Amazon continues their quest for world domination by ensuring they are our main pusher to cure our addiction to the net. First through books, music and now the blogsphere.Their latest development comes hidden in the unassuming but nevertheless popular Kindle e-reader line. The Kindle, with its always on Internet via whispersync, now does more then just let you download new books anywhere by the power of your will, it provides the capability of also always being in touch with the blogs all over the world. Now no matter where you are, you will now have the latest news on the topics you love as they are updated.
The best part about this new concept is that it is not just limited to just the big boy mainstream blogs, Kindle now supports the ability to publish extremely niche blog like mines (read three subscribers) straight to the Amazon Kindle reader. Hrmm, what an interesting concept. So me being me I decided to give the process a try and see if my little piece of neglected webspace could actually make it to the big tablet for millions and millions to download and ponder my deep philosophical thoughts.
Well then.. Let’s begin. The process itself is rather straight forward with no major gotchas (like last minute sign-up fees or mile long restrictions) encountered along the way. To get started, do a quick google search for Amazon Kindle Publishing for Blogs and sign up. The sign up process is quite simple except for one little quirk. Amazon requires you to use your regular Amazon account email but will then state you must use a different password to actually log in. The reasoning for this is not very clear besides maybe being a possible security procedure. Good luck in remembering your new password, as I found it a little frustrating to now have separate accounts for one company.
Once you have created your account you will then need to fill in general information about your blog. This process is very straight forward and requires surprisingly little information. After the required data is entered you will have the option to post cover and thumbnail pictures. I would suggest taking the time and making a cover photo that will set you apart from the rest. As of this writing I have no cover picture and no blog subscribers. I know my writing is first rate so it is definitely the lack of a glossy cover that is setting me back and keeping me a very minor player in the blogosphere.
After you submit the application, Amazon states it takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours to approve. My approval came in less the twenty-four hours though it may have been less then that as Amazon did not send me an email that I was approved. I only found out after re-logging into the site numerous times after becoming a little impatient.
Once I got set up into my Amazon Kindle Blog control panel I started to forge around noticed that there doesn’t seem to be much to do nor a place to set the price for your blog. I was really hoping to charge a exorbitant cover price and hope that some lost soul with loads of discretionary spending would be lured into paying for a ludicrous subscription just to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately Amazon had people like me in mind when they set their polices; as viewing my blog from Amazon’s website shows it as .99cents per month; which I would suspect to be the set price.
Another thing I noticed is that Amazon gives the option of a 14 day free trial against the purchase of any blog subscription. So if your blog is crap then there is a good chance that the subscription would be cancelled prior to the commit date. No monthly subscribers means no money in your coffers.
Availability to purchase a Kindle Blog subscription also looks to be limited to true Kindle devices. The blog won’t be available for purchase on devices not made my Amazon. I understand it’s a little redundant to read blogs on Kindle apps when you have a web enabled device, but that being said it would have been nice for the option to still be available.
All in all it’s another broadcast channel that any aspiring author should jump at; especially since it doesn’t require any additional expense.