Outlining
Earlier this week Howard VanEs, who I’m partnering with on our June 1-2 Self-Publishing Summit, presented a webinar, "6 Ways to Profit from Your Unfinished Book," that touched on Kindle Singles. This single concept ignited the most number of questions from our attendees, so I wanted to take an opportunity to explain what’s great about them and how they can help you build your platform and earn some money while you’re at it.
What’s a Kindle Single?
• short ebooks, 5,000 to 30,000 words
• priced between $0.99 to $4.99
• Amazon selected
• must be original content
• is NONEXCLUSIVE
On the webinar there was some conversation about whether Amazon owns the rights to your Kindle content. They do not. You are and remain the copyright holder, and, as it turns out (and this is a point of correction on my part), you can use the content in your Single and publish it in a future book. You cannot, however, submit something for a Kindle Single that has been previously published.
How is a Single different from a Kindle Ebook?
• Amazon puts marketing and promotional backing behind them
• They’re a little more prestigious
• Respected by traditional publishers because they’re vetted
• Not anyone can publish a Single—you must be accepted into the program
Traditional publishers are in fact encouraging their authors to publish Kindle Singles to get word out about their longer-format books. Many authors are choosing to publish short stories, essays, or prescriptive, issue-driven topics into Kindle Singles. Bestselling author like Anne Patchett (The Getaway Car) and Stephen King (Mile 81) have published Kindle Singles.
Why Do You Want One?
Kindle Singles do get a little extra promotional support from Amazon. You have the benefit of having been vetted, which goes a long ways for readers who are tired of sifting through content on Amazon trying to determine what’s good and bad.
But mostly you want one as a way to get content out to your readers before your book comes out. The publishing world is changing, and readers are digesting content in ever shorter pieces. Singles are the perfect length for a single-sitting read. They’re short, so they’re also easy impulse buys. If you have a work-in-progress, you can publish a Kindle Single and start to build interest for your book. Using an ebook as a teaser for a print book is a great way to get on your readers’ radar—and it looks good to publishers AND you can make a little bit of money. You get to keep 70% of your sales, which translates to about $2 on a $2.99 book. So if you sell a hundred, you can make $200. And who knows how many you’ll sell. Plus, you can take advantage of Amazon’s KDP Select program and make your book available for free for a few days, which drives additional interest and downloads.
What’s valuable here is not the couple hundred dollars, obviously. You’ll probably spend that much or more to get the book up on Amazon (mostly due to the cover expense). What’s valuable is that having an ebook means you’re a published author. It means you have a product to sell, and that you show up as an author on Amazon. With just 5,000 words, you can have your presence on Amazon, complete with your Author Central page.
Have any of you published Kindle Singles? What was your experience with doing it? I'd love to hear about it!
Great, I hope everyone will put the word out about their Singles when they come out!
Hi Brooke. This is the first I am hearing about Kindle Single. I will certainly check it out and share this valuable information with other authors on my social networks. Thank you.
I love this idea. I wrote a novel last NaNoWrimo in novel in four pieces of around 20,000 words. Four novellas that make a whole book. I had heard that people were putting out shorter pieces to help with getting their name out there. I can't wait to check this out. Thanks so much Brooke. Mary E. Merrell @MaryMerrell7 www.maryemerrell.com
Thanks @Reese. I think Kindle Singles is a good program and I do recommend it AND I don't really know what their vetting process looks like from the inside. They might not be as open to serials, or maybe they are. I say submit, and if you don't get accepted, don't get discouraged. Then you just publish a regular Kindle ebook and forgo the whole Singles thing. But yes, I do think serializing on Kindle makes a lot of sense. Good luck!
I'd heard about Kindle Singles but I didn't know much about the program. Thank you for breaking it down and helping us see the benefits. I think this would be a great way to step a toe in the water of self-publishing. Plus, I'm working on a book that a few of my critique partners and beta readers suggested that I should make a series.
Would you suggest Kindle Singles for a series (since there is a separate charge for each section) or would I have to go the Kindle Serials route to do this? And do you recommend Kindle Serials in general? Thanks, Brooke!
Great, @J.Q. Good luck with it. It's fun to be able to take advantage of KDP promotions too.
This is an exciting idea. My publishes contracts short stories and novellas too, but authors can't possibly get as much promotion as pubbing a single on amazon. I used KDP to pub my non-fiction children's book, Girls Succeed. I learned a LOT about formatting and book covers, etc. a whole new world for a writer.
