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How to Get a Book ePublished on a Kindle

With the advent of e-readers, smartphones and ultra-portable tablet computers, a competitor to the traditional book publishing paradigm has emerged: the eBook, a virtual commodity that, unlike print publications, require very little expense to produce and distribute. The Amazon Kindle, one of the forerunners of the e-reader movement, makes the Kindle Direct Publishing service available, a publishing platform for authors to release their works.

Things You'll Need

  • Microsoft Word
  • MobiPocket Creator
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Instructions

  1. Formatting and Exporting the Book

    • 1

      Convert your document to Microsoft Word file, if it isn’t already in that format.

    • 2

      Insert page breaks between sections of the book. The title page, the prologue and ends of chapters must be followed by a hard page break, if you wish the next section to begin on a new page.

    • 3

      Insert images using the “Insert” command. Use JPEG images only and convert other image formats to JPEG before inserting them into your document. Center images with the center alignment command.

    • 4

      Create a table of contents, if desired. Navigate to the beginning of the chapter or section where you wish to insert a table of contents reference, click “Insert,” select “Reference” and click “Index and Tables.” A list of table of contents formatting options will appear; set the options to your liking and click “OK” to create a table of contents. Add new reference points to other chapters or sections as needed.

    • 5

      Save your document as an HTML file. Click the Office button icon, select “Save As” and click “Other Formats” from the menu. Select “Web Page, Filtered” from the “Save as Type” menu and click “Save.”

    • 6

      Click the “Start” menu button, click “MobiPocket.com” and click “MobiPocket Creator.”

    • 7

      Click “HTML Document” in the “Import from Existing File” panel.

    • 8

      Click “Browse” next to the “Choose a file” box and select the HTML file you created in Step 5. Click “Open.”

    • 9

      Click “Import.” A book editor window will appear.

    • 10

      Click “Cover Image” and click “Add Cover Image.” Select your book cover image file and click “Update” to add it to the book.

    • 11

      Click “Build” and click “Build e-Book” from the menu. MobiPocket Creator will parse the HTML file and create a Kindle-compatible .mobi file.

    Publishing the Book

    • 12

      Open the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing website and log in to your account.

    • 13

      Click “Add a New Title.”

    • 14

      Fill in the book information in the boxes provided.

    • 15

      Click “Browse for Book” and select the .mobi file you created from your book document. Click “OK.” The file will upload to the Kindle Direct Publishing service.

    • 16

      Click “Preview Book.” Check that everything looks satisfactory and close the preview window.

    • 17

      Select “This is a public domain work” if you wish to publish your book in the public domain. If not, select the other option. Additionally, select the corresponding option for worldwide or by-country publishing rights. Click “Next” to continue to the final page of the publishing procedure.

    • 18

      Fill in the pricing information for the book. Pricing policy changes often, so check the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing pricing page for the most up-to-date rates for royalties and distribution fees.

    • 19

      Read the distribution agreement and click on the checkbox to agree. Click on “Save and Publish” to publish your book for the Kindle.

Book Publishing

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