UGH!!! I just published my first book a few days ago and didn’t completely understand the difference between saving and publishing. Oh well. Lesson learned. Thank you so much!!!
Thank you so much for this video!!! Trying to understand everything about the process was for sure a bit overwhelming so I’m so glad i found this video! 😊
Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... This video was amazing and very detailed... I appreciate you, and after watching this video, I am now confident about publishing my first book...
I’ve watched your other KDP videos but this was good timing as I literally just did this for the first time this morning! Thanks for the confidence boost! You should make a video explaining more why you won’t be doing soft cover through IS any more. I found that interesting as I’m on the brink of uploading one there too.
Congrats on your new book! I've got a Patreon post about exactly why I switched here: www.patreon.com/posts/54612451 There is absolutely nothing wrong with using IngramSpark and I still recommend them as a great choice - I used both KDP and IS for my paperbacks for years. Ultimately, the publishing platform you choose is purely a personal choice and what is best for your long-term goals, your preferences on print/quality/distribution/profit share and that varies author to author. There may be a time when I switch back, but for now I am KDP exclusive for my children's book paperbacks.
@@BethanyStahl I ran into zero upload and eproof issues with KDP and Ingram! Thanks for the resources that helped me along the way! Physical copies are on their way.
I believe it is currently 650MB, but you may have to check with KDP if you are experiencing a problem of it being too big or not uploading. I've never run into an issue with file size.
Go into your KDP dashboard, click on "Bookshelf", scroll to your title, and to the very right you will see a box that says "Paperback actions" and below that you will see a button that says "Order Author Copies". From there it will direct you to Amazon to order how many copies you'd like. Be aware that if you order before it is published, you'll have a banner across your book cover that says "Not For Resale" - wishing you all the best!
Hi If I am publish as an individual on amazon kdp and do not have a business setup for it can I choose all territories to sell to or do I have to choose individual territories and since i am in the US only do like US , Canada, Mexico? Thanks
If you are referring to a colored inside page of a cover (not interior pages) but the back side, then unfortunately no, KDP does not have that option at this time.
Typically children's book paperbacks won't have them unless you have a much higher page count or if you are creating a hardcover. When you download your cover template, you'll be able to see if there is space for a spine or not.
How/where can you print individual copies of books at an affordable cost, that ARE for resale? Like, if you wanted to make custom books and not order in bulk?
Hi there. Thanks for the upload. Question on the series part: What do you do when you're not sure if it's going to be a series or just a one time book?
You can always add the series in later! My first book in this series, Save the Ocean, was intended as a standalone and only after its success did I decide to turn it into the Save the Earth series. So just skip that part and the beauty of KDP is you can always go back and add more to your books details later!
@@BethanyStahl Awesome! Thanks so much for your reply - I really appreciate it. Two more questions (I'm sorry): 1) how much do you have to pay for your own book since you're not paying yourself royalties? (Let's say, the book costs $12.99) 2) how long did it actually take for the book to get to your door, printed as a paperback, once you hit the order button? Again, thanks for your time
Great content im a new subscriber and was just wondering how long does it take to get a copy of your book after hitting that publish button.? Thank you 🙏
You won't get a copy of your book by publishing, you'll have to order author copies. Sometimes that can take up to a few weeks, but you can do that before you publish too :)
I really hope you will reply to me! Could you please tell me which CMYK profile you are using? The way your cover looks in the graphic editor is almost identical to how it looks in the Amazon print previewer. However, my cover's appearance is very different. I am trying different profiles and constantly getting different results, but I haven't yet achieved a version where the editor's version almost matches the previewer version. Please help 🙏🏻
I use PDF\X-1a but that being said a CMYK conversion isn't necessarily required for KDP because they do automatically convert the color to save the step on your side.
@@BethanyStahl If I understand correctly, the PDF/X-1a standard is selected when saving the cover to the final PDF file. But during the actual drawing of the images and cover, which color profile are you using? Like U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2, Coated FOGRA, Japan Color, and so on..?
Hi, I am an author about to publish my first book. I want to ask a question, incase my Amazon account gets mysteriously suspended (which I have heard happens a lot), how would I be able to print my book? Is this one of the reasons to buy my own ISBN, so I can publish my book at other places apart from Amazon?
