How To Self Publish A Book On Amazon Using Canva ONLY! Get Your Book Published in 24 hours with this How-To Guide.

Editing, illustrating, and publishing a book through Kindle Direct Publishing has never been easier with the skillset that you can develop using Canva. I have used Canva since 2015 and have created over 3,000 creations including Paperback books, flyers, posters, business cards, and every piece of marketing material I have ever made for myself and all the corporate clients I have worked with.

You do not have to have a Microsoft Word account, or Adobe Photoshop, or Illustrator. You simply need a Canva account, a little patience, a very keen eye, and some inspiration. Your dreams of a paperback book will be a reality by the end of this article.

Let’s begin. I am going to assume that for the sake of time you are here and you know how to create a pdf document or A4 in Canva. You can create an entire kids book, education series, or novel in Canva from start to finish with some very simple steps.

Canva is free but to use tools like Resize (which you'll need to publish paperback and Ebook), Elements, Photos, and background remover you will need to upgrade to pro. If you are debating if you can afford it, can you afford to not follow your dreams for one more day?

Kindle Direct Publishing requires a book be at least 24 pages long. You’ll need to create the cover page separately unless you want it to be on the inside of the book as well.

First you will start off with the size book you want to create. Canva gives you the ability to resize the entire document after you have created something so it is alright if you start out with a A4 document, you can easily resize it at the end. You may have adjustments that need to be made but the overall headache will not be an issue. You can easily go back and resize an entire document to meet kindle printing specifications.

You must have a sense of creativity and patience when working with Canva. There is a LOT to work with. Even after 6 years I am not an expert but I have created some amazing materials over the years. You can search for elements, images, and photos but this takes time as they are not categorized. You can click on the name of the creator or designer within an element by the small 3 dots located on the side. This will bring up the index of all the art that creator has placed in Canva.

Once your text, illustrations, and design is complete, check your size needed for your book format, and resize the image. You will want to be aware of the little red lines that come up while you are designing inside Canva. These will tell you where your margins are. It is important to follow these margins because you will have to go back to your file and edit it continually until the margins are right in the KDP Previewer. Then download the image as a PDF PRINT (without crop marks and bleed). This is ideal for PAPERBACK publishing. If you are publishing a Kindle E Book, you will need to make sure the formatting stays the same when converting.

PUBLISHING WITH KDP

Make sure you check here to resize your file to fit with bleed or without bleed.

1. Download the entire book EXCEPT the cover. Create the cover in a separate file and download it as a PNG. (Cover upload and Manuscript upload format are different.)
2. You will read that you need to download Kindle Book Creator but it is not a requirement. You will be able to preview your book in the Kindle Publishing space before submitting it for approval. If it doens’t meet the KDP publishing requirements, you will get ERROR messages that you have to fix before approval.
3. Upload your manuscript! Within 72 hours you will get an email from Kindle Direct Publishing.

4. Set up Amazon Author Central. Set up your profile photo and bio. Meta Trick: Translate your bio into the languages available: Portuguese, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and French.

Here are additional resources to help you promote your book and reach more readers:

• Learn about the merchandising programs Kindle offers, including ten ways to market your book.
• Enroll your book in KDP Select, an optional program for you to reach more readers and earn more money. When you enroll your title in KDP Select, it will be included in Kindle Unlimited for customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and India and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) for customers in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Japan. You can also choose between two great promotional tools: Kindle Countdown Deals or a Free Book Promotion. To learn more, click here.

Happy Publishing!