In addition to the free mobile or desktop app, customers also have the choice to purchase a Kindle Reading Device (Kindle Tab, Kindle Fire, etc.) which is basically a tablet specialized for reading Kindle E-Books.

The Amazon Kindle eBook service is available only across a list of countries which means that readers residing in other countries will not be able to access the Amazon Kindle eBook service. Kobo is another eBook platform that is also available in countries where Kindle eBook service is not available.

List of Countries/ Amazon Marketplaces where Kindle (KDP) eBook Service is available:

• US Kindle Store: United States
• UK Kindle Store: United Kingdom (including Guernsey, Isle of Man, Ireland, Gibraltar, and Jersey)
• DE Kindle Store: Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland
• FR Kindle Store: France, Monaco, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg
• ES Kindle Store: Andorra, Spain
• IT Kindle Store: Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and Switzerland
• JP Kindle Store: Japan
• NL Kindle Store: Netherlands
• BR Kindle Store: Brazil
• MX Kindle Store: Mexico
• CA Kindle Store: Canada
• IN Kindle Store: India
• AU Kindle Store: Australia, New Zealand

KDP Print (paperback or hardcover) is an on-demand printing service provided directly by Amazon; that is to say, if a customer orders a KDP Print version of a book, Amazon on behalf of the author/ publisher prints the book as per the order and ships it to the customer. In addition to the primary Kindle eBook version, in 2016 and 2021 respectively, Amazon added this print option for paperback and hardcover versions to the Authors and Publishers publishing on their KDP platform.

KDP Print is available on specific Amazon marketplaces only. KDP print versions can be shipped to most locations all over the world, but the shipping charges would rise depending on the distance of the buyer from the location of the Amazon marketplace from which a KDP print book is ordered.

List of Countries/ Amazon Marketplaces where KDP Print Paperback Service is available:

• Amazon.ca
• Amazon.co.jp
• Amazon.com
• Amazon.com.au
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.de
• Amazon.es
• Amazon.fr
• Amazon.it
• Amazon.nl
• Amazon.pl
• Amazon.se

List of Countries/ Amazon Marketplaces where KDP Print Hardcover Service is available:

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.de
• Amazon.es
• Amazon.fr
• Amazon.it
• Amazon.nl
• Amazon.pl
• Amazon.se

Note: KDP Print (paperback or hardcover) must not be confused with the regular print (paperback or hardcover) version. A regular print version is listed by a seller registered on the Amazon marketplace whereas a KDP version is listed directly by Amazon. A seller may list offset or print-on-demand versions whereas Amazon KDP print books are print-on-demand only. Further, the ‘Amazon Prime’ and ‘Amazon Fulfilled’ features are available only to regular listing by sellers and not applicable in KDP listings. 

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited or Kindle Select or KDP Select refers to the Kindle’s Lending Library, where readers or customers who have subscribed to the program can read Kindle eBooks enrolled in this program for free and royalty is paid on every page read. It is totally up to the author/ publisher whether he wants to enroll his book in this program. However, in order to enroll in the KDP Unlimited or Select program, a book has to be ‘Amazon KDP Exclusive’ that is it must be published and uploaded via the Amazon KDP program only.

Kindle Royalties to Author/ Publisher

The author has to choose between two royalty options (a) 70% and (b) 35% excluding taxes.

Some Important Royalty Conditions

The royalty is calculated upon the price excluding tax (generally VAT- Value Added Tax or GST- Goods & Service Tax).

If an author/ publisher chooses the 70% royalty, Amazon charges a delivery charge of USD 0.15 per MB (calculated after conversion upon uploading) taxes (VAT or GST) may be extra.

The delivery charge is waived off for the 35% royalty scheme.

In the 70% royalty scheme, the book must be priced between USD 2.99 to 9.99; but under the 35% royalty, the book can be priced between USD 0.99 to 200.

If the work of an author is based on a public domain work either in the original or manipulated form, he can only opt for the 35% royalty scheme.

Public Domain consists of the works whose copyright period has expired or the creator has declared to distribute the work for free. All work in the public domain are free from intellectual property rights. Examples include works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, R.L Stevenson etc. The copyright for all these works have expired.

Also, if a book has been enrolled under KDP Unlimited or Select program, only the 35% royalty scheme can be opted. Further, a book enrolled under KDP Select earns two types of royalties one from sales @ 35% and another from the number of pages read from Kindle Unlimited Library; the pay-out rate of the latter fluctuates every month according to Amazon’s Global KDP Select funding.

