Publishing on Amazon

[Sarah_Hillcrest]

I've been purchasing stories on amazon.  I'm really happy to pay a few bucks to get a story I can read on my Kindle, plus I like to support the authors.  I'm usualy really happy but a few of the stories have been crap.

I started working on a new ABDL story and I'm thinking of publishing it as a complete book on Amazon, and then posting it here a chapter at a time.  Anyone have experience with this?  Is it worth even bothering.  My goal isn't to make money, though I feel like publishing in a more official way would drive me to do a better job writing and editing, plus actually finishing my story.  

Thanks!

[Little Baby Becca]

8 hours ago, Sarah_Hillcrest said:

I've been purchasing stories on amazon.  I'm really happy to pay a few bucks to get a story I can read on my Kindle, plus I like to support the authors.  I'm usualy really happy but a few of the stories have been crap.

I started working on a new ABDL story and I'm thinking of publishing it as a complete book on Amazon, and then posting it here a chapter at a time.  Anyone have experience with this?  Is it worth even bothering.  My goal isn't to make money, though I feel like publishing in a more official way would drive me to do a better job writing and editing, plus actually finishing my story.  

Thanks!

Following as I'm interested as well...

[Cute_Kitten]

Several authors here (and many more) publish on Amazon. If you have Kindle Unlimited, any story enrolled in that program is free for you to read, so if you buy a lot of stories on amazon, I'd recommend looking into that program. As for whether or not it's worth it to publish, that's entirely up to each author to decide for themselves. I've had no regrets. 

[Sarah_Hillcrest]

thanks, I used to get a free book once a month with prime and I think that benefit is going away, so Kindle Unlimited is getting more attractive.

Let me ask another way, is it difficult, lots of hoop or costs involved?

[Alex Bridges]

If you’re going to write anyway, why not publish in Amazon?

The only hitch is you have to let folks on the ABDL sites know it exists to sell it, but if you’re posting there anyway, not a big deal.

I’ve published nonfiction on Amazon and done quite well. I’ve published ABDL fiction there and not done nearly as well, but not bad for a small market and I won’t turn down the couple hundred bucks I’ve made on it. 

Happy to answer any questions you have about the process.

[Sarah_Hillcrest]

19 hours ago, Alex Bridges said:

If you’re going to write anyway, why not publish in Amazon?

The only hitch is you have to let folks on the ABDL sites know it exists to sell it, but if you’re posting there anyway, not a big deal.

I’ve published nonfiction on Amazon and done quite well. I’ve published ABDL fiction there and not done nearly as well, but not bad for a small market and I won’t turn down the couple hundred bucks I’ve made on it. 

Happy to answer any questions you have about the process.

Thanks so much.  I'm going to start looking into it, of course I have to have something to publish first.  

[BoTox]

On 11/3/2020 at 4:17 PM, Sarah_Hillcrest said:

I've been purchasing stories on amazon.  I'm really happy to pay a few bucks to get a story I can read on my Kindle, plus I like to support the authors.  I'm usualy really happy but a few of the stories have been crap.

I started working on a new ABDL story and I'm thinking of publishing it as a complete book on Amazon, and then posting it here a chapter at a time.  Anyone have experience with this?  Is it worth even bothering.  My goal isn't to make money, though I feel like publishing in a more official way would drive me to do a better job writing and editing, plus actually finishing my story.  

Thanks!

I've been writing for more than 20 years and selling on Amazon for the last 2 years so I am not a pro at Amazon but I have 30 books currently available on Amazon. I'm not going to get rich but an extra $30-50 bucks a month is welcome.

TL;DR - It isn't hard but you have to follow Amazon's rules which sometimes aren't clear. I'll answer questions if you like, in PM if you prefer to be private about anything.

As you probably already know from reading books on Amazon, a few things make for a better story: First, the editing and proofreading make a good story bad and it makes a bad story crap. Second, knowing your target audience and appealing to them. Third, you will need to research a little and find what keywords describe your book for it to show up in searches. Finally, a good cover and book description are the hook that gets people to look closer.

If you want to publish on Amazon, the very first thing you have to do is sign up for a KDP account at: https://kdp.amazon.com

That will get you started. If you do, you will have to provide a real bank account and other actual details. Don't worry. Amazon is the only one that can see those. I freaked out but they do not care. It is a business transaction to them. You will get a 1099 at the end of the year for tax purposes if you are in the US. I'm not sure how it is handled in other countries but I assume global 'Zon has it covered.

Write your stories in MS Word or something compatible. I use Apache Office with good results. Then download the Kindle Create app from Amazon. It will format your book in the proper layout and allow you to preview it as if it were a phone or a Kindle.

When you post a story on Amazon you will use a pen name, an alias if you don't want to use your real name. For obvious reasons, most authors that write steamy/kinky/fetish books do not use their real names. DO NOT pick one that is a popular author like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. Also, don't even try one too similar like J.K. Rawling or Steven Kang. Amazon tends to frown on that.

