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Publish on Amazon: Get Your Book on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback and Hardcover Versions, with Leanpub Doing All the Work

Publish on Amazon

Premium Service. Only $2499

Publish on Amazon is a premium concierge service where we do all the Amazon KDP stuff for you. It's just $2499 USD (or the equivalent in your local currency). This is a one-time fee, and it includes formatting your book so it looks good on Amazon, and publishing your book on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and Kindle formats.

Note that Publish on Amazon is also included in our amazing GlobalAuthor Max or Ultra bundles! So if you also want 31 TranslateAI translations of your book and a course created from your book with CourseAI, then you should definitely also check out our GlobalAuthor Max or Ultra bundles!

(For many Leanpub authors, GlobalAuthor Max is a much better deal than just buying Publish on Amazon alone, since it includes so much more. But if you just want Publish on Amazon, that's fine too!)

Who Is This For?

  1. This service is for authors who want their Markua or Leanpub Flavoured Markdown books published on Amazon by Leanpub, with Leanpub doing all the work.

How Long Does It Take?

  1. We will typically get this done in 14 days. Due to the nature of the service (since a couple of the steps listed below involve asking for your approval, and since Amazon has a short review process as well), we can't guarantee a specific turnaround time, but we will either get your finished product on Amazon or give you a progress update within 14 days.

Why Did We Build This?

  1. The Publish on Amazon service is the easiest way to get your Leanpub book published on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and on Kindle using Amazon KDP.
  2. You just click a button, and we do everything else. We publish your book on Amazon in print in paperback and hardcover, and as a DRM-free ebook on Amazon Kindle.
  3. Publish on Amazon can be used with any Leanpub book which is written in Markua or Leanpub Flavoured Markdown. The value is convenience.

Do I Need To Use This?

  1. No. You can use our print-ready PDF export and unbranded ebook export to put your Leanpub book on Amazon without paying us for the Publish on Amazon service. The Publish on Amazon service is an optional concierge service.
  2. Many Leanpub authors are very successful people who are just too busy to use Amazon KDP. So, with one click, they can have us just do it for them.
  3. We do the work to save you a lot of time. This includes designing the wraparound covers for paperback and hardcover, choosing the pricing, and publishing the Kindle, paperback and hardcover versions of your book on Amazon.

What Portion of the Amazon Royalties Do You Get?

  1. You earn 80% of the publisher revenue that we earn from Amazon as royalties on your book.
  2. We take 20% of the publisher revenue from Amazon, since there is an ongoing cost for us to do the accounting and payment of the publisher revenue we get from Amazon, etc. Since this expense will stretch years into the future, it doesn't make sense to only have an upfront cost for this service.
  3. In terms of the actual numbers, Amazon's publisher revenue math is a bit complicated. On some ebook sales (e.g. some of them between $2.99 and $9.99) Amazon pays up to a 70% publisher royalty rate. On other ebook sales (e.g. below $2.99 or above $9.99) it is up to 35%. We say "up to" since there are other factors which affect Amazon's royalty rates as well, such as a "delivery charge" based on the file size of the ebook. This delivery charge can be subtracted from the 70% royalty rate, and it can be 20 cents or more, so it does have an effect. Also, for print books, yes, all the publisher royalty math is more complicated, as there are more costs involved. Producing and shipping physical objects is more expensive than just sending a file to a customer.
  4. Regardless of the complexity, our deal is simple: we will pay you 80% of the money we get from Amazon for your book. We will send you royalties in USD via PayPal, or royalties in USD or a number of currencies via Wise. (Wise is a service which allows us to send you royalties in your local currency, and it has great exchange rates.)
  5. One of the benefits of the Publish on Amazon service is that we do all the Amazon stuff for you, so you don't have to think about it. If you want to think about all the Amazon stuff, then this service is not for you: that's what our print-ready PDF export and unbranded ebook exports are for!

How Do You Price the Kindle Version?