Calculation of Royalties for India on Amazon.IN [Calculation for other versions of Amazon Website can be roughly estimated by studying the data given provided 1 INR= 0.013 USD approx]

35% Royalty >> Book can be priced between INR 49 to 10,999

Example: For a book priced at INR 100 which is 0.22 MB after conversion, royalty would be INR 30 calculated on the price excluding 18% GST i.e. INR 85

Comment: Average Direct calculation for royalty from Amazon can be regarded as 30% of the overall cost of the book.

70% Royalty >> Book must be priced between INR 99 to 449

Example: For a book priced at INR 100 which is 0.22 MB after conversion, royalty would be INR 58 calculated on the price excluding 18% GST i.e. INR 85, and INR 2.00 deducted as the delivery charge.

Comment: Average Direct calculation for royalty from Amazon can be regarded as 55% of the overall cost of the book.

Royalty for KDP Select cannot be assumed it can only be ascertained from the monthly report and stats.

Example: In the month of September 2019, if a book on KDP Select had 126 total pages read by all the people lending the book, the royalty after all deductions to be paid for this book would have been USD 0.59 (INR 42.27).

Notes:

i. All calculations for royalties are just estimates and may not reflect the exact values. These are for reference only.

ii. All calculations or estimations are as of 31st May 2020.

Why Amazon?

Amazon is currently the world’s biggest e-commerce marketplace with a huge customer base and daily traffic. Thus, listing your product or book on Amazon gives you the opportunity to make it available to a large number of customers who come searching for similar products. Whereas, driving traffic to your own website can take a huge effort and investment. However, other e-commerce marketplaces that have a considerable customer base and traffic can also be considered.

Why Amazon Kindle or KDP and Amazon Kindle or KDP Exclusive?

Amazon Kindle is a robust and beautiful eBook interface both for authors and readers alike. Additionally, the KDP Print option gives Authors and Publishers to make paperback and hardcover versions available as print-on-demand. Indeed the printing cost of print-on-demand books is very high but during the initial stage of a book, it can be a cost-effective option for listing the print versions.

Though Amazon charges a good commission, it has many positives that cannot be overlooked. We are able to make the books available globally using this platform. Additionally, as Amazon already has a large number of shoppers, this is an added benefit. There are alternatives like ‘Google Play books’ or others that may come up in the future but these are not as popular. Besides, due to the millions of dollars of investment into the Kindle Section by Amazon and its investors, which is increasing month by month, Kindle seems to get better and more popular with time. Also, many ‘big-shot publishers’ who had earlier sided away from Kindle have now begun to put their titles into Kindle, due to its growing popularity and robust interface.

Opting for the KDP Select Program enables Authors/ Publishers to choose two additional Amazon advertising strategies ‘Kindle Countdown Deals’ and ‘Free Book Promotion’ for their books which can prove extremely useful for new books. 

Related Articles:

Amazon Advertising- the Concept & Scope

Digital & Offset Printing- An Overview

You may install the Kindle App on your phone or PC and download some free e-books for a practical experience.

Download the free Kindle App: Click Here

© 2020,  Mage Orange Publication.

Copyright reserved with the respective authors, co-authors & contributors. All ‘Publishing Rights’ reserved with ‘Mage Orange Publication & Technologies.’

The above content is an ‘extract’ from the ‘Mage Orange Publishing & Digital Marketing Magazine 2020.’  Any part of this article cannot be published, reproduced, or copied in any form whatsoever, without the permission of the publisher.

The post Kindle Publishing or Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)- a Short Evaluation [Article Last Update: December 2022] appeared first on Publishing | Digital Marketing.

Print books are available in physical printed form and may be in paperback (with a soft cover pager) or hardcover. On the other hand e-books or digital books are available in digital format which can be played or viewed on electronic devices like cellphones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, e-readers e.t.c.

E-books may be further of the open type format such as pdf or epub or closed type such as Google Play Books, Kindle e-book by Amazon, etc.

The open type format can be read using a variety of applications that can be downloaded from the internet or by applications that come bundled up with your system. The open type format can sometimes be protected by a password or a license key by its creator.

But, the closed type format can only be read using an application specified by its creator. For example, the Kindle format can be viewed only using the Kindle App. The Kindle app though free is the only option to read Kindle E-books. Kindle e-books are distributed by Amazon. This is not a downside of the closed type format but on a positive note, it prevents piracy and protects the authors’ work. It safeguards the financial interests of the author and the publisher for which they work so hard.

Based on the type of Formatting both print or e-books may be of the following types:

a. Simple Formatting

Such a print book contains text and pictures in a simple design and layout in a single column.

b. Designer Formatting

A designer book features a high level of formatting. They may be single or multi-column with text boxes, designs, backgrounds, and more.

Some Popular E-Books Types

PDF E-Book: It is the most popular document format from Adobe. Books in PDF format can never be reflowable which has both downside and upside. Its text cannot adjust to the screen size and a book with smaller text can end up with poor visibility on devices with small screens; however, the original formatting as in the print book is very well preserved and this fixed formatting makes it a good option for a book with illustrations.

