Anyone tried publishing their webnovel on amazon in a book form? I know that the "Cinnamon Bun: A Wholesome LitRPG" series is on there, but I was wondering about the process, and if you did that how much time it took, and if it was worth it in general. Also, how do you split it? How many pages are optimal? Formatting? Do you have to sign away any rights to your novel? Other notes?
Yes. Look in Ai-chan's signature. Felicia's Second Life is sold on Amazon. Basically, the first thing you want to do is convert your docx into another format. You can send them as
1. Docx, though the formatting may get messed up.
2. PDF, which is a fixed book format, which means if your story type border is 400 pixels horizontal, it will remain 400 pixels horizontal no matter in which viewer you're viewing it from. Amazon doesn't like PDF because PDF has some proprietary formatting that could cause problems in Kindle.
3. Mobi, which is also a fixed book format, but Amazon likes this because it's more open source and you can't go wrong with it. Ai-chan submitted Felicia's Second Life as a .mobi
4. EPUB, there used to be a time when Amazon won't accept this because it made a mess in Kindle, but Ai-chan checked and it's now accepted. It is a variable format, which means you can zoom in, zoom out and your formatting will follow the size you prefer, instead of just focusing on one area with bigger font like mobi or pdf.
There are others, but Ai-chan never tried them. When Ai-chan sold FSL, KPF format didn't exist yet. Have a look yourself
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634390
Then, you need to register yourself to KDP program. Use your real name here. If you don't use your real name here, you could be charged with fraud, because you also need to file your tax documents here. They will also require your real name to transfer payments to your bank. So don't use nicknames or made up names. Don't give Amazon free money.
And then there's another consideration. If you don't live in the United States or your country don't have tax treaty with the USA, you will lose 30% of your earnings right away due to USA Withholding Tax. This is on top of anything Amazon charges you for using their services. What this means is, if Amazon takes 20% cut, you lose 50% the moment you earn it. Gone, poof, you can't take it back unless your country has a tax treaty with the USA, and if you do, you should've mentioned this in your tax filing before you upload the book to Amazon.
Yes, there is no workaround to that withholding tax. You WILL be charged 30% withholding tax because Amazon is registered in America. Even if you work or live in America, you will still be charged 30% withholding tax. Difference is, you get it back when you do tax returns. If you live outside the USA, there is no chance of getting it back.
As for rights, in general, you retain all rights to your own work. This means that if you want to post it on smashwords or xinxii or itunes, you can. Amazon only ask that you give Amazon the lowest pricing. If they find your book sold for lower than their price elsewhere, they will ask you to lower their price or they will take your book down. This is the standard KDP, Kindle Direct Publishing, non-exclusive and what Felicia's Second Life is on.
How much does it make? Not much, but Ai-chan still gets income now. First month it was published, Ai-chan got USD700, then the next month USD600, then it went down. Nowadays, Ai-chan only got like less than USD20 a month. Unfortunately US fucking A took much of that money.
Or you can take the Kindle Unlimited option, which is where you're paid per page read. However, this is an exclusivity contract and you are not allowed to have any other copy of that book anywhere. Not digital on the net or physical in bookstores. The rights are still yours and you can get out at any time, but if you choose this option, this is exclusivity. It pays more, but if you're a no-name nobody, it probably wouldn't matter unless you're very good.