  1. We price the Kindle version the same as the minimum price of your Leanpub book at the time of publication.
  2. So, the publisher revenue on Amazon from the Kindle version will be roughly 70% for prices between $7.99 and $9.99, and roughly 35% if the price is above $9.99.
  3. Leanpub books are never cheaper than $7.99, and most Leanpub books should be priced between $14.99 and $39.99. (If your Leanpub book is priced below $14.99, we strongly encourage you to consider raising your price.)
  4. The reason we price the Kindle version the same as the Leanpub version is that we don't want your Leanpub readers to be sad if the Kindle version is cheaper. Also, we don't price the Kindle version higher than the Leanpub version, since we don't want your Kindle readers to be sad either. Also, Amazon forbids it, so even if we wanted to do it, we couldn't!

How Do You Price the Paperback and Hardcover Versions?

  1. This varies based on the length of the book and the price of the Kindle version. We want there to be a price difference between the Kindle version and the paperback and hardcover versions, but we don't want the paperback and hardcover versions to be too expensive.
  2. We also try to maximize publisher revenue, since we pay you 80% of the publisher revenue we get from Amazon. So, we try to find the price which maximizes publisher revenue, while still being a reasonable price for the paperback and hardcover versions.
  3. What this typically means is that most paperback versions are in the range of $19-$29 USD on Amazon.com, and most hardcover versions are in the range of $29-$39 USD on Amazon.com. For the other Amazon stores (.ca, .co.uk, .de, etc.), we convert the USD prices to the local currency, and then make small adjustments to make nicer looking prices. Finally, for the various Amazon stores in the EU, we currently keep all the prices the same for consistency.

What Dialects of Markdown Are Supported?

  1. Publish on Amazon works with books written in Leanpub Flavoured Markdown, Markua 0.10 or Markua 0.30.

Do You Add an Index to My Book?

  1. Only with GlobalAuthor Max or Ultra: we only add an index to your book if you get Publish on Amazon as part of a GlobalAuthor Max or Ultra bundle. When purchased standalone, Publish on Amazon does not include creating an index.

Do You Send Me Any Books?

  1. We will send you 10 free paperback copies of your book to your address anywhere in the world. (We'll email you to get your address and phone number for the Amazon delivery once you've approved the paperback proofs of your book.)

What's Included in Publish on Amazon?

  1. Leanpub will publish your book on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and Kindle formats.
  2. We will send you 10 free paperback copies of your book to your address anywhere in the world. (We'll email you to get your address and phone number for the Amazon delivery once you've approved the paperback proofs of your book.)

Why is Publish on Amazon Expensive?

  1. Publish on Amazon is for authors who really value their time. It takes time to use Amazon KDP, to make separate wraparound covers for the paperback and hardcover, to choosing prices in all the different currencies, and to get royalties from Amazon in a bunch of currencies, etc.
  2. Now, if you want to micromanage your book on Amazon KDP, we recommend you just use Amazon KDP directly. It has no upfront cost, and it's a great service. (We use it ourselves for the books which use our Publish on Amazon service.) So, if you want full control and 100% of the publisher revenue (instead of the 80% that we pay with Publish on Amazon), you can just use Amazon KDP yourself--and we even provide a button to get a print-ready PDF (for paperback and hardcover) and an unbranded ebook (for Kindle) to make this as easy as possible for you! We don't believe in lock-in at Leanpub, and we want our authors to be able to put their books on Amazon themselves as easily as possible. But even easier than making a print-ready PDF and using Amazon KDP is just checking a checkbox or clicking a button and having us do everything for you.
  3. But if you're a busy professional and you want to save time by having us to do everything for you, then Publish on Amazon is the service for you. We do all the work, and you get 80% of the publisher revenue from Amazon. We think that's a great deal.
  4. Chances are your time is better spent writing your next book, or promoting your current book, or doing expensive consulting for people, or just taking a break, than doing all the work to get and maintain your book on Amazon. So, we think it's worth it.
  5. But, again, the best way to buy Publish on Amazon is as part of a GlobalAuthor Max or Ultra bundle.

How Does It Work?