Interactive PDF/ PDF E-BOOK

Interactive PDF is a PDF that contains buttons, hyperlinks, galleries, audios, and videos. Adobe has its own DRM scheme for PDF which is supported by many or all other 3^rd Party PDF readers which is a plus point of PDF. As an eBook, the biggest downside of PDFs is that the embedded video is in flash format and requires a flash player that does not come bundled with most PDF readers.

EPUB E-book

It was developed by International Digital Publishing Forum and became official in September 2007. It superseded the Open eBook (OEB) format developed by Softbook Press in 1999. EPUB is used by Google Play Books and Apple Books. It is open-source and based on HTML. DRM can be applied on EPUB but no DRM scheme is particularly allotted by the EPUB specification thereby limiting the readability of a protected EPUB E-Book. EPUB can support sound and video.

MOBI E-Book

It was developed by the French company Mobipocket in 2000. It too formed out of the OEB. Amazon purchased the company in 2005 and used it in its Kindle E-Books during the initial years. In 2016, it discontinued the format.

KINDLE E-Book by Amazon

Kindle eBooks are now based on the AZW and AZW3 format after the release of Kindle Fire in 2011. It can support both sound and video. AZW3 is also known as KF8 or Kindle Format 8. The AZWs are proprietary (by Amazon Global) and cannot be read by other eBook readers.

E-Book Categories

Reflowable Layout: In this type, the page layout is not fixed and changes according to the size of the screen; the contents are thus not flexible and may move to the next or the previous page. The text can be adjusted for size and font for better readability. This is a good option for text-based books with less artwork.

Fixed Width Layout: In this type, the layout of the page remains the same across different screen sizes. The page acts like an image that adjusts to the screen as a whole. This option holds good for books with a large amount of graphics or artwork or when the original layout of the book needs to be preserved.

Comments

Considering the advance in technology, digitalization, ease of distribution, and lower pricing both for authors and readers, E-Books are or have become superior to Print Books. Again, for books with heavy text and simple images, a reflowable layout is better; but when the original settings need to be preserved as in the case of academic books, comics, or books with high graphics and design, a fixed layout is the only option.

In case, the target is sales, among all the E-Book formats, Kindle E-Books whether fixed or reflowable are the best owing to a huge customer base, global market and consistent marketing of its products by Amazon; besides, as the Kindle has a closed platform, there is no chance of piracy.

In case the target is a private distribution, EPUB as it is open source and has reflowable capabilities, is the best option for books with heavy texts and simple images; but, considering the PDF for its DRM option and better capabilities to preserve the original settings, Interactive PDF E-Book is still the best option for E-Books with these requirements; however, as we again move towards the video and audio interactivity section EPUB will prove a better option.

© 2020,  Mage Orange Publication.

Copyright reserved with the respective authors, co-authors & contributors. All ‘Publishing Rights’ reserved with ‘Mage Orange Publication & Technologies.’

The above content is an ‘extract’ from the ‘Mage Orange Publishing & Digital Marketing Magazine 2020.’  Any part of this article cannot be published, reproduced, or copied in any form whatsoever, without the permission of the publisher.

The post eBook Formats- All about Print Books & E-Books appeared first on Publishing | Digital Marketing.

Amazon owing to its huge size, hype, high advertising spends, and global presence is an ideal place not only to list and sell but also to advertise one’s products.

Amazon is currently the world’s biggest e-commerce marketplace with a huge customer base and daily traffic. Thus, listing your product or book on Amazon gives you the opportunity to make it available to a large number of customers who come searching for similar products. Whereas, driving traffic to your own website can take a huge effort and investment.

Amazon Advertisement for Amazon Marketplaces

• Sponsored Product Ads
• Sponsored Brand Ads
• Deals and Coupons

Sponsored Product Ads

Using this advertising strategy, sellers can run campaigns to make their products appear across categories or by keywords. When customers search for that specific category or keywords, they see the ad on the top or in specially specified positions that are eye-catching.

Sponsored Brand Ads

This advertisement strategy is the same as a sponsored product but with a highlighted Brand name on the ads and product description on the product details page.

Deals and Coupons

Sellers can also provide deals and coupons to offer an extra discount on their products.

Amazon Advertisement for Kindle E-Books/ KDP Print Books

Kindle Store enables authors/ publishers to run ad campaigns similar to the amazon marketplace.

• Sponsored Products
• Lock Screen Ads
• Free Book Promo & Countdown Deals

Sponsored Products

This strategy is the same as the sponsored product ads in the Amazon marketplace(s). This ad strategy enables authors/ publishers to make their books appear across categories or by keywords on top or in special positions.

