Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing offers authors a cure for rejection-letter fatigue

At today’s product announcement event, Amazon made a big deal about its self-publishing program, Kindle Direct Publishing, that enables up-and-coming authors to publish their works via the Kindle store with little headache.

Through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), authors can publish their books in a matter of hours for free. They also retain the copyrights to those works and can set each book to publish on their own schedule. The program allows for global distribution of KDP books, which is a big deal considering how large and important Amazon’s online media sales presence is becoming.

Another huge perk of the program? Authors receive a 70 percent royalty payment for their work. Well-established authors who are tired of dealing with the complexities of traditional publishing could likely end up coming out ahead using the KDP program. According to the company, 27 of the top 100 Kindle books are from the KDP program.

The move will provide a cure to rejection letter fatigue that even notable authors experience prior to breaking out into the public eye, according to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos during the big Amazon product event in Santa Monica, Calif. Bezos also took time to spotlight rejection letters and quotes on getting turned down from notable authors like Dr. Seuss and Kathryn Stockett.

“In the end, I received 60 rejections for my book. But letter number 61 was the one that accepted me. What if I had given up at 15? Or 40? Or even 60?” Stockett wrote of her experience breaking in.