I've never been suspended or personally known anyone who has but strange things can happen. Buying an ISBN allows you to print your book, since you own it, on any platform you'd like so theoretically if Amazon kicks you off, you can publish elsewhere. If you use a free ISBN, you'd have to buy one to publish elsewhere. I hope that makes sense!
I have a question. I have a ebook cookbook on Amazon. How do I set it up as paperback and order my own copies. I’ve been searching hi and low with not a lot of progress.
I have a full formatting series on my channel for books (it is for children's books but the concept is the same and I have other tutorials for formatting coming soon). Once you have it on KDP and publish you can order author copies. I'll put it on my to do list to show how to order author copies!
Hi the moment I find out how you do your artboards on what website I will be able to take off. I'm about to watch this again because I did not catch the size and I know its not 8x11. Your drawing is so cute and you gave good tips about copyrights and isbn. I'm so excited but I need to know the software that you do all your creating and editing. Newer to digital art and matching the right size page with the right amount of pixels for when I need to scale things down to add a foreground image has been annoying because so much detail gets lost. But your books let me know that busy backgrounds are not always necessary. I remember even seeing books with paint brush white borders to crop the image in the middle of page or no background all together. I want all and will let the creative flow apply at that stage BUT please what software do you draw and put all the pages together side by side? And what size you normally use? Thank you
Hello Bethany. Do you have a video on how to find your book on amazon? My book is live and it can't be found. I've watched a couple of videos on how to find it but I'm unsuccessful. Can you help please? Thank you so much
If you go to your KDP bookshelf, there will be three dots where you can click to see it on multiple platforms. New books have a hard time showing up in search sometimes. Or if you are searching from Amazon try searching for your books title and the author's full name to help out the platform in finding it.
Hello, good evening. I am Nazari from the UAE. Is it possible for you to explain about the copyright and ISBN for children's books and placing them on the Amazon site? It is really necessary. Where should I get them? Thank you for your answers and videos.
Excellent video, I hope there is a UK version? But I am confused, KDP used to stand for Kindle Desktop Publishing and was for ebooks. Now I see the Amazon form you use covers both ebooks and paperbacks and am surprised Amazon uses the title of KDP. Before I publish a paperback does anyone have the answer?
It stands for Kindle Direct Publishing and has the ability to do ebook, hardcover and paperback and yes, UK authors can use KDP :) They have since expanded from the early days to provide more options so yes, you can publish a paperback through KDP!
I have a few videos on covers on my channel. Check those out and if they don't help feel free to leave a comment with what you are looking for and I'll do my best to create some resources 😊
does the pdf document have to match the trim size of the book? (ex. a normal letter document is 8.5 x 11in but do I have to change the document so it matches 6 x 9in if that's the actual paperback size of my book for example? Or does it automatically change the doc size to fit the trim size?)
The PDF needs to match the specifications of the book. There is no conversion to fit the size. I have a formatting series on my channel that might help!
Hi, I created a book on MS Word 2013 in size 5x8inches. Now, when I am converting it to pdf via microsoft pdf, it converts as a4/letter size and there's no other option to print as 5x8inches. even though on the print page, size shows custom page size 5x8inches. still won't print in desired size. please help, I can't wait to publish my first book :)
Hi. Amazon kdp keeps saying I need 75 pages. So it won’t process the next step. But its a childrens book so I only have 17 pages. Do you know how i can fix this problem?
00:54 So if part of my title is before a colon, does that mean the part after the colon is the subtitle? For instance: *_All About Smart Watches: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_* (stupid title, but just for example sake). In the *Book Title* text box I would type in _All About Smart Watches:_ then in the *Subtitle* text box, _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ correct? Or would I just put all of it in the *Book Title* text box?
Hii i had a doubt..when uploading on kdp when we do all the formalities and upload the book..can the author get a free copy of the book just to check whether the book is in good shape, the pages n all?
I hope I'm understanding your question correctly but there will be your manuscript which is your interior files (all the pages on the inside without the cover) and then the cover upload which will be the exterior (outside cover) of the book that is one file that consists of both the front and back cover. Let me know if I can help clarify!
@@samshusam8971 Yes, as long as you aren't currently in an exclusive deal and own your ISBN, you are welcome to move your book around however you'd like. Congrats on your new book!
Hi! I followed along on your Indesign book layout video, however when uploading my manuscript to KDP it keeps saying my upload failed. Is there a reason for this?
