Here’s the latest Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing news (KDP) about the Global Fund for those enrolled in KDP select. Below that I’ve posted a few things from the KDP newsletter.

The rest of the newsletter is about other KDP authors who write fiction, one of whom I’ve read before, who has had some success. But I don’t feel the urge to promote any of them. I also know one of them self-published in several places, including Amazon, through a literary agent’s e-publishing service and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you can get a deal like that I say take advantage of it and run with it. And more power to you. But since I did self-publish alone, without anyone’s help, and I figured it all out on my own and not with a literary agent who has connections and knows her way around publishing, I don’t feel the need to promote someone who does have that advantage…and doesn’t talk about it openly in public, eh-ver. I’m on the fence about whether or not that actually is self-publishing, because these e-publishing “services” aren’t much different from small e-presses. I could start one myself if I wanted to, and I just might do it in the future.

Don’t get me wrong. Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m the first to promote authors I don’t even know, who don’t need the promotion and will probably never promote me (John Irving for one). But I do draw the line sometimes, and sneaky self-promoting authors who need to get over themselves is just about where that happens (smile). Sorry, you know I never mention names when it comes to things like this. The fact is that some authors will stop at nothing to make a buck. Why give someone who doesn’t deserve it more free promotion? I will say it’s no one who writes gay fiction, gay romance, or anything male/male romance. 

From my inbox:

Since you are currently enrolled in KDP Select, we wanted you to know the total bonus amount is increasing for the global fund. A $2.2 million bonus, over December 2012-February 2013, will be added to the regular monthly fund amount. For January, the global fund is now $1.7 million in total, up from $1.4 million. The remainder of the $2.2 million bonus amount will be paid on top of the regular fund in February.

Remember, you will earn your share of the fund amount every time your book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.

As side note, I didn’t actually know too much about the Global Fund, and I really took advantage of KDP Select because I believe in book sharing and I like to think e-books can be shared at least a litte like print books are still being shared.

And here are some of the more important things for the most recent KDP newsletter, via my inbox:

• Kindle Format 8 launched, Amazon’s next generation file format offering enhanced features.
• KDP released impressive author stats and milestones for KDP Select-enrolled titles being borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
• KDP launched in India, making books published through KDP available in the Kindle Store for India.
• Kindle Owners’ Lending Library launched in the UK, Germany, and France offering authors enrolled in KDP Select expanded reach in Europe.
• KDP launched in Brazil, Canada and Japan, helping authors publish their books in their native country and language. Check out the new KDP sites: kdp.amazon.com.br, kdp.amazon.ca, kdp.amazon.co.jp.
• KDP Select adds $1.5 Million Holiday Bonus to the global fund for authors.

Here’s a link to a few promotional tips that too long to post here. Some look interesting, though mostly boiler plate. I haven’t tried any so don’t quote me. But what doesn’t work for one might work for another.

https://www.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/blog/2012/12/27/two-not-so-typical-resolutions-for-writers

And here’s some advice from a KDP author that’s not bad.

Guy Kawasaki, tech guru and author of APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book, shares his five tips for independent authors.

1. Write for the right reasons. Writing is an art form, and a book is an end in itself—don’t write a book

Your Voice: KDP Author Guy Kawasaki

  solely because it is a means to an end. The good reasons to write a book are the desire to enrich people’s lives, to further a cause, to achieve an intellectual milestone, and to get something off your chest. The bad reasons are to make a lot of money or to increase your consulting or speaking business.

2. Build your marketing platform. The hardest part of making a book successful may be marketing, not writing, it. Unless you have a great publicist with a powerful publisher, you are the “vice president of marketing” of your book. It takes a year to build a marketing platform, so get started at the same time as you’re writing. If you wait until your book is done, it’s too late. My recommendation is to spend two hours a day writing and one hour a day on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

3. Hire a copy editor. If you’re going to self-publish your book, the worst way to try to save money is by not hiring a professional copy editor. Copyediting is a specialized and refined skill—to use a medical analogy, only a fool would self-diagnose and self-medicate in an emergency. The goal is to produce a book that is as good as, or better, than a book from a large traditional publisher. You cannot do this without a professional copy editor.

4. Test your eBook. In a perfect world, what you upload from Word and what online resellers deliver as an eBook would match. Every page, image, line break, and font would be right. This isn’t a perfect world. The bugs and glitches that can appear because of the conversion process from manuscript to eBook will shock, depress, and enrage you. You need to test your eBook on every platform that people will read it on: computer, tablet, reader, Macintosh, Windows, Android, and iOS. Don’t assume that any conversion process is 100% accurate.

5. Never give up. There are qualities that every published author shares: first, they wanted to give it all up. Second, they didn’t give it all up. Writing a book is one of the most difficult tasks in life. Fortunately, or maybe because it’s so difficult, it is also one of the most rewarding tasks in life. When you feel like you can’t type another word, can’t re-read another draft, and can’t face another rejection, remember that every author goes through these phases. It’s only the successful ones who never give up.