The following information is important to both authors and readers of books.
Please distribute this widely and get the word out that you do not have to
actually own a Kindle to read a Kindle, as amazon
provides a FREE application for just about any electronic device! Click on this
link to find the list, download the app and install it, then you can read and
purchase any of the almost 1 million books now available on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/kcp/ref=kinw_dp_pub
What exactly is a Kindle?
It is essentially an electronic form of a book exclusively sold by Amazon and
only readable on Kindle devices. Your Kindle device could be an actual Kindle
(hand held tablet like gadget), or it could be a Kindle on you
PC, Mac, iPhone... etc. via a free Kindle
application.
What is the advantage of a Kindle?
With the electronic format you have no printing or shipping costs AT ALL! Folks
buy your book through the Amazon Kindle store and within 60 days 35% or 70% of
that sales price ends up in your bank. Also, the reader gets a copy of your
book in less than 60 seconds from the time he purchases it. It also hold the
possibility of live media appearances to be interactive, i.e. the people
listening/watching your appearance can download the book while you talk and
follow along. And the biggest advantage, you can embed web page and email
hyperlinks in your book so that the readers can go beyond the pages! For
instance, here is a snippet of part of my Reincarnation Chapter 7 of Surviving Death Again:
"....There are a
number of good radio shows featuring up-to-the-minute discussions on these
topics. One of the best is Teddy Bart and Karlen Evin’s Internet Radio Show Beyond
Reason. Here is a
recent interview I did with an in depth discussion on reincarnation: ScottDegenhardt6_26_09BR.mp3...."
Notice the hyperlinks (the underlined
sections). The reader can go beyond the pages of my book by clicking on the
link of the radio show and hear the 30 minute radio show. Ever
time I recommend a movie or other source in my book I try to provide a
hyperlink so the reader can even go watch a trailer of the movie. I consider my book a stepping stone, not a final
destination.
For authors, publishing your book is
FREE!!!
There are no printing costs, sign up fees, etc. All it requires is for you to
have a registered Amazon account. To get started on publishing your book to the
Kindle Store you will need to set up a "Digital Bookshelf" on
Amazon's Digital Text Platform (DTP):
https://dtp.amazon.com/
When you go there you will find many references on how to go about it, but I
will comment on what format works for me personally (and I will be glad
to offer anyone Kindle publishing support, just email or call me):
1. First, you need to decide if you have a manuscript
that is actually "bookworthy". What I mean
by that is, one thing people do not stop to think about is that once you have
published something it is in print forever. So you may have a great idea, you
may have organized that in a Word document, but have you had it reviewed and
edited? I'm telling you, I had over a dozen people look at covers and formats
and proofread the text of my 1st edition, and even after that I still continue
to find typos or things I would rather change. So before you jump into pumping
something out there because it is free, please take the time to go through the
paces just like you would for a print book. It is actually easier to have proofreaders
for a Kindle book because the sample text is in web page html format, so you
can email the manuscript to others easily. Don't forget the ISBN #. I think
your electronic book will actually get a new ISBN # because it is in a
different format, technically a different book (but you should verify this and
not take my word as fact).
2. Once you have your manuscript edited and ready as far
as the content, you will then need to edit it in the proper format so that when
your file is converted to Kindle by the DTP it will appear right on the
electronic screen. I have played with different ways and personally have found
that the best format to create the final document is in a Word 97-2003 DOC format. This seems to translate well if you follow the
following formatting tips in the next step.
3. The key to having a good looking and properly linked
Table of Contents in the Kindle edition is to applying the following
"Style" to the manuscript: The head of sections such as
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, FOREWORD, PREFACE, BIBLIOGRAPHY, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, and CHAPTER
# should be formatted to HEADING 1. The chapter subtitles should be HEADING 2.
The next type of subsection should then be formatted HEADING 3. etc... All body text should be formatted NORMAL.
4. Remember, this is an electronic book, so there are no such thing as page numbers. YIKES! That means that
anywhere in the book where you reference something by saying "Refer to
page X" has to be changed! (been there and had to
chase those down numerous times while formatting!!!) You should change the
"Page #" reference to something like the title of the subsection it
can be found so that a reader can jump to the Table of Contents and hop
straight to that cross reference.
5. There is no real need for an Index, as the Kindle has
a search feature that works better than any index you could create (in my
opinion only).
6. Once you have the entire document formatted with the
Style mentioned above you can test the Table of Contents by inserting one in
the Word document. Go to REFERENCES, then TABLE OF CONTENTS, then chose
AUTOMATIC TABLE 1. Then you can look for any oddities in the indents that would
indicate a bad formatted Style in that section.
7. Images should not be COPY and PASTED into the Word
document. Instead you should chose INSERT, then
PICTURE, and chose the image file. Don't forget to insert an image of the cover
at the very beginning of the manuscript (I like seeing the cover even if it is
an electronic book!)
Once you have the document formatted you can upload DOC to Kindle using the DTP (https://dtp.amazon.com/).
1. Go to the BOOKSHELF tab on the DTP and ADD A NEW
TITLE.
