For self-published authors who wanted to get their work in front of Amazon’s massive traffic, putting their work on the Kindle platform seemed like a no-brainer.

At the beginning of 2009, almost anyone with a U.S. bank account and an article or book in digital format could publish to Kindle—including the bad, the good, and the ugly.   The Kindle was like a lawless frontier boomtown  – - anything goes.

All through the spring months of 2009, I encouraged entrepreneurs and small business owners to write a great article or book and get it on Kindle; after all, having your work on Amazon IS a credibility builder in any business. Sadly, some of those people did publish, but the quality of their work was  . . . . shall I say . . . . crap.

In the end, Amazon brought a sheriff to town and the wide open field of “publish anything” came to an end.

Today, if you want to publish on Kindle, you still can, but before your work is actually accepted into the Amazon fold, it now goes through a quality-monitoring process.  When you push the PUBLISH button, a message pops up telling you that in order to give customers a quality experience, your work is now being reviewed, and Amazon will let you know within 48-72 hours if it will really be published.  Now, I’m guessing  all the unedited, poorly written & grammatically incorrect junk  goes into the tank.  Busted!

I’ve seen comments from other authors that this monitoring process is taking weeks (guess Amazon’s sheriff is up to his tin star in documents), but I’ve been fortunate to see my articles published in about three days.

In retrospect, I kinda hate to see the lawlesss town shut down – there’s something exciting about the wild frontier.  But,  my assumption is Amazon was getting so many returns on Kindle articles and books that they had to get some laws in place.

So, was 2009 a boom or a bust for self-published Kindle authors?  For me, I’ll say boom because I published 16 articles (mostly on history-related topics) and most are selling well.

But for the James Gang “writers” I’d say it was a bust; guess they’ll have to look for an easier bank to knock over.

*Note: This post is part of a group writing project sponsored by Daily Blog Tips

For Part I Selling Your Book on Kindle

Okay, you have a Kindle account and are ready to sell.  What next?

Before you can do anything, you need to prepare your book for Kindle formatting.  Unlike e-books that can be spruced up with beautiful graphics and color pictures, Kindle books are best suited for non-graphical books.

Kindles can only display four shades of gray – - so if your book depends on a lot of pretty pictures, it probably isn’t suitable for Kindle conversion.  Think of what a basic paperbook book looks like (black print on off-white paper) and you’ll have a good idea of how your book will look when displayed on the Kindle screen.

As someone who enjoys creating a beautiful document, I was disappointed that I couldn’t use all those colorful images in my Kindle book, but . . . . I compensated by creating gorgeous covers! (see below for how to create a Kindle cover).

In brief, there are four steps to get your books/articles uploaded and converted

1.  Prepare your content for Kindle conversion.
2.  Upload your prepared content to Amazon.
3.  Amazon converts your document to Kindle format.
4.  You may preview and edit, or publish immediately withour further editing.

You may upload several formats to Amazon, including HTML, unencrypted .mobi e-book files, Microsoft Word (.doc), plain text (.txt) and Adobe PDF).  Amazon’s preferred format for uploading content is as a single HTML file. If you are using Microsoft Word, the recommendation is to ‘Save As HTML’ (in a filtered or simplified format, if available).

While plain text (.txt) files are supported, you need to use as little formatting as possible in your text files. Use as few hard line breaks (ends of lines terminated by hitting ‘Enter’) as possible. Ideally, every paragraph of your text will be one long line that is automatically wrapped in Notepad (or similar editors) at the edge of the editor screen, and re-flows the text when you resize that window.

Adobe PDF files are supported, but the quality of conversion is difficult to guarantee.

Steps for Simple Kindle Document Preparation Using Microsoft Word (no table of contents)

First, pick up a paperback book and look at the formatting.  Most books are single-spaced with a double space between paragraphs.  You’ll want your Kindle document in basically that same format.  Here’s the easiest way to prepare your document:

1.  Tab in the first line of paragraphs (Not all Kindle books have tabbed paragraphs, but visually it’s easier to read on the Kindle if tabs are used on the first line of a paragraph)

2.  Single space your document

3.  Double space between chapters or sections

4.  Use Microsoft Word’s Heading styles on each chapter title (or section title).  To do this, highlight the name of the chapter, then click on the Heading 1 style button.  *If you do NOT want a Table of Contents, you can skip this step.

5.  Spell check! (I have a note taped to my monitor reminding me of this step).

6.  Save As: Web Page, Filtered (if you’re using Word 2007, this setting is under Save As: Other Formats)

If you own a Kindle,  send your document as an e-mail attachment  to your Kindle account e-mail, i.e.  janedoe@kindle.com   Amazon will automatically convert your document to Kindle format and send it back to your Kindle wirelessly.

