3 Mistakes to Avoid When Self-Publishing Your Book on Amazon KDP

We all make mistakes — but with something as important as publishing your book, I’m here to help you avoid some literary landmines! Over the past seven years, I’ve published two books through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and I’ve helped dozens of clients publish their books as well.

When you’re in the trenches of self-publishing, there are rookie mistakes that are easy to make — and will hurt the credibility of your book if you fall into them.

Don’t worry — I’ve got your back! Let’s dive into the 3 mistakes to avoid when self-publishing on Amazon KDP:

Mistake #1: Not Using Amazon KDP’s Pre-Order Feature for Your Self-Published Book

My latest book Six-Figure Freelance Writer hit #1 on the New Releases bestseller list on Amazon — in part because I accepted pre-orders for a whole month before the book came out!

The way that pre-orders work on Amazon is like this:

Step One: Upload Your Cover and Book Information. You can upload your book cover, title, and blurb to Amazon KDP and start pre-orders on your e-book up to 3 months before your book’s release date. Note that you can only create pre-orders for e-books at this time: print pre-orders are only available for larger publishers as of the writing of this book.
Step Two: Finalize Your Manuscript. You don’t have to upload your interior file right away: in fact, you don’t have to have your interior file until 72 hours before your release date. Just make sure you don’t miss this deadline: if you do, Amazon will cancel all your pre-orders and refund your customers.
Step Three: Get a Boost During Your Launch Week! All of those pre-orders you’ve spent months collecting? They all count as first-week sales for your book, which helps boost you in the Amazon algorithm, and helps other readers find your book!

If you don’t do pre-orders, or don’t accept pre-orders for a long enough time period, you lose out on this turbo boost that can get you in front of more readers.

For my next book, I’ll definitely elongate the pre-order window. Instead of just one month, I’ll probably do three. I recommend my clients max out their pre-order windows as well because there isn’t a downside to it. Readers can “bookmark” your book and pay for it in advance while supporting you as an author, and it helps to build hype and excitement for your launch!

I’ve heard through the grapevine that if you reach 10,000 book sales in your first few weeks (which is a combo of pre-orders and any sales in the first weeks of your book launching) then you have a good shot at getting on fancy bestseller lists such as the NY Times, but these are very hit-or-miss and these legacy lists often don’t acknowledge self-publish books because, y’know, they are part of the corporate machine. But this is just another great reason to pump the gas on pre-orders for your book.

Mistake #2: Publishing Your Book with a Lackluster Cover Design

If you’re going to take the time to write, edit, and publish your book — make sure your cover design adds to its shelf appeal!

It’s always super disappointing to see a great book fail miserably because the author didn’t invest in a beautiful cover. I’ve skipped past books on shelves or on Amazon because the cover looked lazy, unprofessional, or just plain boring. People do judge books by their covers because we’re visual creatures, and that will never change.

Don’t let potential readers miss out on your book: hire a great book designer to help you get your book’s cover and interior layout to really shine and do your words justice.

Mistake #3: Forgetting to Order Proof Copies for Your Print Editions

If you want the widest possible audience to enjoy your book, you need to have both print formats and a Kindle/e-reader version available. Amazon KDP allows you to publish your book in hardcover, softcover, e-book, and also audiobook through Audible.

More editions also means more work: every edition of your book needs to be laid out beautifully and be error-free, and that’s where proof copies come in.

Make sure to order print editions of your book long before your launch date. I caught lots of formatting errors in my print books, and ordered multiple print copies to ensure the final book was ready to go.