If you are new to self-publishing on Amazon, you may be wondering how to get the word out about your new book. Thankfully, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) has an arsenal of marketing resources at your disposal. There are various marketing and promotional tools you can use to attract attention to your new book. You can read more about each marketing tool below.
KDP Select
KDP Select is a free 90-day program that was designed to help you to promote your Kindle book. When you enroll your book in the KDP Select program, you are only allowed to make the digital version of your book available exclusively on Amazon. You cannot sell it on other sites. But you can distribute your paperback book to other websites, blogs, social media, etc. While your book is enrolled in the program, you can take advantage of two of Amazon’s free price promotion tools:
- Kindle Countdown Deal
- Free Book Promotion
The Kindle Countdown Deal allows you to discount your Kindle book for a limited time. This deal is only available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. When customers visit the website, they will see both the regular price and the discounted price on your eBook’s detail page. It will also show a countdown clock and customers will be able to see how much time is left to purchase your eBook at the promotional price. Read more about Kindle Countdown Deals here.
The Free Book Promotion tool gives you a limited time to promote your Kindle book for free to readers worldwide. While your book is enrolled in KDP’s free 90-day program, you can schedule a free book promotion for up to 5 days. During the free book promotion, your customers will be able to download your Kindle book for free. Click here to read more about the Free Book Promotion.
Ad Campaign (eBook and Paperback)
You can run an ad campaign to promote your book to readers worldwide. However, take note that this marketing tool is NOT free. You will have to pay to run an Amazon ad campaign. But don’t worry. Paying for an Amazon ad doesn’t have to be expensive. You set the budget, choose your target audience, and how long you want the ad to run. You only pay when a customer clicks on your ad. You can also choose to advertise your book in multiple marketplaces. Click here to learn more about advertising your book with Amazon Ads.
A+ Content (eBook and Paperback)
This is a new promotional tool offered by KDP that allows you to add images, comparison charts, and text to your book’s detail page to provide customers with more information about your book. You can only add A+ content to your book’s detail page after it has been published. The A+ content will appear in a section on your book’s detail page entitled ‘From the Publisher’. You can find out more about A+ Content here.
KDP Select Global Fund
Every month, Amazon announces the KDP Select Global Fund amount to its authors either by email or in the community forum. You get paid a share from the fund when customers read a number of pages of your book for the first time. This happens when a customer borrows your book through the Kindle Unlimited program. Amazon keeps track of the number of pages customers read for the first time by using the Kindle Edition Normalised Page Count (KENPC).
- Kindle Unlimited
- Kindle Edition Normalised Page Count (KENPC)
Kindle Unlimited is a paid subscription program in which readers can subscribe to read as many eBooks as they want and can keep them as long as they want to. Customers pay a monthly subscription fee and they can download and read eBooks enrolled in the KDP Select program. Your eBooks are automatically included in Kindle Unlimited as soon as they are enrolled in KDP Select. Click here to read more about Kindle Unlimited.
Kindle Edition Normalised Page Count (KENPC) was developed by Amazon to measure the number of pages of each eBook that Kindle Unlimited customers have read for the first time. KENPC applies to all eBooks enrolled in the KDP Select program. Click here to read more about KENPC.
Author Central
This is one of the marketing tools you should use as soon as you publish your first book on Amazon. Author Central is where you can create an author page to share information about yourself and your books. It allows you to add your books, images, and videos to your author page. You can also include your blog feed (for the US only) and add your author bio in different languages. Read more about Author Central here.
Nominate Your eBooks
Amazon has introduced a new marketing tool for writers called Nominate Your eBooks. Amazon allows you to nominate your eBooks to be included in two promotional programs:
- Kindle Deals
- Prime Reading
Kindle Deals is similar to the Kindle Countdown Deal. Customers have a limited time to purchase your eBook at a discounted price. Kindle Deals can last from one day to several weeks. On your book’s detail page, customers will be able to see the discounted price and the regular price of your eBook.
The Prime Reading program lets you promote your eBook by getting it in front of Amazon’s most committed readers. Customers subscribed to Prime Reading can read as many books as they want at no additional cost. Take note that your eBook must be enrolled in KDP Select to qualify for the Prime Reading promotional program. Learn more about nominating your eBooks, Kindle Deals, and Prime Reading here.
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