...

Think it's wonderful that writers are able to take control and the same is happening via You Tube and vimeo to some extent.

Older Mum said...

Great post. Its so great there are so many more options to publish.

GypsyDi said...

Good post, thanks. I knew you could publish on Kindle, and have been aiming to do that, just wasnt sure if it really is worth it... wondering how the revenues are (I know, hard to predict with books) but definitely an easy route to go if you want to publish yourself and get all your profits.

Renee C. said...

What a great post! I appreciate your honesty about this issue. From a reviewer's perspective, I'm a bit surprised sometimes when authors expect me to automatically praise and recommend their book. First of all, not every book is for everyone. So, if I don't like it, it doesn't mean it's not a good book. I'll tell you what I didn't like about it and those things may not be an issue for everybody. kwim?

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Anonymous said...

This is wonderful advice. I had no idea you could publish on a Kindle. Kudos to you for taking that leap of faith! x

Metropolitan Mum said...

Nope, not quite brave enough yet.
Prissily yours, Dxx

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Emma! :) I remember reading some chapters of CoCA a few years ago and loving them.

Anna Pescardot said...

deragodWhat a great blog, Emma.
The kindle is great for us writers who would rather be independent than wait ages for publishers to get back to us (and it works for those of us who hate rejection!)

Loved what you said about the reader who didn't realise your book was meant to be lighthearted. I got a review from a woman, who called herself granny something, who posted her review of my book that I'd kindly given away free, on her parenting website saying that there was too much drunkeness in it! My book is not for kids! Talk about her not being my target audience...Anyway, loving your work, gal. Keep it up!

Anna
www.annapescardot.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I think that it is amazing that people can self publish these days. I have known several people who have. I will have to check out your book. New follower here from the Likearolemodel blog hop.
http://lovejoyjunction.blogspot.com/

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Anonymous said...

Great post! Everyday ordinary people are creating fortunes by simply selling e-books over the internet and riding the ever-growing wave of Kindle publishing. If you enjoy writing, you can also profit from kindle self-publishing and cash in on the ever-growing trend of e-book publishing.

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