If you are publishing your book through Amazon KDP, you may have heard of Author Central, this is a service that Amazon KDP have created specifically for their self-publishing authors, it’s a platform where you can share details about yourself and your books to your readers.
​
Once you connect your books up to your new author central page, you’ll see the Author Home page, this page shows you the books that you have linked and allows you to add an author profile and photograph, this your readers will see when they view your details (from the link which will be by your book on Amazon’s sales page).

So, you’ve spent months and possibly years on completing your manuscript, you’ve edited, proofread, edited, re-written, edited some more, and now, finally, you’ve finished it! What’s next?

Well, the obvious next stage is in publishing your book, but before you go rushing to KDP or IngramSpark, you should give some very real thought to your book cover design (strange you say, a book cover design company talking about the merits of having a professional cover...hmmmm).
​
Of course, we’re bound to be of the opinion that having a professional cover will help your book, but whether you like it or not, people do judge a book by its cover, so ensuring that your book looks professional and grabs the attention of a reader (and in a good way), is vital to the success of your book.

The back cover of your book gives you an opportunity to sell the content to a potential reader, but what elements do you need to have upon it, and why should you spend more time that you may think in getting this right?

First of all, the book’s back cover is a sales opportunity for you as an author, it enables you to give a clear reason as to why the reader would want to delve into the pages within and buy your book, the message you have upon the back page will differ slightly from fiction to non-fiction, but it’s job will be the same.

The Blurb
Looking at fiction first of all, the back page should contain a short synopsis of your story, giving some tantalizing details where you introduce the main characters, hit the reader with a hook to make them want to find out more, set out the landscape (time and location) and be aimed at your target audience (the language you would use in a historical adult fiction novel will be different to that of a children’s book for the under 10s of course).

So, you’ve self-published your book, you have a great cover design, an author website, some reviews and are shouting about it to everyone possible, but you’re still not getting the sales you were hoping for, so what do you do next?

Advertising your book should be another opportunity for you and something that many successful authors have used to their benefit, and the good news is that there are plenty of ways to do this, from free sites to paid advertising through channels like Amazon, with a little effort you can reach a bigger audience.

So, here are our top places to advertise your book today:

Guest post from Dean Burgess: Working from home as a writer can be a joy and a challenge. Having a productive office is key to success. The following are important aspects to focus on when setting up your workspace.
 
Furniture and Equipment

The furniture and equipment you use during your workday have a major impact on your health and comfort level. Choose a chair that is comfortable and supportive. Make sure the lighting in the area is bright enough to prevent eye strain but not harsh or headache-inducing. An ergonomic keyboard can make long periods of typing easier on your wrists. Consider investing in a standing desk. There are numerous health benefits associated with these devices, including:

In the world of self-publishing, you may have seen authors sending out ARC books and thought about doing so yourself, but what are they and what are the benefits of having ARC editions created?

Okay, ARC Books are Advance Reading Copies of your work which you will send out to a select group of readers, in return they should give you an honest review of the book itself, they get a free book, you get a review (and hopefully additional feedback).

But is it worth using an ARC book for your work?

A key element of setting your book up within KDP publishing is in choosing the correct categories for your publication, this option is within the upload process and is on the first page of the set-up process just below the section on keywords.

So why should you research your categories first?

Because when you select the right categories for your work, it can make the difference on how many people find and buy your book, it can also make your book an Amazon best seller, so it really is worth taking your time on this and getting it right from the get-go.

If you have chosen KDP Publishing for your book (and so many authors do), you may have uploaded it and are still waiting to see some serious sales come through, scratching your head, and wondering what’s going on.

But then most of us know that by just uploading your book with the basic information doesn’t necessarily translate into an overnight best seller, there is of course a bit more to it.

So, what should you do to give your book the best chance?

Firstly, you need to approach your book as an advertiser or publisher would, try to step away from it and view it from another perspective, as someone who will be its intended audience, and granted, this can be hard.

We all know that KDP is part of Amazon, and as such is one of the biggest online platforms for a self-publishing author, even if you are choosing to sell the book in person yourself, you’d still be crazy not to have in on their bookshelves too.

When you upload your book to KDP, you’ll see on the final third page of the process (which is for Rights & Pricing), in the section for Pricing, Royalty, and distribution, in the far-right section there is a check box labelled as ‘Expanded Distribution’, you may have wondered what this is, and should you enroll your own book into it.

So, first of all, what is Expanded Distribution?

You finally have your book ready to publish, the manuscript has been checked, double checked and checked again, you have a book cover designed, keywords ready and have decided to use KDP publishing for your new book.

So, how long should this take?

Well, the process of uploading your book to KDP publishing is quite easy, in fact we have an article on uploading your book to KDP which is worth a look, there’s also another article on selecting your keywords that you should check out too.

​The overall steps in uploading are in three parts, covering the details of your book, the book itself and then the pricing of it, most authors can usually have this done easily in an afternoon (this is including the research for your keywords and writing a captivating sales blurb for your book's sales page too).