Lock Screen Ads

This strategy enables authors/publishers to place their ads on lock screens across Kindle E-Readers and Kindle Fire tablets. This strategy targets product categories.

Free Book Promo & Countdown Deals

Authors/ publishers opting for KDP Select Program can choose this additional strategy for Kindle E-Books.

Using the free book promo, a book can be provided for free on Kindle Unlimited (Lending) Library and on Kindle/ Amazon Store. This strategy can be run for up to 5 days once every 3 months.

The countdown deal enables the authors/ publishers to offer special discounts on their E-Books for limited periods.

Notes:

The Amazon advertisement for Kindle is only for the Kindle E-Books and Amazon KDP Print books on the Amazon Stores. It does not apply to other non-Kindle versions.

The Amazon advertisement for Kindle and KDP Print Books is only available on Amazon Global, Amazon UK, and a few other Amazon Marketplaces like Amazon- Germany, Italy, Spain, France.

Free Book Promo & Countdown Deals is available only on Amazon Global (Amazon.Com) and Amazon UK (Amazon.co.uk).

Related Article: Kindle Publishing or Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)- a Short Evaluation

© 2020,  Mage Orange Publication.

Copyright reserved with the respective authors, co-authors & contributors. All ‘Publishing Rights’ reserved with ‘Mage Orange Publication & Technologies.’

The above content is an ‘extract’ from the ‘Mage Orange Publishing & Digital Marketing Magazine 2020.’  Any part of this article cannot be published, reproduced, or copied in any form whatsoever, without the permission of the publisher.

The post Amazon Advertising- the Concept & Scope appeared first on Publishing | Digital Marketing.

SEO is an alternative to Google Search result marketing. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a mechanism using which a web page can be made to appear on the first page in Search Results when a user searches for some specific keywords.

The SEO Mechanism uses a set of rules that make a webpage appear on the first page; some of these are:

# Search Engine, friendly content.

# The website must be fast and responsive to different screen sizes.

# The images must be optimized for size and load time.

# The URL must be friendly and straightforward.

# Title Tags and Meta Description and Keywords (these are entered at the coding level or backend of the website) must be described.

# The data must be structured i.e., the head, title, body, scripts tags must be used/adequately used. (these are entered at the coding level or backend of the website).

# Breadcrumbs must be used (these are rows of links to the previous pages or other categories on the top of the webpage).

# A properly configured navigation menu must be used.

# Anchor Links and Hyperlinks must be wisely used.

# Https must be used in the URL.

# The website must have an XML Sitemap, which is a road map to all the pages. This tells the Search Engine Robots that index the site from time to time about which pages to crawl to or about the relevant pages.

Among the above steps, the most elaborate is writing SEO friendly content for a page on your website. A standard Keyword Density has to be mentioned; i.e., the number of times a keyword can appear in the description cannot be too high or low and has to be standard. The contents must be updated from time to time. The number of times a keyword should appear in italics, bold, in the paragraph must be according to the standards. There are other rules, as well. If a page is targeted for multiple keywords, these rules will apply to all the keywords.

Why is Google Paid Search Result BETTER than SEO?

It is very tough to get ‘up to the mark’ all or to be precise most of the factors required by Google to make your page rank higher; it is an elaborate process. So, many people who can spend a considerable amount of money hire professionals to get their website SEO optimized not once but again and again.

After the elaborated process of getting your website SEO optimized, your website or webpages may not even appear on the first page in Google search. This might be due to a lesser number of visits after the optimization, or the competing websites may be better configured with better SEO optimized content. It becomes more apparent when many sites are delivering the same products or services or materials as yours, whatever their quality, maybe?

Comments :: SEO is Good but it is TOO HEAVY!

Google paid search will put your ‘search result ads’ on the top depending upon the bid and budget irrespective of the SEO. It saves time and money in experimenting with SEO. If your website is based on content and articles without any direct mode of income, then you have no option but to go for SEO. But if your website serves products or services or contents as products or subscriptions, Google Paid Search Result Ads will be a better option in the initial and mid-stages and the later stages when your business has grown. You can spend, and you may go with both or continue with higher investment into the paid search ads.

© 2020,  Mage Orange Publication.

Copyright reserved with the respective authors, co-authors & contributors. All ‘Publishing Rights’ reserved with ‘Mage Orange Publication & Technologies.’

The above content is an ‘extract’ from the ‘Mage Orange Publishing & Digital Marketing Magazine 2020.’  Any part of this article cannot be published, reproduced, or copied in any form whatsoever, without the permission of the publisher.

The post Google Paid Search Result is BETTER than SEO! appeared first on Publishing | Digital Marketing.