2. Fill in the info now, or wait until later if you like,
but to test the manuscript scroll down to BOOK CONTENT, click on ENABLE DIGITAL
RIGHTS.
3. This then ungrays the BROWSE
FOR BOOK button. Click that button and look for your Word file on the hard
drive (make sure you have closed the Word document first). Select the DOC file.
Then click UPLOAD BOOK.
4. You will see the status as it says it is uploading it,
then converting to Kindle format, then UPLOAD AND CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL.
5. Click on PREVIEW BOOK. A window will open that is sort
of like a Kindle window, but don't worry too much about what you see in that
window. Instead you should click at the top of that window on where it says
DOWNLOAD HTML.
6. Download this file. It will be a ZIP file with the
entire book contents. Save it somewhere you can find it on your hard drive.
7. Go to the saved ZIP file and extract all of the files
into a single drive and then click on the HTML file. A web browser will open
and display the Kindle version of your book.
8. Look through the entire document and check the
formatting (and maybe even email it to a few friends for second eyes). Iterate
the above steps over and over until you are happy with the formatting.
Once you have the DOC file formatted to where it looks good in the HTML Kindle
format then you are ready to move on to final publishing. On the RIGHTS AND
PRICING page there are basically (as far as I know) two Royalty Options. Go
here to get full details:
http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=393
http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=453
1. If your book is 9.99 or less, but more than 2.99 you
qualify to get 70% of the list price.
2. The other plan is 35% Royalty
3. NOTE: You cannot price the Kindle higher than the
lowest price the physical copy of the book is available anywhere. So you need
to check the used market outlets if you are publishing to Kindle
any older book. (my advice, update the book to a new
addition so that there is no physical book competing with it!)
When you are done filling out all the book info and uploading the final copy
that you are happy with the formatting you can finally hit the SAVE AND
PUBLISH button. Do not click on this until you are truly ready, because once
you publish it you have to wait up to 48 hours before you can modify it. Until
you are ready just click the SAVE FOR LATER button.
NOTE: As a stress reliever note that even after you publish it and it becomes
LIVE for people to buy you can still re-upload or change things. I
HIGHLY recommend as soon as it becomes available to purchase in the Kindle
store that you (and even a few others) buy a copy and review it for any gross
errors that may have been overlooked. You can still edit it the book BEFORE you
do the media blitz and sell a thousand copies where the cover image is upside
down or something silly like that!
Now the disclaimer: the above is just my opinion and how I did it. You may
stumble on or read of a better way. Either way, EVERYONE should take advantage
of the Kindle outlet! It is my firm belief that Christmas 2010 is going to be
the year of the Kindle. Already the Summer of 2010
marked a milestone: more books were purchased in electronic form than in print
form! The handwriting is on the wall, everyone is going digital.
How to advertise your Kindle book:
I highly recommend you explore the plethora of tips that are available on the
web. There are LOTS of good advice there! Here are a
few references:
http://selfpublishingnews.com/category/advice/
http://www.ehow.com/how_4489551_sell-book-kindle-format.html
http://www.ehow.com/video_4973347_selling-books-amazon.html
Make sure to mention in all PR outlets that you do not have to own a Kindle
to read a Kindle! Below is a sample 1 page PR flier I have done for my new
book. I provide links to the product and links to getting the free app for them
to download. Giving a free copy is still a bit tricky. You have to
actually give the person requesting a complimentary copy a gift card to the
email account that is their Amazon Account, then they apply those funds from
the gift card to their account, then they purchase the Kindle book and it is
paid for by the funds you gave them. This is not so bad, just awkward. Remember
you still get 70% (or 35%) back on that gift and it counts as book sales.
I am going to sign off here with a sample of my flier. Feel free to call or
write if you need "Kindle publishing support". I will be glad to help
others do what I have now done 7 times for myself and others! Cheers, and Happy Publishing!
What happens before, during, and after we die?
What about Heaven, Hell, and the Gray area?
Have you had past lives?
What is the meaning of life?
Surviving Death Again chronicles our sojourn through the “Circle of Incarnation” from before we were born, through birth, detailing life and its purpose, the transition we think of as death, our journeys after we die, the periods of reflection and reunion, and our choice to do it all again.
If you want insight into the near-death, out-of-body, and past life experiences, angelic and deceased loved one’s encounters, then this is the book for you. With hundreds of interviews and the most current scientific research, Scott documents the clearest image yet of the “Big Picture” in this comprehensive “owner’s manual” and encyclopedia to spiritually transformative experiences.
Is there such a thing as reincarnation? Are angels real? Do we reunite with our loved ones after death? Scott can share his three decades of insight on these compelling questions. Call or email Scott to schedule an interview or talk today!
Author’s NOTE: You do not need to own a Kindle to read Kindle electronic books. A free application is available at Amazon.com that will allow virtually any electronic device to read a Kindle book. Producers or presentation planners, your complimentary Kindle copy of Surviving Death Again is available upon request at Scott’s email below.
Scott Degenhardt: anything@thedegshop.com toll free: 888-OurLight (888-687-5444)
Amazon product #B0040GJAZG http://www.thedegshop.com/