Kindle Direct Publishing—Amazon's self-publishing service for their Kindle Store—has become increasingly popular among individual authors. And it's led to serious success for self-published individuals in some cases. It's also been the target of some head scratching and occasional invective (such as Andrew Hyde's complaints this June). We love that authors are able to sell their books on eRetailers when publishers and agents are not within reach (Vook even makes files that authors can take to KDP). But there are some downsides to KDP that have caused authors to come to Vook for eBook production and distribution. After talking to our authors and studying our own sales, we thought we'd share some of the pros and cons of KDP.

• KDP makes authors price their eBooks between $2.99 and $9.99 if they've chosen the 70% royalty option (or $0.99 and $200 with the 35% royalty option).
• With its 70% royalty option, Amazon can discount your book to stay competitive and pay you off the sale price (Vook's wholesale relationship with Amazon means they will pay off of the list price that you set).
• KDP charges a delivery fee to put an eBook on the store: in the US, it's $0.15/MB.
• KDP doesn't allow video or richer files that many authors find enhance their eBooks and increase their value.
• The eBook file created on KDP does not allow authors to sell eBooks on Barnes & Noble and Apple's iBookstore.
• The book's manuscript must be in a Word or HTML document for best results. PDFs and InDesign files might not do well in the conversion process.
• KDP conversion does not support fixed-layout eBooks.
• Rushed conversion can lead to a lot of formatting issues depending on the complexity of the layout and document type, and an author can potentially spend hours trying to correct them.

All of that said, KDP is obviously a great distribution channel. At Vook, even if you don't want to distribute through us, we can still create an eBook that will shine in KDP, setting you apart from other titles. We also give you files that you can distribute through almost all the available digital marketplaces.

Our expert VookMakers work on a platform that we built ourselves, meaning we work fast and efficiently. We quality check our clients' eBooks across all devices to make sure they're exceptional. We encourage authors to push the boundaries of eBooks with multimedia, functionality, and design. And when you do, you can distribute those titles through our accounts and not have to worry about your book being denied by certain channels.

Let Vook do the work for you. Learn more here.