This step isn’t required, but I always do it so I can view the document on my own Kindle to make sure all formatting is correct.   Once I’m satisfied with the results, I’ll upload the document to Amazon.

For more information, video, audio on Kindle, see below.

For the past many years, authors like me have supplemented their book and article-writing income by selling e-books. Promoting and selling e-books was a quick and easy way to re-purpose short stories, magazine articles, and books (fiction and non-fiction) with virtually no overhead.

The good news: profits were high; the bad news – - sales were dependent on the author’s ability to drive traffic to a website.

Thanks to Amazon’s Kindle Electronic Reading Device, all that has changed.

Now you can sell your creative works (fiction or non-fiction), set your own price, and have a potential audience of the tens of thousands of Kindle owners.

Because the bulk of my writing career has been in the magazine article writing field, I owned a huge backlog of articles and their electronic rights. When the Kindle was released, I realized I could convert all of those articles to Kindle format, create an attractive cover, and sell them through Amazon’s Digital Text Platform.

A Little Background on Kindle Publishing

I started by converting one non-fiction article I had written a few years ago for a history magazine. The topic was post-Civil War carpetbaggers. Okay, not a sexy subject, huh? That’s why I was shocked to look at my account a few weeks later and realize I’d actually sold three copies.

Since then I’ve posted several more articles and am converting four of my e-books to Kindle format. Hopefully as you read this, those books and even more of my articles will be online in the Kindle store.Before you can start selling your digital documents in the Kindle Store, you’ll need to set up an account with Amazon.

If you’ve been buying books from Amazon, you already have an account. However, you’ll have to take the extra step and give Amazon the business and financial information necessary to pay you.

Setting Up Your Kindle Publisher Account

First, go to Amazon’s Digital Text Platform page and sign in with your normal Amazon account username and password. If you don’t have an Amazon account, click the “Sign Up” button.

Once your account is open, log in and click the “My Account” tab. Here, you’ll configure your account details, including your full name or company name, the type of business you have (corporation, individual, etc), and your bank account information. (You DO want to get paid, yes?)

Tomorrow, let’s prepare your book or articles for uploading to the Kindle Store.

Amazon plans to start selling its Kindle reader in over 100 countries and territories on Oct. 19.

Amazon is selling the Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless to customers in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America, for US$279 for a reader with a 6-inch display and the ability to wirelessly download books and other content globally, the company said on Wednesday.

The Kindle will not be sold in China because Amazon is unable to ship the Kindle and offer Kindle content to Chinese customers, the company said.

Bestseller books will cost $11.99 or more for international customers, with about 100,000 other titles available for less than $5.99, Amazon said. These prices are higher than in the U.S. where most bestsellers sell for $9.99.

Although getting your book on Amazon may seem like the Holy Grail of authordom, it’s really just the end of the writing stage and the first step of the marketing phase—an arena most authors shun with great dislike and/or disdain.

One of my recent clients (an entrepreneur selling a well-written how-to manual via the  Kindle Store), asked me for a few marketing ideas he could do on his own.  The easiest task, I told him (and one of the most effective) was getting several positive reviews for his Amazon Kindle book.  My suggestion was to send e-copies to colleagues and friends, asking them to give the book a run-through and then post a review.

Do your friends actually have to read the book to give it a review? Well, no.  But the plus of giving them a copy is:

1. They may catch some doofus mistake you made, saving you the embarrassment of a book buyer who revels in pointing out the dumb stuff they find in a review that will NEVER GO AWAY.
2. With a copy in hand, they can write a much more detailed review because they have all of the info at hand – not just the bits you tell them about
3. If your book is on a topic of interest to your friends, they’ll probably write a far more enthusiastic review because it’s something they actually care about.

Positive reviews – in my opinion – have accounted for dozens of my own book and article sales.  Think about it – if you’re unsure about buying a particular book, don’t YOU read the reviews?  I know I do.

Getting positive Amazon reviews is the least of your book marketing efforts – what else can you do? Stay tuned . . . and if you feel like commenting, I’d love to hear your Amazon book review technique suggestions.

I wrote a few days ago about the new program Amazon is offering to bloggers: Fill out a form, get approved, and sell your blog content on the Amazon Kindle platform.

(In brief, Amazon pays you 30-percent of the price THEY set for your blog, most starting in the $1.99 a month range.)

Now, two long-time literary bloggers who signed up for the program aren’t convinced of the merits of the program – but they’re taking a “wait and see” stance.

Lit blogger Maud Newton commenting on the GalleyCat blog wrote that “I don’t like the 70-30 revenue split. But I also can’t understand why people would pay for subscriptions when they can get the content for free online.” (Maybe because when you’re stuck in an airport, Maud, and don’t have a computer, you want to read blog posts on your Kindle!)

Levi Asher also had reservations, but he sees the Kindle as a machine that’s here to stay, so added his blog to the program.

