This section is about how to upload the various copies of your book, and where to upload them. On each module, I will provide a list of potentially helpful resources, as well as software recommendations (if applicable) these are just suggestions, or what I use, but you can use whatever you feel works best for you.
KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING
The way for self-publishers to publish paperback books on Amazon is through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. Doing this, will not only make your book available on Amazon, but every time someone buys your book, Amazon will print it and ship the book to the buyer themselves, so no need to worry about stocking up your garage with books.
To sign into the KDP website, you will need an Amazon account. When you do, you will likely see a screen as such:
Click Create, and follow the steps. They are fairly straightforward. You will need to add information such as the Author’s name, ISBN, planned publication date, and the print options, which will be the same as the options when you created your book template. This part is simple, and I’m not going to go deep into it since everyone’s information will be different. Things to consider are your keywords, which are like tags for your books, the prices you want to set and in what regions, as well as an age range. Most of this stuff is quite straightforward and different for every book, so I will leave it at that.
Note* When you upload your PDFs, make sure to launch Amazon’s book previewer. First…this will take a few minutes to upload, so no your computer isn’t broken. And 2nd, when it does, you will be able to see the guidelines and cut lines of how your book will print. This is your chance to do some quality control. Make any final tweaks on your PDFs if need be, and then just reload. You can reload as much as you wish.
When you finally have your book set up, you will be required to wait 72 hours for your book to be approved by KDP. Though it doesn’t usually take the full 72 hours.
After that, you are able to order proof copies, which are exactly as they sound. They are copies of your book, that have proof stamped over them. This is your final quality control test. Make sure the text layout is nice, the cover and spine appear proper, and anything else you want to look over is all good.
My advice…don’t get too over-excited at this stage the way I did, and order a ton of proof copies, just to find a glaring error, and all of them be a waste. Order ONE, and make sure you are 100% happy with it before doing anything else. It will save you money, and heartbreak.
INGRAMSPARK
Ingram Spark is a worldwide wholesale book distributor, which in plain terms means, people can buy your book in bulk at a significant discount. Such as schools, libraries, or stores. It’s not required to set up your book here, as it’s more for big, well known authors, but it also doesn’t hurt.
Ingram Spark’s set up is much like KDP. You will need your PDFs, your keywords, and to set your prices. If you can set up one, you will likely be able to set up the other without much issue.
However, there are a few things I would like to point out. First, where KDP is free to set up and free to provide revisions, Ingram Spark is not. If you set up your print book and then approve it, if you later choose to change something it will cost you. At the time of writing this (August 2023) it is USD $25.00 Just a heads up.
Also, I’ve noticed that when it comes to book spines, there can be a bit of variance between KDP and Ingram Spark. It’s important to always check your proof copy carefully. Ingram Spark will send you a proof copy in PDF form, where you can check the layout of the cover. There will be small dashes, indicating cut lines, so make sure your spine fits properly into those lines. This might require small tweaks and some trial and error. Just save a second version of your cover PDF, and submit that instead.