I am really thinking about doing this!! Thanks!!!
@Francine, the shortest you can do for a Single is 5000 words, so you might want to do a couple of chapters. Also, any and all of you should also consider just doing regular Amazon ebooks as an alternative. There are fewer restrictions. They're not vetted by Amazon, but they are just as legit in terms of their capacity to build your platform and earn you a little money.
Great info! I omitted a whole section of the book I'm finishing to make it a better length. I intend to create a new book from that section...but now I'm thinking of releasing each of the five chapters (4500 words each) as singles. Does this make sense Brooke? Release each one consecutively, promote my new main book, and later put the five singles into a new book? OMG must clone myself to do all this!!!!
This sounds intriguing Brooke. Thanks!!
This is great, @Kathryn. Thanks for the referral to the group.
I noticed people here are talking about getting covers for $500-$1000. What! My great cover artist, Dawne Dominique [email protected] only charges $75 for an eBook cover and $150 for a print book cover (back, front and spine.) And she's fantastic. Just take a look at my book covers for samples. No one should pay 500-1000. I put out 4 short stories on Kindle and had her do covers for all 4. Didn't cost me much. I'm going to look into Singles, though. I didn't know there was an actual place for short fiction. Thank you. Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Great! Thank you Brooke!
@S. Ramos O'Briant. Clarification: "I think Amazon is a good place to publish previously published works, yes!!"
This doesn't mean Kindle Singles. Kindle Singles is a program that vets your work. You cannot submit previously published works. But you can submit previously published works to Amazon, either as an ebook (not a Single) or a print book. Amazon is THE PLACE TO SELL BOOKS, across the board. Especially for self-published authors.
@S. Ramos O'Briant. Yes, you can get a cover for $5 on fiverr.com. I think it's worth spending a few hundred dollars to get a fantastic cover. All the cover designers I know charge $500-$1000, and to me it's worth it. To someone else it might be highway robbery. We all come at this question from different perspectives.
In the article, it says you cannot submit previously published work. Yet, in the comments Brooke spoke of it being an excellent venue for previously pubbed work. Please clarify.
Why would you want a cover for what is essentially a short story? $1000 is highway robbery. I think it can be done for less on Smashwords.
KDP is separate from Singles, just FYI. I mean, you enroll in KDP to publish a Single, but you do not have to publish a Single to be in the KDP program. Singles are vetted and other Amazon books are not. That's the only difference. I don't think there's too much of a downside to publishing an Amazon ebook for the vast majority of authors. The only people who wouldn't benefit would be very established authors who are saving their content for their longer -format book. But I would love to hear from someone who has a different opinion on this.
Thanks for the questions, Miranda. For the Single, you have to consider editing costs and cover costs, and these vary depending on the editor and the cover designer. I think you can publish a Single for under $1000, probably much cheaper than that if you knew where to go. But you of course want to get a great design, and you need to be edited.
I think Amazon is a good place to publish previously published works, yes!! It's an ideal place actually because it allows the work to live on and maybe make a few bucks.
And yes, SWP will definitely consider previously published works. I think we've already published two second-edition projects.
@Jennifer, it sounds like that is the case. But it's also possible that you can turn the first three chapters of your book into a self-contained piece. It might mean that what you end up publishing later in your book is a variation on your Kindle Single, but that's okay. This happens all the time. Also, when you're submitting to Amazon, you wouldn't name what you're submitting as the first three chapters of your book. You'd have to give it a unique title, separate from your memoir.
What is the cost to publish a Kindle Single?
Also, what might be a good Amazon format to publish an edited volume of previously published works?
Finally, is SheWrites Press open to publishing collections of previously published works (edited, updated, and artfully curated, of course). Thanks.
@Stacy. Nonexclusive just means that Amazon does not own the sole right to publish your work. When you contract with a publisher it's always for exclusive rights because they understandably don't want you publishing the work elsewhere. The good news about nonexclusive is that you can use this content in another, longer work if you wanted to. It gives you options.
Well, this is timely! I was just looking at KDP last night. I'm wondering what the downsides are.
Hi Brooke! I was looking at the Kindle Singles submission guidelines and it mentions that a submission must be a "self-contained work, not chapters excerpted from a longer work." Does this mean that they wouldn't accept the first 3 chapters or so of my memoir manuscript? Total, my manuscript will be much longer, so I'm thinking that they probably wouldn't. What do you think?
Thank you!
Jennifer