Designing for Amazon KDP / Kindle
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- Fax_Benson
I've got to put together a big industry insider-tips / guidebook type thing for release as a PDF download, Kindle and Kindle Direct Print paperback, (FML).
Anyone done part or all of this recently? Hoping I can largely use the same Indesign doc as KDP takes single pages rather than spreads, afaik.
- monospaced0
I’ve not done this, but from what you’re describing, the design priority should be screen first — PDF, kindle, etc —, with print being the secondary method of consumption. Basically, design in single pages.
- utopian2
I've worked with KDP for several clients over the years, and honestly, the process of getting a book published and approved on Amazon has been a huge hassle. Once you finally manage to get your book live, it just gets lost in the massive sea of millions of titles on their platform. If you actually want anyone to discover your book, it turns into a straight-up 'pay to play' marketing game with Amazon.
- I've heard the same but there are other people worrying about the marketing stuff - just need to get them all ready with as little ball-ache as possible.Fax_Benson
- Best of luck, and congrats on your new book!utopian
- thanks, but it's not mine - just have the job of putting it together for work. What's the main issue with getting Amazon approval?Fax_Benson
- Essentially is making sure that everything is compliant within the KDP platform, formatting, copyrights, content, etc.. If one of those is not correct...utopian
- ...KDP will reject your book, and figuring out why it's not getting accepted will melt your brain. There is little to no support from KDP in resolving issues.utopian
- Ha, greatFax_Benson
- would you bother with a separate cmyk version, or does the platform convert from rgb anyway?Fax_Benson
- skinny_puppy0
No personal experience, but if I recall correctly this book has some advice on the topic: https://guykawasaki.com/books/ap…
- Fax_Benson0
Has anyone used the Kindle Create app?
- akiersky0
It's been a few years since I've done it, but Calibre works very well to create the e-book.
https://calibre-ebook.com/It's probably a bit more manual and raw than other more modern editors, but exposes all the features and lets you convert and export to pretty much any format.