I just added this blog to the program, so don’t have enough time on board to have an opinion.  However, I do own two Kindles (v1 and v2) and based on Amazon’s commitment to the machine, I don’t see it folding up and disappearing into the night.  Plus, as a Kindle reader myself, I’m often places without a computer, but I do have my Kindle in my bag – - so why NOT pay a buck 99 a month to read my favorite blog?  I’m all for the program.

If you’ve signed up for the Kindle Blog Program, leave a comment below – - would really like to hear your thoughts about the program.

Amazing, fantastic, fun, exciting . . . news from Amazon:  Bloggers can now (once approved) sell a subscription to their blogs on the Amazon Kindle platform.

You can now publish your blog (or any RSS feed) for sale on the Amazon Kindle store and Amazon will share revenue with you for every Kindle user who subscribes to your feed. And no, you don’t get to price your blog at a thousand bucks a pop, but Amazon will pay you a fixed 30-percent share of whatever your revenue your blog generates.

Here’s How to Publish Your Blog on Kindle

Fill out this form, add the RSS feed of your blog and submit.

Add as many blogs or news feeds to your account as you want.

Once Amazon approves your blog, it will be available to Kindle users on the Amazon Store and also Amazon Associates.

What else do you need to do?

Take an 800x 600 screenshot image of your Blog home page and 430×50 banner or logo of your blog.

Masthead/Banner: The masthead/banner image size should not exceed 430×50 pixels and should be in the file format, GIF, JPEG, TIFF or BMP. The file size of the image should be under 1 MB.

Screenshot: This is the image Amazon.com customers will see while viewing your blog on Amazon.com site. You need to provide a screenshot with a minimum size 800×600 pixels with a GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP are accepted image formats. Also make sure that the file size of the image is under 1 MB.

Kindle Blogs are auto-delivered wirelessly to the Kindle and updated throughout the day. Unlike RSS readers which sometimes only displays headlines, your blog on Kindle displays full text content and most images.

Get out there and start blogging!

My Kindle 2 arrived a few days ago, with a slender Amazon box, holding a heavy black sleeve interior packaging and a carton cradling the slimmest Kindle imaginable. I’d seen photos, of course, but was surprised how lightweight the new Kindle really is. To be honest, I never had a problem with Kindle 1′s size or weight, although I was among the chorus shouting to Amazon to moved those damned buttons so I didn’t keep inadvertently turning pages!

When I pulled the Kindle 2 out, it was clear the page turning buttons were far superior as well as the navigation – - morphing from a weird silver blob in K1 to a nifty 5-way joystick in K2. Best yet is the speed.  K1 moved along at a nice even speed, but the K2 burns rubber. When you have as many books on your machine as I do (more than 25 pages of listings) navigation speed counts.

Playing with K2, I was curious to learn more about the text-to-speech function, which basically turns the Kindle into a books-on-tape reading machine. However, I’ve recently learned that because of copyright issues, Amazon has to get publishers’ permission before automatically making their books available via voice. As an Internet marketer who publishes on the Kindle primarily to publicize my business, I’m all for delivering my message in as many ways as possible.

As I have time to run the K2 through its paces, I’ll let you know if it stands the test of night-after-night of skipping from book to book, jumping ahead and back inside several books, highlighting pages and making lots of notes.

Amazon announced today that there are now more than 185,000 books, blogs, newspapers and magazines available for immediate download.

As a Kindle owner, I can tell you there are things about the Kindle that I don’t like (i.e. no back-lighting) but they’re fabulous when it comes to portability and pricing. Because I travel so frequently for business, I appreciate being able to carry dozens of my reference books with me on the Kindle.

Plus, you can’t beat the $9.99 price for NY Times bestsellers (and most other hard covers).

I have to admit, in my recent 5 hours of being trapped at the Charlotte, NC airport because of a US Airways screw-up, the Kindle was a life-saver.

Popular Mechanics announced its picks for the 2008 Breakthrough Awards awards in what the publication called The 10 Most Brilliant Gadets of the Year. Amazon’s Kindle was #3, behind Microsoft Photosynth and Spore.

Using the 10.3 ounce Kindle you can read almost any popular book, newspapers from all over the world, or Internet blogs from Amazon’s Kindle reader. You can read the Kindle anywhere; it’s wireless, but there are no wireless fees. Instead of WiFi, Kindle uses EDVO like the advanced cell phones, so you don’t have to search for a hot spot.

Amazon.com Inc. announced in July that 11 Christian publishers will make a majority of their catalogs of books available for use on the Kindle, Amazon’s e-reader.

“Of the 135,000 books available on Amazon.com as a physical book and on the Kindle, Kindle books already account for over 12 percent of units sold,” says Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle. “ 

Authors – if you haven’t converted your book to Kindle format, you’re missing the boat.