Hi there, how did you publish on amazon books if I may ask? I think I need to publish my own series as well. Any guidance and tips would help
Hey I'm so sorry for my delayed response/if I am too late! I really wanted to do all my asks justice and then I pressure myself into not answering at all😥
Publishing on Amazon
First I would make sure your book has been fully edited (including a line edit, the hardest part for me).
I made my book covers using canva. You might have to import your own images but canva is great for layout ideas and ease of use, and I think the results are great too.
Cover tips: use color to match the mood of your book. Focus on one key symbol or theme to represent in the cover (don't try to do everything). Pick an existing layout as a reference and then make yours however you want. Font is important to match the overarching feeling of your book too, it's the first thing they'll read.
Format your book (again try to represent the overall feeling of your book while keeping the main text easy to read, if in doubt stick to what everyone else does).
You download Amazon's app on your computer to turn it into an amazon file (I forgot what they're called) or you can convert your file into a word or epub file.
It's helpful to create a table of contents that links (for the kindle version) to the chapters, and a regular table of contents for your hard copy.
Number pages if you'd like. This seems to be standard practice and something expected, so I would do it
Make your book blurb---here are my tips for that: 3 sections: 1: A one-sentence overarching vibe/your story's starting point like "A boy in a war-torn post-apocalyptic Seattle becomes a gang leader at eleven." 2: A three-sentence plot summary (don't give away the ending). 3: A one-sentence "what's going to happen now?" Hook. It can be longer especially if your books are wordier---this will attract the right audience, if your writing style in the blurb matches your writing style in the book.
Note on the blurb! If you're a whump writer, you want to attract whump lovers, so don't be shy about mentioning all the agony. (Not that you should make it sound like the main plot, but it may be helpful to whump lovers and push away those that will give your book a 1-star review because it was more painful than they like.)
Pricing: I don't know how to do this
Promotion: from my research, you want to 1: Give something immediate and free to your audience in your promotion. 2: promote multiple times (this helps people remember and encourages people to follow up). 3: Have an easy way to actually access the content (link it, link your social, link free stuff). I don't do promotion but I'd like to give my work to more people so at some point I'll probably try.