They should provide you with a reason why it failed. If it isn't uploading at all, or failing during that process, try using a different internet browser. If it continues, I'd recommend reaching out to KDP for support.
UGH!!! I just published my first book a few days ago and didn’t completely understand the difference between saving and publishing. Oh well. Lesson learned. Thank you so much!!!
I've done it before too 😅 Congrats on your first book!
How r ur sales run ?
Thank you so much for this video!!! Trying to understand everything about the process was for sure a bit overwhelming so I’m so glad i found this video! 😊
I'm happy to hear it helped!
Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... This video was amazing and very detailed... I appreciate you, and after watching this video, I am now confident about publishing my first book...
Yay! Congrats on your upcoming book - wishing you so much luck!
Very informative! You answered so many questions I had, and several I hadn't yet considered. Thank you!
Yay! I'm so glad to hear that!
Great tutorial , just the thing I was looking for . Thanks !!
I'm glad it helped!
I’ve watched your other KDP videos but this was good timing as I literally just did this for the first time this morning! Thanks for the confidence boost! You should make a video explaining more why you won’t be doing soft cover through IS any more. I found that interesting as I’m on the brink of uploading one there too.
Congrats on your new book! I've got a Patreon post about exactly why I switched here: www.patreon.com/posts/54612451 There is absolutely nothing wrong with using IngramSpark and I still recommend them as a great choice - I used both KDP and IS for my paperbacks for years. Ultimately, the publishing platform you choose is purely a personal choice and what is best for your long-term goals, your preferences on print/quality/distribution/profit share and that varies author to author. There may be a time when I switch back, but for now I am KDP exclusive for my children's book paperbacks.
@@BethanyStahl I ran into zero upload and eproof issues with KDP and Ingram! Thanks for the resources that helped me along the way! Physical copies are on their way.
Great video, I still have mistakes from the first time I published in print on KDP, and it just feels so daunting to go back in and fix them.
You've got this. I was so hesitant to touch a file after publishing at first too. We can always fix mistakes 😊. . . and we all make plenty of them!
this was so helpful !! thank you
Wow, that looked so simple! Thanks!
I hope it helps! Thank you! 😊
I just published my book! 🎉
Yay!!! 🥳🥳🥳 Congrats!
How’s sales going?
What would be the biggest size of a PDF file accepted by kdp? Talking about full color paper for kids
I believe it is currently 650MB, but you may have to check with KDP if you are experiencing a problem of it being too big or not uploading. I've never run into an issue with file size.
You didn't check the box if you have a bar code in your cover which you did?
Question, how do I order author copies of my book?
Go into your KDP dashboard, click on "Bookshelf", scroll to your title, and to the very right you will see a box that says "Paperback actions" and below that you will see a button that says "Order Author Copies". From there it will direct you to Amazon to order how many copies you'd like. Be aware that if you order before it is published, you'll have a banner across your book cover that says "Not For Resale" - wishing you all the best!
Hi If I am publish as an individual on amazon kdp and do not have a business setup for it can I choose all territories to sell to or do I have to choose individual territories and since i am in the US only do like US , Canada, Mexico? Thanks
If I understand your question correctly, yes, you can sell in all territories as long as you own the rights to your book.
Hi can you please tell me when you upload the cover, can you upload the inside pages of a cover?
If you are referring to a colored inside page of a cover (not interior pages) but the back side, then unfortunately no, KDP does not have that option at this time.
Thanks for your video. Really helpful. ,How do you do if your book has got a side spine. I know your children book haven't got spine.
Typically children's book paperbacks won't have them unless you have a much higher page count or if you are creating a hardcover. When you download your cover template, you'll be able to see if there is space for a spine or not.
How/where can you print individual copies of books at an affordable cost, that ARE for resale? Like, if you wanted to make custom books and not order in bulk?
You can order author copies from KDP at print cost and are welcome to resell.
Dumb question but do I have to upload my book as an Ebook first, then do paperback?
Not a dumb question! And no, you can upload in any order you like or even choose only one or the other :)
Great tutorial, Bethany! Cute books too!
Thank you so much 😊
Hi there.
Thanks for the upload.
Question on the series part:
What do you do when you're not sure if it's going to be a series or just a one time book?
You can always add the series in later! My first book in this series, Save the Ocean, was intended as a standalone and only after its success did I decide to turn it into the Save the Earth series. So just skip that part and the beauty of KDP is you can always go back and add more to your books details later!
