If you desire to begin your indie author career, the best platform to self-publish your books is Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, also known as Amazon KDP. Amazon has the largest database of books and buyers, so it only makes sense to publish your books there.
As with anything, there are pros and cons. In this article, I will review 5 pros and 5 cons of publishing on Amazon KDP.
5 Pros
It’s Easy to Self-Publish Your books on KDP
You don’t need a rocket science degree to self-publish your books on KDP. With a few clicks of a button, you can have your book on Amazon without hassle.
You Have Control Over the Pricing
Unlike with traditional publishing, you control the pricing. You don’t have to go through any red tape, and you can change the price of your books whenever you feel like it. But there is a con to this, which I will explain later in this article.
Reach an Extensive Amount of Readers
Amazon is the largest bookseller in the world. They have the largest database of readers in the world. You will more than likely find a reader for your book no matter which genre you write in.
No Barrier to Entry
You don’t have to deal with publishing agents when you self-publish your book on Amazon KDP. You don’t have to have certain qualifications. There is no gatekeeping. There are no upfront fees. Just upload your book, and BOOM! You’re a self-published author!
Exceptional Customer Support
Amazon has excellent customer support. If you have any issues, you can send them a message, and they usually get back to you within 24 hours with a well-thought-out message and a resolution to your problem.
5 Cons
Lots of Competition
Since there is no barrier to entry, there is LOTS of competition. You will compete against hundreds or even thousands of authors within your genre. If you have the chops to work hard and market your book well, you will have no problems finding readers for your books. And this brings me to my next point.
You are Responsible for ALL of the Marketing
You will be responsible for promoting your book and getting the word out to people that you released a new title. Luckily, there are promo services, Amazon ads, digital advertising, social media, etc, that you can utilize to market your books. If you don’t use any of these methods, you will likely not make any sales and think the world is against you.
Amazon Collects All the Data on Your Customers
Amazon has every data point about your customer. From what books they are buying, what items and books they are browsing, where they live, what they have on their wishlist, etc. And guess what? They are NOT going to share it with you under any circumstances. And to be fair, Amazon does not owe us anything, which is ok. Just understand this going forward.
Amazon Has the Ability to Change the Royalty Rates
Amazon can change the royalty rates at their will. After all, it’s their platform you will be self-publishing books on. You might make great money in one month. But one day, they decide to lower the royalty amounts you receive, and suddenly, your revenues sink. Make sure to have other income streams coming in so that if Amazon decides to lower the royalties, it won’t sink your business overnight.
70% Royalty Rate Restriction
Your book must be priced between $2.99 and $9.99 to receive 70% royalties. You can’t price your book to whatever you want to earn 70%. You can price your book up to $200, but you’ll only receive 35% royalties.
That’s it for this article. If you have any more pros and cons to self-publishing on KDP, please feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below. Thanks for reading, and I will see you next time. Take care.