Hey there!

My name is Chris Green and I’ll be your host in this getting started with KDP course! I published my first book in 2011 and have published and launched dozens of books since then. I’ve also helped hundreds of people become authors through my training videos and online courses and I want to help you be next!

Self-publishing is relatively easy and simple, but there are a lot of things to learn. This course covers the basics that you need to know to get started and I’ve done my best to keep the videos short. This way, you’ll learn what you need to know without being bogged down by things that you don’t need to know.

Feel free to hop around to the sections that are most relevant to you and if you have questions about anything, please just reach out and message me directly here on Skool.

Get your KDP account here:

https://kdp.amazon.com

What is Self-Publishing?

A lot of people think that publishing a book means that a big company wants to sell your book at big bookstores, and you have to have an agent and a fancy editor and you got big advance check.

But with self-publishing, you don’t need any of that. You can just publish your book yourself.

Some people might think of self-publishing like a vanity publisher who would print your book for you for a price. And usually with a minimum order quantity. So, you would pay them to print your book, but you would end up with 1,000 copies sitting in your garage without a plan to market and sell them.

And while things used to be that way, they are much different now. Anyone can self-publish their book for free with a print on demand self-publishing platform such as Kindle Direct Publishing or KDP.

This means that YOU are the publisher. No one else is involved and no one else has any rights to your book.

Does your book have to be GOOD in order to self-publish? Not necessarily ( although it definitely helps). One of the best things about self-publishing is that there are no gatekeepers.

ANYONE can publish ANYTHING as long as it’s within a platform’s content guidelines of course.

And remember, self-publishing a book doesn’t mean that you have to write fiction stories like Harry Potter with characters and dialogue and plot developments. You can publish all kinds of books like memoirs, coloring books, puzzle books, journals, notebooks, and sketchbooks,

If you wanted to, you could even take all of the photos of your cat that you’ve posted on Instagram over the past 10 years and publish them as a self-published book.

All that you need to self-publish are two files. An interior manuscript file which is basically a really long PDF and a cover file that wraps around the outside of your book. And by the end of this course, you’ll have everything you need to create these two files.

So don’t worry if you don’t consider yourself to be a good writer and don’t think that you book has to a perfect work of art. Self-publishing allows anyone to get their book out into the world without any gatekeepers.

It’s also completely free! Seriously, self-publishing is completely free and becoming a published author has so many amazing upsides!

So, I hope that you’re ready to learn more about self-publishing and continue your journey towards becoming a self-published author.

What is Print-On-Demand (POD)?

One of the best things about self-publishing today is that books are printed ‘on demand’. I want to be sure that you understand exactly what this mean because you may see the acronym POD thrown around a lot in the self-publishing space.

Print-on-demand simply means that your book doesn’t physically exist until a customer places an order. Then, the book is sent to a high-tech printer to be printed and shipped to the customer.

The fact that self-published books are printed on demand is awesome because that means that there are ZERO COSTS to becoming a self-published author. The printers that are used today only fire up when customers place orders online and they can literally print a single book, cut it to any trim size, and then bind it with a full color cover.

It’s pretty amazing technology. And since books are only printed when customers place orders so you either earn royalties for your book sells or you earn zero dollars for zero book sales. But you never have to pay any money as a self-published author of a print on demand book.

What is Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)?

So, we talked about self-publishing, and we talked about print on demand.

Well my favorite self-publishing print-on-demand platform is Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) from Amazon. There are other platforms, but KDP is the clear winner for several reasons.

The main reason is that it is built into Amazon.com, the world’s largest and most trusted online marketplace. I can upload my book files, just an interior PDF and a cover image file, enter the title, description, set a price and I’m DONE. I’m a published author on Amazon!

I really want you to stop and think about what this all means. With KDP you’re able to COMBINE self-publishing, print-on-demand, and the worldwide Amazon marketplace. FOR FREE.

Using KDP means that for ZERO COSTS you can have a physical product, a book, available FOR SALE, worldwide, on Amazon.com, the world’s largest and most trusted marketplace. And when it sells, Amazon will DO ALL OF THE WORK from printing, to shipping, to handling customer service. And they will then pay you a royalty for every book sold at the end of each month.

It really doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

And Amazon is the majority of the book market. Having your book listed for sale on Amazon, worldwide, is more than enough for most self-published authors.

Remember, books that are published through KDP are also eligible for Amazon’s Prime shipping options. This means that your books will ship for free to Amazon Prime members which can definitely increase sales.

There are also a lot of people who prefer to buy from Amazon and go to Amazon first for many online purchases, including books. Why? It’s simple, really. People trust Amazon. They trust the reviews, they know their order will ship fast, and they know that Amazon has great customer service in the event that anything goes wrong. So, if your book is not on Amazon, you’re potentially missing out on lots of sales.

Also, when you self-publish through KDP, you can order copies of your book at cost. These are called author copies, and you can order them if you want to sell directly yourself at places like book fairs or conferences or even to give them as gifts to friends and family.

I could go on and on and you’ll be learning more about KDP and how to use it throughout the rest of this course. KDP is such an amazing program and I hope that you’re as excited about using as I am.

Printing cost depends on which Amazon marketplace (website) your paperback or hardcover was ordered from. Costs also vary depending on page count, ink type (black ink or color ink), and trim size. Bleed settings and cover finish don't affect printing cost. Use this calculator to determine your paperback and hardcover printing cost, minimum list price, and royalties.

This calculator doesn't include Expanded Distribution estimates. If your book is eligible and enrolled in Expanded Distribution, the minimum list price will be different.

Figures generated by this tool are for estimation purposes only.

Chris Green's SECRET to Self-Publishing Success

I’m not going to tease you and tell you some long story before I tell you my secret. And the truth is that it’s not even a secret at all. It’s just a simple strategy that is very effective and it’s something that I rarely see taught. I think that a lot of people are missing out on this “secret”.

And that’s to write your book in such a way that you get some kind of benefit EVEN IF YOU GIVE THE BOOK AWAY.

Why would you want to give your book away? Isn’t the entire goal of self-publishing to sell books and make money? Well, yes, sort of.

But not exclusively.

Being able to run promotions where you can offer your book for significant discounts or even get your book into people’s hands for free can be amazing ways to use your book as part of your business.

So, what are some of these ‘other benefits’ that we can get from our book other than direct royalties?

How about collecting email addresses to build your own email newsletter?

Or get people to join your online group or community.

Or even just for people to follow you on various social media platforms.

These are all ways that allow you to directly interact with your readers and customers. You can let them know about special deals on your book or if you have any other products or offers. And you can now let them know when your next book is coming out and generate some excitement and pre-sales.

Just make it easy for them. Short, easy-to-read links or scannable QR codes. Put these near the beginning of the book and not at the end because not everyone will get to the end of your book.

And definitely incentivize these things. For example, you could offer a BONUS CHAPTER as a PDF or an exclusive members-only video when they join your email list.

When you publish your book through KDP,  you’ll have the promotional option to make your Kindle book FREE and it’s really easy to get people into a free book, especially if you are new or if they don’t really know you yet. And if you’ve structured your book strategically and give it away to enough people, you’re going to grow your email list and get new followers all without spending a dime.

And the printing costs with KDP are also so low that you could even offer your printed book for sale with a free + shipping offer and get your physical book delivered to someone’s door without it costing you a thing.

To me, this is where the real power of self-publishing with KDP really lies. Use your book strategically in your business and structure it in a way that you get some benefits even if you just give your book away.

Make sense? Let me know if you have questions.