I Turned What I Learned About Finishing a Kindle Book into a Book

I started working on Kindle publishing last year. Starting from almost no experience, I’ve now published four books.

I think Kindle publishing takes quite a bit of patience and motivation. There were plenty of times when I got fed up or stopped making progress, but as I kept going, I felt I was beginning to understand a few tricks for getting to the finish line.

This time, I collected those experiences and ideas into tips, added the story of how I finished my first book, and published the result on Kindle!

Kindle Publishing with the Expect Nothing Strategy: A Rational Mindset to Help You Actually Finish and Publish Your Book

Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read it at no additional cost. I’d be very happy if you had a browse! 📚

The Hardest Part Is Finishing the Manuscript

Search for information about Kindle publishing and you’ll find plenty.

How to make a book, how to register it, Amazon’s algorithms—there’s all sorts of advice.

That’s useful knowledge, but actually writing a book taught me something.

The truly difficult part isn’t technical.
It’s writing the manuscript all the way to the end without giving up.

And I feel there’s surprisingly little information that teaches you how to do that.

Putting the Tricks for Finishing into Words

Writing for Kindle is a long writing marathon.
I think getting to the finish is genuinely hard work.

As you write tens of thousands of Japanese characters, you get bored partway through, lose momentum, and start worrying about whether any of it is worthwhile.

Through those experiences and my own trial and error, I gradually accumulated small ideas and habits that helped me finish.

The key is to lower the various hurdles you set yourself:
don’t try to make a perfect book; perhaps it’s enough if it helps just a few people.

The phrase I chose to sum this up—and the book’s central idea—is “don’t expect too much.”

I think that mindset could help people who want to try Kindle publishing or are on the verge of giving up.

I Wanted to Share Reality, Not an Easy-Money Story

There was another major reason I wrote this book.

When researching Kindle publishing, I found so many overly glossy claims: “Easy money!” “The perfect side business!”

It’s true that anyone can give Kindle publishing a try and publish a book freely. I also think the barrier to earning something is fairly low.

But actually making a book that people read isn’t that easy. It’s steady, painstaking work, and it’s easy to give up.
Honestly, I don’t think it suits everyone.

You can spend dozens of hours working hard on a book and still earn only tens or hundreds of yen. I don’t think you should expect substantial income.

I wrote this book because I thought a realistic, grounded account like that would be more useful to readers.

What’s Inside

Here are a few excerpts from the contents.
The first half is a collection of tips; the second tells the story of my own publishing experience.

Chapter 1: Before You Start—Breaking the Spell Around Writing a Book
- Tip 1: Writing a Book Doesn’t Have to Be a Lofty Undertaking
- Tip 4: Don’t Stake Your Whole Life on One Book
- Tip 7: That Doesn’t Mean It’s Fine to Churn Out Junk
Chapter 2: Choosing What to Write—Planning a Book You Can Finish
- Tip 9: Choose a Length You Can Actually Finish
- Tip 12: Put at Least One Thing You Really Care About into It—Especially in the Age of AI
Chapter 3: Doing the Writing—Ways to Keep Going
- Tip 16: Finishing and Getting It onto the Market Comes First
- Tip 20: Motivation Goes Stale—Once You Have an Idea, Start Writing
- Tip 22: Make Full Use of AI as Your Assistant
Chapter 4: Publishing and Reaching Readers—What Comes After Writing
- Tip 28: Ebooks Can Be Updated. Get It Finished
- Tip 32: Kindle Publishing Pays Off Through Persistence
Special Section: My Kindle Publishing Experience
- The Difference Between My First Book, Which Took Nine Months, and My Second, Which Took a Month and a Half

I hope this book gives a little encouragement to anyone interested in Kindle publishing or thinking of trying it.

Thank you for reading!