WRITERS GUILD: How to Publish Your eBook on Kindle

Original Content | September 1, 2025 | By Laz A. Mataz

[Lazamataz]

Yes, word count is the key. Pages can change based on format: e-book vs. paperback vs. hardcover.

[Leaning Right]

I just did a word count for my novel. As of today, I’m up to seven words. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

It was a dark and stormy night.

(Just kidding, of course.)

———-

For those who don’t recognize that phrase, yes I stole it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_was_a_dark_and_stormy_night

[Lazamataz]

I'm going to write an autobiography about my time in college. It will start:

It was a stark and dorm-y night.

[yldstrk]

Wow, thank you Laz, I have a book about custody cases and how a client ought to conduct themselves that I want to load into Kindle or get somehow published. This is solid gold information.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[Lazamataz]

This is solid gold information.

Excellent! This was my intent: To make your life easier.

[Ancesthntr]

Thanks much for the publishing guide, and good luck with your book. Did you get a lot of reviews lined up already? That is a key to success.

[CaptainPhilFan]

Thanks! Very helpful. We have a friend who has written a novel, chose some Indian-based publisher, and is going through hell with every aspect.

(I’m not sure he knew they were Indian)

You are in the tech world, you must know exactly what that means.

Hubs did the editing before the Indians did their own brand of editing. :/ ..... Mylanta! they are the most arrogant and ignorant @$$holes on earth.

The author is in a few grand and I believe is trying to get out with his money.

[HombreSecreto]

Woo Hoo! Congratulations!

May be this be the first of as many as you desire.

[econjack]

I’ve written 21 books, but only two are self-published. The others were published by recognized publishers (e.g., Prentice-Hall, McMillan, Apress, etc.) The last two were done with Kindle. The only shortcoming of self-publishing is finding an effective way to advertise your book. I’ve tried the “click-through” approach, but that was not all that successful. The problem could be that my books are mostly in the computer programming field, so they are not novels or “popular” books. My latest is on getting better grades with AI, but it’s still tough marketing the book.

My suggestion is for you to have some kind of marketing plan in mind when you launch the book. Simple presence in the market is not enough.

[FirstFlaBn]

1. Anybody who can work a computer can print to pdf and catch (most) font loading issues - and thus review before uploading. About 4 mouse clicks. Even with this, I had one hyphenation failure.

2. You didn’t mention ordering proof copies at cost - much better for many of us to proofread a physical book (after correcting errors on screen). Only takes a few days for delivery. Either way, read each page three times - but only one page at a time (get up and do something else for a minute in between). Read each word separately to detect typos - or you’ll end up just reading the story - which is a different focus and should have already been done prior to this final go through.

3. Your payout percentages are incorrect on sales of paper copies. What is it - something like 45% of list price?

4. A huge advantage over the old way is that there are no up front costs and you can later edit (I found additional important source material after publishing) - again at no cost. Paper copies are print on demand - a buyer orders a copy and amazon prints, bills, and ships. Totally hands free for writer.

[Lazamataz]

Thanks much for the publishing guide, and good luck with your book. Did you get a lot of reviews lined up already? That is a key to success.

I did indeed. I had 20 glowing reviews going in to the Bookbub process. They look at reviews, your sample, and the cover.

Here are the reviews.

[Lazamataz]

You are right. I didn’t mention proof copies, nor did I mention a differing royalty structure for print.

My focus for this post was for e-books.

[Lazamataz]

Thank you so much!

[Lazamataz]

You are in the tech world, you must know exactly what that means.

Actually, I've found very good results with the current crop of Indians. They have definitely improved, at least in the tech sphere.

Sorry to hear about your friend's experiences. I don't think I'd involve Indians in publishing efforts, and CERTAINLY not for editing. Point your friend to this thread, maybe he might find a solution or two to his dilemma.

[mairdie]

Warm congratulations and thanks for the post.

[politicianslie]

Bookmark

[politicianslie]

Bookmark

[Lazamataz]

Thank you very much!