When you publish a book, you have two choices. You can either publish just the kindle book (and/or paperback) or you can also enroll it in Kindle Unlimited. The implications of Kindle Unlimited is that you cannot post the story in any form in any other location. They frown on anything more than about a 10% preview or excerpt.

Finally, the rules regarding erotic and fetish books are vague but it is universally accepted that no minors and no non-consensual sex.

[Sarah_Hillcrest]

18 minutes ago, BoTox said:

I've been writing for more than 20 years and selling on Amazon for the last 2 years so I am not a pro at Amazon but I have 30 books currently available on Amazon. I'm not going to get rich but an extra $30-50 bucks a month is welcome.

TL;DR - It isn't hard but you have to follow Amazon's rules which sometimes aren't clear. I'll answer questions if you like, in PM if you prefer to be private about anything.

As you probably already know from reading books on Amazon, a few things make for a better story: First, the editing and proofreading make a good story bad and it makes a bad story crap. Second, knowing your target audience and appealing to them. Third, you will need to research a little and find what keywords describe your book for it to show up in searches. Finally, a good cover and book description are the hook that gets people to look closer.

If you want to publish on Amazon, the very first thing you have to do is sign up for a KDP account at: https://kdp.amazon.com

That will get you started. If you do, you will have to provide a real bank account and other actual details. Don't worry. Amazon is the only one that can see those. I freaked out but they do not care. It is a business transaction to them. You will get a 1099 at the end of the year for tax purposes if you are in the US. I'm not sure how it is handled in other countries but I assume global 'Zon has it covered.

Write your stories in MS Word or something compatible. I use Apache Office with good results. Then download the Kindle Create app from Amazon. It will format your book in the proper layout and allow you to preview it as if it were a phone or a Kindle.

When you post a story on Amazon you will use a pen name, an alias if you don't want to use your real name. For obvious reasons, most authors that write steamy/kinky/fetish books do not use their real names. DO NOT pick one that is a popular author like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. Also, don't even try one too similar like J.K. Rawling or Steven Kang. Amazon tends to frown on that.

When you publish a book, you have two choices. You can either publish just the kindle book (and/or paperback) or you can also enroll it in Kindle Unlimited. The implications of Kindle Unlimited is that you cannot post the story in any form in any other location. They frown on anything more than about a 10% preview or excerpt.

Finally, the rules regarding erotic and fetish books are vague but it is universally accepted that no minors and no non-consensual sex.

Wow, super useful!  Thank you so much.  That answered pretty much every question I had.  

[BoTox]

16 minutes ago, Sarah_Hillcrest said:

Wow, super useful!  Thank you so much.  That answered pretty much every question I had.  

In case I wasn't clear, it is free. They pay you if your books sell. The minimum price is $0.99 and earns 35% royalties. I sell most of my books at $2.99, which is the minimum price to earn 70% royalties.

As for hoops to jump through, it isn't too bad. I can help, or I'm sure one of the others here, if you hit a snag.

[Cute_Kitten]

21 hours ago, BoTox said:

I've been writing for more than 20 years and selling on Amazon for the last 2 years so I am not a pro at Amazon but I have 30 books currently available on Amazon. I'm not going to get rich but an extra $30-50 bucks a month is welcome.

TL;DR - It isn't hard but you have to follow Amazon's rules which sometimes aren't clear. I'll answer questions if you like, in PM if you prefer to be private about anything.

As you probably already know from reading books on Amazon, a few things make for a better story: First, the editing and proofreading make a good story bad and it makes a bad story crap. Second, knowing your target audience and appealing to them. Third, you will need to research a little and find what keywords describe your book for it to show up in searches. Finally, a good cover and book description are the hook that gets people to look closer.

If you want to publish on Amazon, the very first thing you have to do is sign up for a KDP account at: https://kdp.amazon.com

That will get you started. If you do, you will have to provide a real bank account and other actual details. Don't worry. Amazon is the only one that can see those. I freaked out but they do not care. It is a business transaction to them. You will get a 1099 at the end of the year for tax purposes if you are in the US. I'm not sure how it is handled in other countries but I assume global 'Zon has it covered.

Write your stories in MS Word or something compatible. I use Apache Office with good results. Then download the Kindle Create app from Amazon. It will format your book in the proper layout and allow you to preview it as if it were a phone or a Kindle.

When you post a story on Amazon you will use a pen name, an alias if you don't want to use your real name. For obvious reasons, most authors that write steamy/kinky/fetish books do not use their real names. DO NOT pick one that is a popular author like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. Also, don't even try one too similar like J.K. Rawling or Steven Kang. Amazon tends to frown on that.

When you publish a book, you have two choices. You can either publish just the kindle book (and/or paperback) or you can also enroll it in Kindle Unlimited. The implications of Kindle Unlimited is that you cannot post the story in any form in any other location. They frown on anything more than about a 10% preview or excerpt.

Finally, the rules regarding erotic and fetish books are vague but it is universally accepted that no minors and no non-consensual sex.

An excellent overview! ?