The world of self-publishing has been around for over a decade, but it wasn’t until recent years that people are catching up to it.
There are more and more people asking us if they can use our graphics for KDP and we figured it was about time we help the community out.
First off, what is KDP?
KDP stands for ‘Kindle Direct Publishing’, Amazon’s very own publishing platform (kdp.amazon.com) where authors and public in general can publish their books both as eBooks as well as paperback. With about 80% of the eBook market share, it makes it a no-brainer to sign up for it if you’re diving into the self-publishing world.
Whether you’re a digital native or if you appreciate the touch and feel of a paperback book, you can do both with KDP.
Its interface is very straightforward and easy to use. You don’t have to go to great lengths to get your first book out there.
Which are the benefits of self-publishing?
- Cut the middleman: You deal directly with the platform you’re publishing on.
- Better royalties: since there’s no middleman to pay to, and also since you get to decide your royalty level, earnings are suited to your needs and criteria.
- Creative freedom: You get full control over the content you produce. Yes, you may need to produce a thing or two more, but in the end, the product will look just the way you wanted.
- Publishing control: Self-publishing allows you to publish your piece whenever you want to, without release dates or any type of bureaucracy meddling in the way.
What can you publish?
Pretty much anything you want to write about, as well as low-content and no-content books. In this case, however, we will address a few options in regards to how you can use Vexels to bring your self-publishing business to the next level.
Low-content and No-content books?
To put it simply: you don’t have to be a writer to be a publisher. You can publish notebooks, coloring books, planners and journals without having a drop of literary skill.
This is what the interior of a low-content book looks like:
This can be a teenager journal, a diet log to keep track of meals or a notebook to jot down business ideas. While the interior is basic, the book cover and the listing description is where the bacon (or broccoli if you’re plant-based) is at.
How to use VEXELS for self-publishing?
Due to the nature of our platform, there are two main aspects we will discuss in terms of how can VEXELS help you in your self-publishing career:
- Book covers
- Graphics for self-publishers
Book covers
Arguably our bread-and-butter, graphic design for book covers is our chief contribution to self-publishers of any kind. With a powerful team of in-house artists, designers and illustrators, we can cater to any niche, topic and demand that publishers may have.
Graphics for self-publishers
There are many graphics and illustrations with different needs, but there is one in particular that is well-served by our graphic library, and that’s coloring book graphics.
With tens of thousands of stroke and no-fill designs, our contents are highly appealing to coloring book creators for both kids and adult niches.
How To Succeed: Design is Not Enough
There are very few and key components where you have to be really good to become successful at this business:
- Finding niche opportunities, i.e. high demand, low competition
- Great cover design
Finding Niche opportunities
Amazon’s search box is your best friend here.
Just dive into the topic you are interested in and start looking at the numbers.
Here we can see how the “baby journal” niche is one where if you dive, you drown:
And in the “metalworker journal” niche there is much room for content:
A quick suggestion would be to go for obscure or unpopular but highly-passionate niches. Also, much like in the Merch business, cross-nicheing is also a great way to come up with fertile selling grounds.
Great Cover Design
“Great” doesn’t mean “intricate”, but rather a powerful design that’s appealing, understandable and relatable to the target audience. Whereas in most cases “less is more”, we take the approach of “quality over quantity”.
Your book cover is only there to lure the audience to a closure; the real juice is in the title and content.
Some KDP self-publishing FAQs
Which are the publishing costs?
Publishing on KDP is free.
How is Copyright handled?
Your book is under copyright protection as soon as it’s published. Amazon does not require a copyright page but you may include it.
How do royalties and payments work?
According to Amazon.com:
- eBook royalties. You can choose between two royalty options for your eBooks: the 35% royalty option and the 70% royalty option.
- Paperback royalties. KDP offers a fixed 60% royalty rate for paperbacks sold on Amazon marketplaces where KDP supports paperback distribution. Your royalty is 60% of your list price. We subtract printing costs, which depend on page count, ink type, and the Amazon marketplace your paperback was ordered from.
- Payments. KDP pays royalties every month, approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which they were earned.
The world of self-publishing has opened up wide for authors in the Digital Age, and its timing could not be better. It certainly opens up a new market dimension for online entrepreneurs eager to venture in forms of passive income. As we know with Merch, working with print-on-demand business is anything but “passive”, but sure it’s fun and profitable!
Are you already a self-publisher doing KDP? Let us know how you’re doing!
