Amazon KDP Publishing: Should I Publish on KDP or Not?

About this video

Answering a viewer named Kevin, who asked whether to list on KDP first to get attention and then list everywhere else, Dale gives what he stresses is his subjective take. For a newbie self-publisher who has never published a book, he recommends putting the first book on KDP and enrolling it in the KDP Select programme before considering other options. He gives two advantages: sales, and Kindle Unlimited page reads, which he says also influence a book’s rank — stacking as much as possible in a beginner’s favour to build confidence and encourage publishing more books, which teaches the process faster. He recommends focusing on KDP for at least the first 90 days of the first book. Only once an author is roughly six to twelve publications deep, he says, should they start looking at other options, naming aggregate publishers such as Smashwords, Pronoun and Draft2Digital, and individual retailers such as iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

Key takeaways

• Dale recommends a first-time publisher put their first book on KDP and enroll in KDP Select before publishing elsewhere
• He cites two benefits for beginners: sales and Kindle Unlimited page reads, which he says also influence the book’s rank
• He advises focusing on KDP for at least the first 90 days of the first book
• He suggests waiting until roughly six to twelve publications before expanding to other platforms
• Later options he names include aggregators Smashwords, Pronoun and Draft2Digital, and retailers iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo

Episode details: published October 1, 2017 · 2:39 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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