@@BethanyStahl
Awesome! Thanks so much for your reply - I really appreciate it.
Two more questions (I'm sorry):
1) how much do you have to pay for your own book since you're not paying yourself royalties?
(Let's say, the book costs $12.99)
2) how long did it actually take for the book to get to your door, printed as a paperback, once you hit the order button?
Again, thanks for your time
I just published my E-book with a paperback edition "Start DJing: The Short Guide"😎
Sounds fun! Congrats!
Great content im a new subscriber and was just wondering how long does it take to get a copy of your book after hitting that publish button.? Thank you 🙏
You won't get a copy of your book by publishing, you'll have to order author copies. Sometimes that can take up to a few weeks, but you can do that before you publish too :)
I really hope you will reply to me! Could you please tell me which CMYK profile you are using?
The way your cover looks in the graphic editor is almost identical to how it looks in the Amazon print previewer. However, my cover's appearance is very different. I am trying different profiles and constantly getting different results, but I haven't yet achieved a version where the editor's version almost matches the previewer version.
Please help 🙏🏻
I use PDF\X-1a but that being said a CMYK conversion isn't necessarily required for KDP because they do automatically convert the color to save the step on your side.
@@BethanyStahl If I understand correctly, the PDF/X-1a standard is selected when saving the cover to the final PDF file. But during the actual drawing of the images and cover, which color profile are you using? Like U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2, Coated FOGRA, Japan Color, and so on..?
Question does KDP craate and ship the paper back book for you?
Yes. They print and ship for you!
Hi, I am an author about to publish my first book. I want to ask a question, incase my Amazon account gets mysteriously suspended (which I have heard happens a lot), how would I be able to print my book? Is this one of the reasons to buy my own ISBN, so I can publish my book at other places apart from Amazon?
I've never been suspended or personally known anyone who has but strange things can happen. Buying an ISBN allows you to print your book, since you own it, on any platform you'd like so theoretically if Amazon kicks you off, you can publish elsewhere. If you use a free ISBN, you'd have to buy one to publish elsewhere. I hope that makes sense!
@BethanyStahl yes it does. Thank you. Being a first time author is so confusing. Wish you could mentor me during this process. I have more questions.
I have a question. I have a ebook cookbook on Amazon. How do I set it up as paperback and order my own copies. I’ve been searching hi and low with not a lot of progress.
I have a full formatting series on my channel for books (it is for children's books but the concept is the same and I have other tutorials for formatting coming soon). Once you have it on KDP and publish you can order author copies. I'll put it on my to do list to show how to order author copies!
@@BethanyStahl thank you so much! My ebook is already published and on kdp.
Excellent video. Thank you. May I ask...do you do your own artwork too?
I do! I have a few tutorials up on my channel and am hopefully adding more soon :)
Hi the moment I find out how you do your artboards on what website I will be able to take off. I'm about to watch this again because I did not catch the size and I know its not 8x11. Your drawing is so cute and you gave good tips about copyrights and isbn. I'm so excited but I need to know the software that you do all your creating and editing. Newer to digital art and matching the right size page with the right amount of pixels for when I need to scale things down to add a foreground image has been annoying because so much detail gets lost. But your books let me know that busy backgrounds are not always necessary. I remember even seeing books with paint brush white borders to crop the image in the middle of page or no background all together. I want all and will let the creative flow apply at that stage BUT please what software do you draw and put all the pages together side by side? And what size you normally use? Thank you
Hello! I have a course on selfpubby.com that is all about formatting! Also check out my InDesign videos: ruclips.net/video/YXNTYK2BsoM/видео.html
Hello Bethany. Do you have a video on how to find your book on amazon? My book is live and it can't be found. I've watched a couple of videos on how to find it but I'm unsuccessful. Can you help please? Thank you so much
If you go to your KDP bookshelf, there will be three dots where you can click to see it on multiple platforms. New books have a hard time showing up in search sometimes. Or if you are searching from Amazon try searching for your books title and the author's full name to help out the platform in finding it.
Hello, good evening. I am Nazari from the UAE. Is it possible for you to explain about the copyright and ISBN for children's books and placing them on the Amazon site? It is really necessary. Where should I get them? Thank you for your answers and videos.
