Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Amazon's self-publishing platform that lets authors sell ebooks directly to Kindle readers.
Where Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing comes up1 episode or test
- 1Post free chaptersEvery six to eight weeks on his site
- 2Readers check the scienceRoughly 3,000 regulars sent feedback
- 3List at 99 centsKDP minimum price, after fans asked
- 4Fans buy all at onceEven readers who'd read it free
- 5Amazon ranks itBurst of sales hit top-seller list
From Andy Weir on The Martian's KDP launch
What was said about Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Weir listed The Martian on KDP at 99 cents after fans asked. Fans asked for Kindle delivery, so Weir put the book on KDP at the 99-cent minimum. Readers who had already read it free bought it anyway, all at once, and Amazon's system pushed it onto the top-seller list.
The burst of purchases from an existing audience is what got the book noticed by Amazon's ranking, rather than any promotion on the platform.
A free serial built the audience that later drove KDP sales. Weir posted The Martian chapter by chapter on his site every six to eight weeks, telling readers the chapters were not canon and he would revise them. His roughly 3,000 regular readers sent feedback and flagged science errors, and the book then rose on Amazon as a 99 cent ebook.
Quote: "my hardcore fans were nerds and so they double check my math". The reader checks made the book more accurate before it reached KDP.
Project Hail Mary Author Reveals His Writing Process (Andy Weir Interview)
Weir put The Martian on KDP at the 99-cent minimum after fans asked for Kindle delivery. Fans who had read it free bought it anyway, all at once, and Amazon's system pushed it onto the top-seller list.
Weir listed The Martian on KDP at 99 cents after fans asked. Fans asked for Kindle delivery, so Weir put the book on KDP at the 99-cent minimum. Readers who had already read it free bought it anyway, all at once, and Amazon's system pushed it onto the top-seller list.
The burst of purchases from an existing audience is what got the book noticed by Amazon's ranking, rather than any promotion on the platform.
A free serial built the audience that later drove KDP sales. Weir posted The Martian chapter by chapter on his site every six to eight weeks, telling readers the chapters were not canon and he would revise them. His roughly 3,000 regular readers sent feedback and flagged science errors, and the book then rose on Amazon as a 99 cent ebook.
Quote: "my hardcore fans were nerds and so they double check my math". The reader checks made the book more accurate before it reached KDP.
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