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Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) KDP Publishing is a platform for authors to self-publish eBooks and paperback books. For eBooks, authors can directly upload their book files, and it will appear in the Kindle store as an eBook for readers to purchase and instantly download. With the world going more digital, especially after being propelled by this pandemic, ebooks and other electronic forms of packaged information are now here to stay. Well, until something like immersive virtual reality (VR) takes over. That is not to say paper books and prints will go into extinction. Actually, there are options for print on demand on KDP. It's a smart way to build passive income with your intellectual property. The best part? You are not limited to a niche, you can write on other niches and publish with a pen name. Also, you don’t even need to write a word yourself! You can hire ghostwriters to do the heavy lifting for you. It is perfectly legal and ethical. In fact, did you actually think celebrities who 'wrote' a book wrote it themselves? Here is a myth buster, you do not need a 300-page ebook to publish on Amazon. You can start off with just 25 pages! Yes, I repeat, 25 pages. In fact, some ebooks like workbooks, probably have less than 2000 words. Things to consider before writing your book. Market Research Now, let's talk about the writing proper. Please, before you even write the first word, ensure you carry out your market research. There is no point wasting time and resources on a book that no one will buy. This is the mistake a lot of people make when publishing through KDP. Is your target market ripe for the ebook? Is your target market willing to pay for this ebook? These questions must be answered in the affirmative before proceeding to write the ebook. It is not enough to say ‘oh my friends and family like the book idea’. No! Because, those who will pay you for your work are the millions of Amazon customers, not your friends and family. Here’s how to conduct market research for your bestseller. This is for non-fiction books though. 1. Pick a niche. Remember that you can choose to write in different niches using a pen name. 2. Then enter the keyword of the topic you want to write on. Example: digital business models. 3. Check for the popular books that come up when you enter the keywords. Especially look for a gap that needs to be filled. Writing your book There are only two options to get this done. You either hire someone to ghostwrite for you or you write it yourself. If you are a writer, this should probably be easy for you. If you are hiring someone to write for you, ensure you verify their expertise by asking for their portfolio. You can find writers on Fiverr, Facebook and all the other options we talked about earlier in Freelance. If you are writing yourself, I strongly advise writing in Google docs. As a cloud tool it means there will be no stories like laptop crashing and losing one’s work. It also makes it easier to collaborate with your editor or a co-author. And best of all, you can save yourself the stress of typing by using the speech to text feature on Google docs. Just click on Tools , and select Voice Typing. To make writing easier and faster, first create an outline for the book. Make the outline as detailed as possible, with all necessary subheadings. You can then start writing out a few paragraphs for each subheading in the outline until the book is finished. Good thing, with the outline, you already even have a table of contents. Publishing your finished book Amazon only accepts books properly formatted according to their guidelines: If you were writing in Google docs, you can just easily export as an .epub file and upload on Amazon. If you cannot format your book properly, just outsource it to experts. Usually some also offer cover page design along with their formatting service. With your cover from the designer, you can go here to get some mockups for promotion: Consider Converting to Alternative Formats like Audiobooks and Paperbacks. I know our focus has been on publishing ebooks, but do you know there is also an opportunity to publish audiobooks and paperbacks on Amazon? With paperbacks, instead of the usual $2 profits from ebooks, you could look forward to $10-$20 in royalties from making your work available in hardcover. These alternative formats means your readers have a variety of options to choose from, depending on their preference. Mistakes to Avoid in KDP 1. Not doing proper keyword research. Just because you like the topic does not mean 1 million others will. Write for the audience and not yourself. 2. Not adding keywords to book’s metadata. This is what will help readers easily find your book when they make a search in your niche. 3. Using the same name to publish in different niches. Amazon offers 15 pen names on your account, you can use one pen name per niche. Pen names are just aliases.