Excellent video, I hope there is a UK version? But I am confused, KDP used to stand for Kindle Desktop Publishing and was for ebooks. Now I see the Amazon form you use covers both ebooks and paperbacks and am surprised Amazon uses the title of KDP. Before I publish a paperback does anyone have the answer?
It stands for Kindle Direct Publishing and has the ability to do ebook, hardcover and paperback and yes, UK authors can use KDP :) They have since expanded from the early days to provide more options so yes, you can publish a paperback through KDP!
Does KDP approve paperback book less than 100pages
Hi there! loved your tutorial.
does amazon ship paperback on his own or we have to print and ship them?
If you use KDP, they print and ship :)
@@BethanyStahl ohhh thanksss, I was so confused
How did you get the bar code on there
KDP will generate a barcode and place it there for you :)
@@BethanyStahlis it better to get my own ISBN than let kdp generates one for me?
Very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
hi i am publishing my first book but i recieved this (Remove all template text and guides from your cover file.) i dont know what to do.
I need some with my paper book cover
I have a few videos on covers on my channel. Check those out and if they don't help feel free to leave a comment with what you are looking for and I'll do my best to create some resources 😊
does the pdf document have to match the trim size of the book? (ex. a normal letter document is 8.5 x 11in but do I have to change the document so it matches 6 x 9in if that's the actual paperback size of my book for example? Or does it automatically change the doc size to fit the trim size?)
The PDF needs to match the specifications of the book. There is no conversion to fit the size. I have a formatting series on my channel that might help!
Hi, I created a book on MS Word 2013 in size 5x8inches. Now, when I am converting it to pdf via microsoft pdf, it converts as a4/letter size and there's no other option to print as 5x8inches. even though on the print page, size shows custom page size 5x8inches. still won't print in desired size. please help, I can't wait to publish my first book :)
How many pages can you preview? Can the whole manuscript be previewed before you get your physical proof?
Yes, you will be able to preview the entire book.
@@BethanyStahl wow, thank you!
I just stuck i don't know what is IsBN ??
International Standard Book Number. It is how books are logged. Every book had a unique number assigned to it 😊
@@BethanyStahl i dont understand the ISBN process, why dont you reccomend the free one from amazon? and where can i get one fro selling from EU?
for paperback, do we need to upload a front cover and a back cover ?
Yes.
Hi. Amazon kdp keeps saying I need 75 pages. So it won’t process the next step. But its a childrens book so I only have 17 pages. Do you know how i can fix this problem?
Only paperbacks can be under 75 pages through KDP at this time. For hardcovers I use IngramSpark.
Do you have to pay for this?
KDP doesn't charge to publish your book on their platform. They do take a cut of your royalties, but that is normal for POD companies.
00:54 So if part of my title is before a colon, does that mean the part after the colon is the subtitle? For instance: *_All About Smart Watches: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_* (stupid title, but just for example sake). In the *Book Title* text box I would type in _All About Smart Watches:_ then in the *Subtitle* text box, _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ correct? Or would I just put all of it in the *Book Title* text box?
Yes, everything after the colon would go into the subtitle box.
Hii i had a doubt..when uploading on kdp when we do all the formalities and upload the book..can the author get a free copy of the book just to check whether the book is in good shape, the pages n all?
No free copies but you can order one before publishing.
i didnt undersand what did you mean about manuscrip cover ??
I hope I'm understanding your question correctly but there will be your manuscript which is your interior files (all the pages on the inside without the cover) and then the cover upload which will be the exterior (outside cover) of the book that is one file that consists of both the front and back cover. Let me know if I can help clarify!
I an unable to publish book
Everytime I upload manuscript it gives error that it just has 25 pages
With KDP, I believe, their minimum page count is 28.
@@BethanyStahl thank you i was able to publish
But is there any way to change marketplaces other than the given ones while publishing
@@samshusam8971 Yes, as long as you aren't currently in an exclusive deal and own your ISBN, you are welcome to move your book around however you'd like. Congrats on your new book!
Then how can my book reach to me 😢
Hi! I followed along on your Indesign book layout video, however when uploading my manuscript to KDP it keeps saying my upload failed. Is there a reason for this?
They should provide you with a reason why it failed. If it isn't uploading at all, or failing during that process, try using a different internet browser. If it continues, I'd recommend reaching out to KDP for support.
Cute
🎉 hi