If you haven't tried publishing your books on Kindle, this might help you figure out how you should go about doing it. Find out some helpful tips to help make self-publishing easier for you especially when it comes to self publishing with Kindle.
Today's question has three answers and you are going to want to stick around for the third answer. It is a secret as to what your readers want when it comes to Kindle self-publishing.
So, let's get into it. The question that was sent to me today was, self publishing with Kindle? Now, the person who asked this question is wondering a little bit about Kindle, it may be right for you.
You are an author, you've got your first book, or you're working on your very first book and you are wondering, is Kindle the right choice for you? But it is not completely clear, maybe it is good and maybe it is bad.
I have seen an awful lot of authors wonder about it. If you come out with your Kindle book and you're selling it in the range that Amazon wants you to sell the book at, that's between $2.99 and $9.99.
You're wondering when you have a book selling for $20 or $50, why would anybody buy such an expensive paperback book when they could just get your Kindle book? You're worried your sales are going to go down because of this Kindle book.
So it would be as some people would call it cannibalizing your sales. Where one of your products means the other, they won't have to get your more expensive one. It will then destroy a lot of the revenue that you're making.
So maybe the correct choice is not to go with Kindle self-publishing but that is what we are going to answer today. Before we get into the answers, check out my absolutely free Self-Publishing Checklist. It will help you make sure you are not skipping any of the very important steps when it comes to self-publishing.
Let's get into it. Let me tell you a little bit about my story. When I first got started, I started with also wondering whether or not I should go straight to the Kindle side of the paperback side. Now I did end up choosing the Kindle side.
But I also understood that if I do the Kindle, I would make less money unless I was making up a lot of sales on the Kindle. So, that was a little bit of a thing because I did not wish to have this very situation of undercutting my own sales.
By simply having a cheap version of my book available that people could grab. Also if it's digital, can't they just make copies of it and put it all over the internet for free? These were some of the concerns that I was worried a little bit about.
Then suddenly I find myself not making any money on my books. These were a few of the things that I was thinking about. But the problem was I had completely missed a very critical aspect of Kindle which I have not discussed previously.
I ran across the idea which was if you're putting out multiple formats, the Kindle version serves a completely different purpose.
As somebody had pointed out to me, it was one of the mentors that I had previously, he said that if you use the Kindle version something important to remember is it will have the slash-through price on it. Based upon the paperback version showing it 90% off and then the Kindle version's price right there.
Somebody may come in who's interested in your book in the beginning. They will look at that Kindle price that you are putting out there and say "wow this is really marked down, so it's a good deal". Those people would then maybe purchase the Kindle version.
Formats That Your Readers Want
Now, some people like to have both the Kindle and the paperback version or an audio version. And if you have an audio version of your book out, well then it will give them the option of maybe purchasing the Kindle version at a discount.
When you put that out, you can make that as an option which I would highly recommend. So that the person who gets the audio version will then also give you an additional sale with your Kindle version. Whatever the case is, what I discovered was that all of my versions, the sales started to go up each time I had more options available.
There is a couple of reasons, one is they would see that well, who would create a book in 5 different formats if the book weren't quality? So, it has an impact on the selling point of the book that it's a quality book.
Because why otherwise would you go through the process except for one little thing which they are not fully aware of. It is that the process isn't very difficult, it's very easy. That is what I am trying to do, break it down not to overwhelm you but to take things very slowly.
One day at a time and see how far you can come. I discovered all sales had increased but how exactly was that even possible? But let's get into the answers today regarding this self publishing with Kindle issue.
The answer is your Kindle book drives traffic to the paperbacks. In fact, some people would even go as far as to say its primary purpose is to sell paperback books. You might be thinking if they can get the Kindle book so much cheaper, why would they even bother with the paperback?
Check out this related article: How To Self Publish A Paperback Book On Amazon?
The answer is that most people who purchase those paperbacks, they don't want a Kindle book. The people who like Kindle books, do not want paperback versions. Some people like hardback and some people like to get it on a different website than Amazon.
They would want their digital versions, some want their paper versions, and others like it in audiobook. So you have all of these people mixed together who have it in their particular thing. As I mentioned previously, your paperback price is going to serve as an anchor point.
So that when they see that drop in price that slashed through on the previous price and which is what they will see on your Kindle books, they'll see it and say "wow, this is 80% reduced I better grab it while it's still on sale".
But in reality, it's always going to be down that much because they simply take your paperback price and put the slash through and then show you your Kindle price. It also increases sales on Amazon so they make more money and you also make more money.
But if you hadn't had both, you wouldn't get that. At the same time, once they see that Kindle on sale, they may be going to read the description. They are going to flip through the pages and only to discover this is a book you want to buy.
As a result, they are going to then say "since I want to buy it maybe I will just go for the paper version". But it was the Kindle version that pulled them into the ecosystem of your sales page. Because remember a big mistake a lot of self-publishers make is they don't understand.
They think that somebody goes there wanting to buy your book. In reality, they go there because they are curious and they want to read the sales page. Or some of that information to give them enough information to know if it is worth investing in this book.
Kindle Books On My Phone
If it looks like it might be cheaper if it looks like it might be reliable based on the different formats. They see it is marked down so that will then pull them into the next phase.
They are not ready to buy yet. They are ready to read the sales page or maybe flip through the book which they can do also and when the Kindle book is available there, they are going to have that as an option. To make sure that maybe this is a book that is worth their time in checking out.
So, that is also another key issue you're going to want to focus on. But the secret answer of today is that people want books in the format they want them. Some people are Kindle readers.
I am a Kindle reader and an audiobook reader. I particularly prefer audiobooks in one way. But when I'm reading fiction, I love to read on the Kindle because your brain and your eyes need to pull it together in the decoding process.
To become a better reader doing both Audible audiobooks and doing Kindle books are very very powerful. Also, Kindle books are a lot cheaper. I can have it at any time on my phone.
I have got maybe 20 to 30 Kindle books that are in the order of the books that I'm reading and going to be reading up next. If I go on vacation or go someplace where I don't have internet like in the cabins of Norway deep into the high country, then I'm going to want to have that availability.
Check out this related article: What Is The Truth About Kindle Publishing?
To be able to have those books with me as I'm on my trip without carrying around a bunch of paperback books. Plus, I don't want them taking up space in my house, the whole Recondo, and decluttering and all of this sort of stuff is very powerful.
I don't own any paper books, I get rid of them as quickly as possible. I have no desire to have any paper books including my books that I have come out with. I do not have or own any of them, they are all digital so that's the way that I like it.
But the people who do like the paperbacks, they like the paperback. So if you have a Kindle version only, they are not going to buy it. The same with the hardback and the audiobooks.
So make sure that when you are putting your books out there, you have it in as many formats as possible. But do not do everything at once, you will get overwhelmed and will accomplish nothing.
Instead, you should start with the Kindle first and then go to your KDP paper print version or your paperback version and then we can go from there. And continue to expand outward as we go book after book in different formats.
I hope you found that a little bit helpful. This was just some of my thoughts on that. Tell me, have you been worried about undercutting your sales by coming out with the Kindle book?
If you have been worried about this Kindle issue, write the word "Yes" below in the comments and if you have never been worried, you've always known this was a good deal then write the word "No" below in the comments.
That will really help me out and I can help you out better that way as well. Check out my other blogs and videos for more answers to your self-publishing questions.