Just Published My First Kindle Book!

[Merry1397]

Hi Everybody,

I'm SO excited, I just had to share! My first Kindle book, Frugal Kitchen Tips, is available for purchase.

I had a blast writing it and learned a lot in the process.I'm addicted already!

[mitako]

Congratulations! Very exciting! I am hoping to put a book on Kindle within the next month or so.

Did you format and upload on your own, or use a service like BookBaby? Did you design a cover, or pay someone to do it for you?

I would love to get advice from someone who has figured the process out!

[Angeegirl]

Congrats! That is such an awesome accomplishment. I am in the beginning (research) stages of my first book. I am trying to use a little of this down time I am having to organize. How long did it take you from start to finish? Did you have any resources you used to help you stay on target with your writing goals? I find that I am easily distracted, or that I put too much on my plate. This is my biggest obstacle for writing my book. I have been wanting to join round-table of writers that are working on their own projects to have some sort of motivation to keep on writing. Sometimes, it can be a tug-a-war between making money now with mindless articles to pay the bills, or working on fulfilling "my" writing goals. It is nice to hear success stories of people who have actually accomplished their goal Way to go!

[karmicwindows]

Congrats!!

I wish you the best on what will hopefully become a long and exciting publishing career.

[cwilson26]

Congrats! Very awesome and hope you sell a lot of them!

[ktjones]

Congratulations! I wish you much success

[inkkognito]

Congratulations! Now see how long you can resist the temptation to check the sales reports, hee hee.

I just started doing books for Kindle and Nook in late December and have been pleased with the results so far. Are you uploading to BN for Nook, too? I put a couple of my books in the Kindle Select program because I didn't think Nook would be all that lucrative. I put my other books on Nook, and they're selling almost as well as Kindle even without any promotion.

Are you going to stick with non-fiction or dabble in some fiction? Most of my work is non-fiction, but I uploaded one romance novella and it's getting some sales already so I'm going to pursue that genre more, too.

[Del S]

Congrats, Merry!

@Mitako, you can easily format your own book. When you save it and get ready to upload it, you'll need to do it in a specific format (Web, filtered) so that it looks right on the Kindle. I created a cover for my short story collection using a photo I took and manipulating it with free photo tools like Picnik (which will unfortunately be closing down in April) and Picasa. This way, I didn't have to buy any stock images; if you're handy with a camera, you can easily do it.

This author site has a ton of tips and helpful links. I referred to it a lot before putting my mini-book up. Karen McQuestion FAQ

[kfount]

I also wrote a Kindle book, but I am not making any sales.

[inkkognito]

I just popped out to look at your book, and you might not be getting sales because of the length. The 99 cent price point has a lot of longer books so people might not think they're getting enough...they have high expectations for under a dollar, which is sad for writers but the reality of the world. My 10,000 word novella is priced at 99 cents and is selling decently, and most books at that same price point with sales ranks (other than fetish stories) is at least that long.