This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you buy through my link, at no extra cost to you.
Amazon lets anyone put a book on Kindle for free, and the whole setup happens on one website called Kindle Direct Publishing, or KDP for short.
The upload itself is simple. Near the end, though, comes a small text box under your cover that deserves far more time than most people give it.
You sign in to KDP with an ordinary Amazon account, and it costs nothing to publish.
The setup goes much faster when you have these ready first:
The name on the cover doesn't have to be your real one.
KDP lets you publish under a pen name, and lots of romance authors do.
Lindsay Lake, the romance author whose program I come back to further down, has worked as a contract writer, publishing books under different pen names.
The first screen asks for the language, title, subtitle if you want one, author name and description.
There's also a place for a series name and a book number.
If you plan more than one book set in the same world or with the same family of characters, fill it in.
Amazon then links the books together, so a reader who finishes book one can find book two straight away.
Romance readers love a series, and Lindsay's own novel Private Seduction is part of her Hideaway of Desires series.
Lower down the same page you choose your categories and keywords. These decide which shoppers see your book when they browse or search.
Romance is a big shelf with lots of smaller shelves inside it, such as historical romance, romantic suspense and small-town romance.
Pick the categories that match the book you actually wrote, even if a busier one looks tempting.
Keywords work like the words a reader types into the Amazon search box. Think like a reader looking for her next book late at night.
She might type "second chance romance" or "small town romance with a single dad".
Use phrases that describe your story's tropes, setting and mood.
Amazon's rules don't allow keywords that mislead shoppers, such as other authors' names, so keep every phrase true to your book.
The second screen is where you upload your manuscript file and your cover.
If formatting worries you, Amazon has a free program called Kindle Create that turns a Word file into a tidy e-book.
Then open the online previewer to see your book on e-readers, tablets and phones.
Flip through every chapter, because a stray page break or a missing scene marker looks much worse on a small screen.
If you also make a paperback, KDP lets you order printed proof copies before the book goes on sale.
Opening that box and holding your own novel for the first time is a moment writers don't forget.
The last screen covers pricing.
You choose where in the world to sell, pick a royalty option and set your list price, and KDP shows you what you'd receive per sale as you go.
You'll also be asked about KDP Select, which is optional.
While your e-book is enrolled, you sell it only through Amazon, and in return readers who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited can read it as part of their subscription.
Think about where your readers like to buy their books before you decide.
When you press publish, Amazon reviews the book before it goes live, which usually takes a few days.
On Kindle, that small text box is your book description. It does the job of the blurb on the back of a paperback, and shoppers see it right below your cover and price.
Lindsay asks a simple question in her sales letter: what do you write on the back of your book?
She calls it often overlooked, and says that for many browsers it's "the single biggest reason that they buy a novel".
A romance blurb that pulls readers in does a lot in a small space.
It introduces the heroine and what she wants, brings in the person who turns her plans upside down, and ends on the question of whether they can make it work.
Leave the ending out, because the reader's curiosity is the whole reason she'll click.
Let the trope and the heat level show early as well, so the right reader can tell straight away that this book is for her.
Write five versions and read each one out loud. Use the one that makes you want to read the book yourself.
Romance is Lindsay's own genre and her personal favourite.
Her program, The Hurricane Method, covers writing a novel from the first idea to the final climax, and then publishing it.
The program includes what she calls a Blurb Generator, which she says will make your novel stand out on the shelf.
It also has her Publishing Power Pack, which she calls a closely guarded secret and critical to your success as a novelist.
Two of its four bonuses suit romance authors heading for Kindle.
One is a report called How To Make Money On Kindle Self Publishing, which she says also covers how to market your book.
The other, Sensual Storytelling, is about how to plan and "dial up" the passion and romance in your writing.
Lindsay says she wrote her own first novel in 14 days and that it reached the charts ten weeks later.
She adds that how fast anyone writes comes down to their goals and their genre, and that a book like Harry Potter takes a lot longer than a romance.
You can read her whole story in Lindsay Lake's sales letter.
The program is $47, one payment, with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Before you fill in that last little box, see everything in the package on her page, whether your romance is ready for Kindle or still half written.