You just click a button, and Leanpub takes care of everything else.
  1. Buy the Publish on Amazon service, either with Leanpub royalties or money.
  2. Within a few days we'll email you to let you know we've started, and to get certain information from you. Examples include a higher resolution author photo for your back cover, your phone number for the delivery of the 10 paperback copies, questions about metadata, categories, and text shown on your book cover.
  3. If your book is in GitHub or Dropbox mode, we'll temporarily convert it to Plain Text Editor mode. (When we're done, we'll convert it back to whatever mode it was in before.)
  4. We'll use your existing cover for the Kindle version.
  5. If the Kindle previewer flags spelling mistakes which matter (i.e. aren't in code or URLs), we'll fix them for you.
  6. If there are minor formatting issues (e.g. text going into the margins, awkward page breaks, occasional minor Markua mistakes, etc.), we'll fix them for you.
  7. Once there are no spelling mistakes or formatting issues, we'll choose the pricing and publish the Kindle version.
  8. We'll design the wraparound covers for paperback and hardcover send you proofs of them for your approval.
  9. Once you approve the wraparound covers, we'll publish the paperback and hardcover versions.
  10. We'll email you with proofs once the paperback and hardcover versions are ready.
  11. At this point, you can either approve the proofs, or ask us to make changes.
  12. Once you've given us your final approval, we'll publish the paperback and hardcover versions.
  13. We'll email you to let you know once the paperback, hardcover and Kindle versions of your book are all live on Amazon.
  14. If your book was in GitHub or Dropbox mode when the process started, we'll convert your book back to that writing mode. If your book was in GitHub mode, we'll send you a Pull Request with our changes. If your book was in Dropbox mode, we'll put our changes in the Dropbox folder. (If you're curious, you will be able to download versions of your manuscript before and after our changes from the Manuscript Versions page, so you can easily see what we did.)
  15. We will send you 10 free paperback copies of your book to your address anywhere in the world. (We'll email you to get your address and phone number for the Amazon delivery once you've approved the paperback proofs of your book.)
  16. Once a month, typically in the first week of the month, we'll give you an update on your Amazon sales. This will either be in the form of a screenshot or spreadsheet. Note that there is a 60 day hold before any of your sales become eligible for royalty payment, so it will take a few months for you to start earning any money.
  17. Amazon typically pays royalties near the end of each month. We pay those royalties the following month. So, you will start getting the Amazon royalties the month after we get them.

How Can I Update the Book on Amazon Later?

  1. Sometimes authors (especially Leanpub authors!) want to update their books, even after they've been published on Amazon. If you have used our Publish on Amazon to get your book published on Amazon KDP, and you would like us to update the book on KDP, just let us know. We give you 3 free updates, and then updating your book costs $149 each time, since we with a larger update, the number of pages might change, and then we need to produce updated covers for the new sizes, ensure the barcodes are in the right place, and deal with the KDP UI to upload everything, etc.

Are You Affiliated With Amazon?

  1. No! We're just fans of their KDP service. It's really easy for our authors to use it themselves (we provide a print-ready PDF export to help with this process), but it's even easier for our authors to just click a button to pay Leanpub to do all the work. Hence, this service.

More Questions?

  1. Great! Email us at hello@leanpub.com, and we will be happy to answer them.
  2. However, the best thing to do might be to just try the service, since there's literally no risk...

100% Money Back Guarantee

  1. If you're not happy with the results, or if your book is not a good fit for the service, we'll fully refund your money.
  2. Yes, our 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee applies here, just like it does with all Leanpub purchases!
  3. Now, this is technically risky for us, since we will have done a bunch of manual work. But we're so confident in our services and in our authors that we're happy to offer our full money back guarantee for all our services.
  4. You can only find out how good the service is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!
  5. So, there's no reason not to try the service, is there?

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The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

Now, this is technically risky for us, since you'll have the book or course files either way. But we're so confident in our products and services, and in our authors and readers, that we're happy to offer a full money back guarantee for everything we sell.

You can only find out how good something is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!

So, there's no reason not to click the Add to Cart button, is there?

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

In fact, authors have earned over $14 million writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

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