Three Unfortunate Misconceptions About Kindle Ebook Publishing

Take a look around you the next time you visit a quiet beach, and I’m sure you’ll see that besides the men and women who have plopped themselves down with a paperback novel under the shade of an umbrella, numerous others are reading material on their Kindle. Amazon has sold millions of these devices in the last few years, to the point that mainstream consumers who aren’t particularly gadget lovers are using them.
In many cases, those Kindle users are reading books that also are on sale in bookstores and available for borrowing in libraries. But did you know that thousands of authors and entrepreneurs are now earning extra money and in a few cases a very good living writing content specifically to be sold for Kindle?
I’ve identified three misconceptions that keep some writers and experts from pursuing this exciting new entrepreneurial opportunity.
Misconception #1: You need a Kindle ereader to get involved in publishing for Kindle.
In fact, you don’t need a Kindle device either to read works published for Kindle or to publish them. Amazon provides free tools for reading Kindle ebooks on your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or other smartphone. Amazon also provides everything you need for publishing your works for Kindle without owning a Kindle yourself.
I don’t own a Kindle. I much prefer reading traditional books. However, I have painlessly published 19 ebooks for Kindle. You can, too.
Misconception #2: You need to write a full-length book to get involved in Kindle publishing.
This is also not true. Although six of my Kindle ebooks are digital versions of previously published paperback books, the other 13 are Kindle originals and only a fraction of their length. The shortest is just a little over 5,000 words. It prints out off my computer at 17 pages.
As long as you alert potential buyers to the shorter length of your compact eBook and price it accordingly, you can earn money from selling short reports on Kindle.
Misconception #3: You need to be a technical whiz to format a manuscript for publication on Kindle.
This used to be difficult. Amazon has now simplified the process by allowing properly formatted “doc” files to be uploaded for conversion to Kindle format. Amazon performs the conversion, and you can check in their online previewer to see if the Kindle version looks the way you intended it.
Now, if you can manage formatting a Word file according to easy-to-follow instructions, you can upload your work to the Kindle store without struggling with software or paying for technical help. Smashwords offers an excellent free style guide to preparing your manuscript for uploading to Amazon. Look for it in the left column of their home page.
If you enjoy writing, if you have files and files of useful content, if you have reports that are no longer selling from your website but could be easily updated, if you gave up on finding a traditional publisher for a manuscript you still love – these are all great reasons to look into Kindle publishing now. Chances are, any excuses you still have not to do it also involve misconceptions!