SuZan Klassen

Given the current publishing market trends, many writers pursue self-publishing through Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

I recently joined their ranks via my book: Grandma Brain, Hope and Humor for the hopelessly addlepated minds of grandparents, parents, and other childcare givers.

Before I began my journey I sought insight from others who had already traveled this way. One friend stated: “Microsoft Word works great. Just don’t use bullets. It only takes 5 minutes to upload on KDP.”

One other friend complained she re-uploaded her book “at least 100 times.” She gave up on Word and bought Vellum. Since then, she’s had zero problems.

Another friend was adamantly opposed to Word. She said, “I’d rather scoop kitty litter with my bare hands than try to use Word on KDP.”

The main problem I had was finding the correct directions for my computer’s operating system. Once I found them, the process still had its frustrations, but it did work. Finally. Hurray! My eBook was up and published on Amazon before Thanksgiving. I breathed a sigh of welcome relief.

Not so fast.

An alert reader notified me of a discrepancy between my cover fonts and my title page fonts. They are supposed to be the same. I used the same font in my word document. Why wasn’t it the same in KDP?

I called the help line. The technician told me I would have to create an html file and then upload that onto KDP.

I did as I was told but html did not solve the problem. The fonts were still different between the two pages. I wondered briefly if my fonts were the problem.

The next technician said, “It looks like the platform does not support those two fonts. Make your title page into a jpeg file like your cover page. Delete your html file from KDP. Re-establish your word document and insert the jpeg image into it. Then upload it.”

This time it was correct. Thank goodness the platform allows multiple changes.

I’ve created a KDP file with all the information in it. If I have problems with the fonts again, I know what to do. I also added all the correct instructions for my computer’s operating system.

After I thanked the last technician for his help, I wished him a good evening.

He sighed deeply before stuttering, “I-I-I’ll try.”

His response made me think he was dreading his shift ahead.

No matter how difficult working with technology can be, we need to treat technicians kindly. They’re the ones we turn to for help. It’s not their fault we’re having problems.

I’m grateful that my eBook, Grandma Brain, is finally out there. Hopefully without any glitches this time. (Although, the website did tell me, the changes might not be live for 24-72 hours.) When you read it, I hope it tickles your funny bone and gives you hope.

‘Tis only a wee little book
About wee little folk,
But it feels to me
Like I’ve scaled a mountain
Called KDP.

What about you? Have you published with KDP? What insights can you share?

Tell me about your publishing experience in the comments below. Or tell me about your favorite new book.

Until next time . . . Read!
SuZan

P.S. Did you know you can download the Kindle app on your phone, computer, or tablet for free?

© 2020 SuZan Klassen, All Rights Reserved