How to Publish a Book on Amazon: Real Advice from Someone Who?s Doing it Well

by Sam Kerns

Are you tired of “how to publish books” that are full of fluff and no real information? I was, too.Before I began my publishing career with Kindle books, I read just about everything out there, looking for real answers to questions I had about the industry. But much to my disappointment, most of the books were filled with fluff or stories of people who “hit it big” without really telling me how or why.I determined to jump in and learn for myself—and that’s exactly what I did. I started with my first book, How to Work from Home and Make Money, and then quickly published three more. I was looking for the topic of my fifth book when it hit me—why not share what I’ve learned with the people who still haven’t made the leap and published their own book?It all began when I received an email from a book promotion site. One of the features was a how to book about publishing Kindle books, so out of curiosity, I followed the link and read the reviews. And sure enough, the page was full of people complaining that the book didn’t contain any valuable information.So here’s what I decided to do. Write a book that answers all of the real questions without painting an unrealistic view of the possibilities. In my book, I answer things to pick book topics that will sell. (Why it’s important, and what I’ve done right—and wrong.)How to write a book in 30 days or less. (And take weekends off)How to conduct research for your book.How to make your own covers for free.The pros and cons of pre-releasing your book.When you should enroll your book in Kindle Unlimited (And when you shouldn’t.)How to format your book yourself. (Including the clickable table of contents) And how to get it done for cheap if you don’t want to do it.Why you need a paperback version. (And how to create one)Why you may need an audio book (And how to get one for free)How to get your book translated into other languages for free (And why you should)Why ranking matters (And what to do if your book isn’t ranking well.)How to market your book. (Including links and contact information for the people I use)What to do after you publish your first book.How much you can REALLY expect to make with Kindle publishingI talk about the mistakes I’ve made so you don’t make them, too. And I provide you with step-by-step instructions and relevant links for all of the above areas—and more. In other words, this book is the ONLY book you’ll need to start a career publishing Kindle books.If you’ve been dreaming of publishing a book, but don’t know where to start—or if you’ve already published but can’t find success—this may be the book you’ve been waiting for.Why not take the first step toward your publishing career and download it right now? I promise you won’t find any fluff or useless information in it. Just an actionable guide that answers the questions no one else will.

201 pages, Paperback

Published November 9, 2016

Reviews

[Bilal Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who gave this book less than 5 stars needs to think again. I read tons of books to publish my own book, Surviving pretrial, and Sam Kearns book is what I relied on most. Follow the instructions and you will have a publishable book. Whether it sells or not will be on you. Fantastic book.

[S.E. Martens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was informative and got into some of the nuts and bolts on how exactly the KDP platform works, which is good. There's also some really interesting information on things like how to get an audiobook done and how to get translations done if you are self-published. I really appreciated those sections.

However, I found the author's attitude a little hard to take. The constant drive to publish marketable books and sell a lot and be the best and blah blah blah just isn't what I'm in it for. I guess I'm just a precious little artiste at heart. :P

I realize it takes a certain amount of privilege to be able to sit here and say that, as I'm not relying on my writing for my income, I have a day job for that. But I think if you want a steady income there are probably better options than trying to crank out a whole new book every thirty days. I think you'd get burnt out and be producing perhaps not the greatest quality. And anyways, who cares if your book doesn't sell? Do it as a hobby and have fun with it. That's my attitude. If you're sitting there saying, "no, I have to sell a million copies and be the best!" then this book is for you and you'll get more out of it than I did.

[Jean-Michel Desire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of likely good information for anyone who wishes to pursue the Amazon publishing route. It is a fact that some authors are making big money doing this, but it's hard to tell which authors will benefit from this. I can honestly say that I am not sure this will work for me. But, it is a worthwhile read and has strong tips and good guidance. In my personal view, there's a couple of unrealistic recommendations but other than that, it is an important source of information that should be on every author's shelf.

[Sumi Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books that really gives great advice on getting your book ready and published on Amazon! I will definitely be following all the gold nuggets on getting my books available on all platforms, audible and even translating my books that seems so hard to do at this stage. The most important thing is to make money from a book that's taken years to write especially if you're working a full-time job.

[Ayesha Ratnayake · Rating 3 out of 5]

A genuinely helpful guide to achieving some degree of success by publishing on Amazon. First chapter came off slightly bitchy, but it's uphill from there. Practical and up-to-date advice.

[Tatyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book from A to Z. There is a lot of useful advice, some of them not so. It was informative for a newly self-published author like myself. Overall, it's a helpful book.

[Howard Fielding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointed by our experience with another how-to-publish-on-Amazon book, we bought this one in Kindle and Audible audiobook formats, and were glad we did.

We started our five-hour drive by listening to the book, but I soon found myself opening the Kindle version and following along so I could bookmark resources linked in the text.
Along the way, I discovered that the Kindle version had been updated to drop some material, and that one chapter had been rewritten. The Kindle version adjusts for the combination of the Create Space and KDP platforms, while the audiobook hasn’t caught up to that yet.

This book is well-researched, with data and statistics to back up the author’s arguments. It is also chock-full of resources, formatting tips, big-budget and no-budget solutions to editing and production, and tips for marketing, production, timing your releases, and cross-promotion. (The author makes good use of the space to promote his work-from-home series of books — purely to show us how it is done, of course!) He also is honest in explaining why some books just don’t sell, and giving one of his own as an example.

In his chapter on producing audiobooks, the author is generous in his praise of the narrator, who also records his other books. She deserves it, although the listener can’t help but smile at her singing her own praises in somebody else’s words.