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? asked in Arts & HumanitiesBooks & Authors · 8 years ago

Does it cost to self-publish through Amazon?

I have written my own fiction story and I'm planning on self-publishing it through Amazon. All I wanted to know was does it cost a lot to self-publish with them? Estimation of how much? If any of you other writers have published with them, is there anything I need to know before going ahead and doing it? Is there a better way of self-publishing with any other websites? I'm really new to this so any information about the whole self-publishing process would be great:D

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  • Anonymous
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Nope, the publishing itself is free, but there are a few catches;

    Unless you or someone you know is really good at photography/design, to get a decent looking cover you may have to pay!

    If the book is priced under £3, you get only 30% of the profits.

    If the book is priced £3 or over, you get 70% of the profits, however first-time books at this price will be difficult to sell.

    It will also require a lot of hard work to promote as you don't have a publicist to do it for you!

    But yes, if you use your initiative, you can be successful without any upfront costs - good luck!

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    1

    Source(s): Take Perfect Photos http://teres.info/ProPhotographyCourse
  • 8 years ago

    It has no upfront costs. Amazon make their money from self-published books by taking a percentage of the retail price whenever someone buys a copy of the book.

    You can self-publish with more than one retailer, and you probably should, so as not to exclude readers who don't have a Kindle.

    Before you upload the book, edit it at least a couple of times to fix the obvious mistakes. Join a critique group, who will find most of the mistakes you missed. If that sounds like it'll take too long or be too much effort, at least get someone who's good at English to proofread the book. There's nothing more annoying than reading a book (that someone expects me to pay for) that's full of mistakes that ought to embarrass a 12-year-old.

    EDIT: Amazon pays a 70% royalty if your book is priced between $2.99 and $9.99, for sales in a set of countries that I don't bother to keep track of. They also deduct a delivery charge based on the size of the file, although this is unlikely to be noticeable for most novels. (It's supposed to cover what the phone companies charge them to deliver ebooks over the 3G network.) For sales outside the price range or in other countries, they pay a 35% royalty, and they don't deduct a delivery charge.

    If you're not artistic and don't know anyone who is, it may be worth spending a couple of hundred dollars on a cover design. Do bear in mind, though, that the reader's first glimpse of your cover will be as a thumbnail, so they're not going to see much detail in it. Often, that's their only glimpse of the cover, even if they buy the book.

    It may be worth paying a professional editor to edit the book, although the going rate for that is about $25 per thousand words - not cheap, unless you expect to make a lot more than that in sales.

  • 5 years ago

    I'm not sure amazon can be used immediately as a publishing website. Might be use CreateSpace to get the work released, and then use amazon as means of distribution. Amazon should have instructional materials on their site.

  • 8 years ago

    Nobody receives any profit until the book sells, so publishing shouldn't cost you a cent. Most that ask for money upfront are scams, so just be weary of that through any other publishing endeavors.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    8 years ago

    I heard Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is free, while you keep 70% of the royalties.

  • 8 years ago

    I don't think there are any costs in the beginning, but I've heard of a lot of self-published authors that wished they hadn't done it because it either backfired or this or that.

    Just think carefully.

  • 4 years ago

    2

    Source(s): Become Professional Photographer http://learnphotography.latis.info/?495p
  • 4 years ago

    When you read a booklet you start to see the story the way you want to imagine it not the way the director wants you to definitely see it

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    reading is way better the book continues u thinking and you also get greater detail in what folks are thinking and also you have more imagination

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