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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Article writing for the Kindle

Photo courtesy of
Danilo Rizzuti and fredigitalphotos.net
  There is a little known niche in Kindle publishing. Article writing. This is a great alternative for those authors that have a wealth of information to share and want to get paid for sharing it. Everything from travel to how to can be written and published on Amazon and Kindle as an article. These short informative articles can be as short as three thousand words, or as long as thirty thousand.

   Keep your front matter low, due the fact that it is a short article You want the reader to get a good sample of the writing style and content. Since the kindle only gives a ten percent sample in the look inside feature you need to put the writing at the fore front. Consider leaving what you would normally put at the front for the last few pages. Use only your author name, title and copy-rite for front matter, any dedication or citations for the end.

     I would also suggest clearly stating in the description that it is an article. You don't want your customer to buy it thinking it is a novel and be disappointed. Due to the fact that amazon allows returns for digital content within seven days, you want them to be well aware of what they are buying. If the return ratio tops out at 2% amazon will pull your content. Don't let that happen.

   Some of us may never be the article writing type. I couldn't write a good article if my life depended on it. But there are quite a few authors out there that could benefit from this side niche. Give a try and see if it works for you. If anything it will help you stock your digital shelves.

Until next time, happy writing and may your muse be at your side.
Dawn

5 comments:

sissysmom91096 said...

What an interesting concept. And a great way to let your readers know what is on your mind, and how your mind will analyze a subject, how the writer approaches the subject matter. Now I wonder if fledging writers will take advantage of the opportunity article writing presents. As to your "not being able to write an article" have you tried? Are there specific guidelines that say what the article needs to contain; ie subject matter?

Unknown said...

Sissy'smom, as a matter of fact I have tried article writing. I was encouraged to do so by a friend of mine. Factual writing is just not my forte. As far as subject matter guidelines, there are none. As long as it is informative and well written you have your self an article. Travel and How-to articles seem to do the best though.
As always thanks for the input, I love talking to you guys!

Jim Bronson said...

I write articles for a living, and I just sort of figured this niche out for myself by trial and error. So far it hasn't proved fruitful, but who knows what the future will bring? I only wish I had read this a few months ago! Thanks for the info, Dawn

Unknown said...

Jim, That's why I started this blog. I hope to be able to help as many people out there as I can. I have been self publishing for a while now and I want to help guide others and maybe keep them from making some of the mistakes that I have so they're journey will be a bit easier.

Shelby Irrigation said...

Very thoughhtful blog