Publish Your First Book And Launch Your Way to Passive Income Freedom!
I started to read this short book with the expectation that new writers will get a step-by-step guide how to format and publish their book using the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Many new writers struggle with this process, daunted by the exacting steps required by Kindle. However, I quickly came to see that Duke Archer’s objective is to advise writers to write non-fiction in order to maximize sales and royalty income, paying lip service to fiction writers and what drives them to write. I would suggest to Archer to change the title of his book, as actual publishing on Kindle is only a small addendum. Doing this will avoid misleading buyers as to the book’s objective, which will only lead to frustration as the reader discovers he/she is not getting what was purportedly offered. As I kept reading, I found many issues with the perfunctory treatment ‘Kindle Publishing’ devotes to actual publishing, and I feel a few of these issues need highlighting. I must point out that I admire Archer’s writing and presentation, which is smooth and professional.
I found Archer’s claims of 500 copies per year in sales that would generate an income of $1000 per month if a writer produced 12 short how-to books, highly optimistic, as sales depend on Amazon ranking, which in turn depends on the number of reviews the book has, a topic Archer only touches on. Even if a how-to book is initially successful, sales will quickly taper off. This does not take into account the enormous ongoing outlay in marketing and self-promotion such sales would require, something Archer does not address in any detail. Writing a how-to ebook in a niche already successful in the marketplace by adding a personal twist will only create an also-ran book, and will not generate the suggested sales volumes, as readers will not be getting anything original.
Archer does give new writers a guideline how to produce a book cover, from doing it yourself, to engaging a third party graphics designer. His book should have pointed out that creating a good cover is a specialized art and new authors should be wary doing it themselves. Also, Archer neglects to warn writers that engaging a third party can be very expensive, running to many hundreds of dollars. This expense should be taken into account when calculating the potential income break-even point.
When it comes to writing a book, Archer states a writer must stick to a schedule of around six pages per day. For an average fiction book of 360 pages, the book would be completed in two months. It is not clear whether Archer has ever written a fiction novel, as most such books take anywhere from four to six months to write, and often longer! Most writers don’t have time to write six pages every day, which immediately negates Archer’s sales and income projection.
At page 43, Archer finally addresses formatting the completed book prior to publishing on Kindle. Although superficially useful, this part is very brief on actual steps using Microsoft Word to format a book, or addressing Kindle’s formatting requirements, such as creating chapter hyperlinks. On page 55/56, Archer does include bullet points on the Kindle publishing process, but the material is of limited practical value to a new writer. Here, Archer is not providing any value-add he so highly prizes a niche book should contain. Including screen shots of various steps would have given his book that value-add. It would have been useful if Archer recommended to writers to view published how-to books for the required format (ebook and print) and the look-and-feel of such works. Additional value-add would have been a discussion on registering a copyright for a writer’s book, including benefits of obtaining an ISBN. Although Archer’s emphasis is on writing an ebook, some discussion on producing a print-on-demand book – a more exacting process – would have been valuable. After all, Kindle also provides this service,
Archer does suggest proofreading the completed book before publishing, and engaging test readers. However, most new writers, even many established ones, will not have the required self-editing skills to do a good proofread or edit, and Archer should have recommended using services of a recognized editor, then include suggestions how to find one. Again, lack of required value-add for a new writer.
The actual publishing process is covered in two skimpy paragraphs, and does not have the required detail a writer must follow to publish a book on Kindle. There is no mention when a manuscript has been uploaded to Kindle, the writer must wait until Kindle validates the manuscript and provides feedback on any detected spelling errors, which should be corrected before proceeding. An important aspect of publishing on Kindle is setting up an account, and a corresponding account on Amazon, and how the two are linked. It is disappointing that Archer has not addressed these steps in full detail, which fails the title of the book.
See this book on Amazon.
About Duke Archer
Duke Archer began his writing career with Kindle Publishing: Publish Your First Book And Launch Your Way to Passive Income Freedom!, a step-by-step guide to publishing your first eBook on Kindle. As the title suggests, Duke wanted to help his readers achieve their goals in becoming financially independent through passive income.