Even if your newsfeed or blog is free, you can sell subscriptions automatically via Amazon’s Kindle publisher program. All you need is an RSS feed and about 30 minutes for set-up. This is a great marketing and branding tactic for established publications with large audiences or niche sites with a large blog following.

Even if your blog and newsfeed are free on your site, some readers will pay for the convenience of having those stories available on a Kindle device. And since the process should take no more than 30 minutes to set up (with a 48- to 72-hour waiting period for approval), publishing your blog or newsfeed on Kindle is a smart way to build your brand’s presence on Amazon and earn a continual but small revenue stream from your free content.

You should consider publishing your free content on Kindle if:

1. You post free written content on a daily or weekly basis. Images are also publishable, but not videos.
2. Your free blog content is informative and original.
3. You’re already publishing (or planning to publish) premium content on Kindle, such as eBooks, special reports, etc . The more items you have on Amazon, the more likely you will be able to cross-sell products.
4. You are looking to build your brand’s reputation as being a digitally-savvy, professional publication.
5. You’re open to receiving customer reviews, which, if positive, can serve as testimonials and increase your word-of-mouth appeal.
6. You are willing to publishing your content without advertising (Kindle does not support ads, although you can have them on your blog online).

You should NOT publish your free blog’s content on Kindle if:

1. The majority of your posts contain video (as of now, Kindle users cannot view video unless they have a Kindle Fire and are using a Web browser).
2. You do not publish on a regular basis (reader will be angered if they pay a subscription rate and don’t get a steady stream of content).
3. All your content is syndicated from third parties or solely promotional.
4. Your blog is part of a paid membership offering that’s priced above $0.99/month.
5. You’re looking to build a marketing email list through your blog. Amazon will NOT give you any contact information from Kindle subscribers.

This last point is critical. If you’re looking to build a list and drive people to your website, with no future plans of making premium content available via the Kindle, do not weaken your marketing strategy just to keep up with the Joneses and earn a few hundred dollars a month.

Amazon sets its pricing for any and all publishers who choose to make their blog content available on the Kindle. The monthly subscription rate can vary between $0.99 and $1.99 a month.  Of that, publishers only get a 30% cut.

So, if 1000 people are willing to pay a monthly subscription rate of $0.99 for the convenience of reading your blog on a Kindle, you’ll get $297 of the $990 generated in a month. It takes 60 days to get paid, and that’s only after you’re due a minimum of $10.

In addition, each Kindle subscriber is offered a 14-day free trial. Amazon’s terms of service for publishers states that this trial period can be extended up to 30-days, at Amazon’s discretion.

Before you begin the registration process through Amazon, make sure you have:

1. Your company’s tax ID number
2. Your bank account information* (You may want to set up a separate account for this, but you will not need a merchant account number or any of the other third-party accounts you would need for normal subscription billing.)
   *Kindle Publishing for Blogs is only available for publishers in the U.S. and U.K. Publishers can get paid by check or Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) to bank accounts; we recommend EFTs since there is an $8 charge for issuing checks.
3. An RSS feed for the content you want published (with the ability to transmit full text)
4. A screenshot of your homepage (minimum 800 x 600 pixels)
5. A banner image or logo (maximum 430 x 50 pixels)
6. Marketing copy describing your blog, including the blog’s title and tag line and the best keywords that would help potential subscribers find your blog on amazon.com. (See Marketing Your Content on Kindle below.)

Once you go through the registration process, the only “maintenance” work you will need to do is to keep posting on your blog, and perhaps some financial housekeeping. New content to your blog or newsfeed will be uploaded through the RSS feed.

1. Go to https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com and sign up for a free account. This account is separate from any Amazon or Kindle account you personally have. The account should be set up by the appropriate financial supervisor or accounts receivable person in your company who can also legally agree to Amazon’s terms of service.
2. Fill in the appropriate information (see screenshot below).
   • If you do not have an RSS feed set up already, your Webmaster can usually set one up fairly easily. Some services, like Feedburner, are free. Make sure your RSS feed is set up to transmit the entire story.
   • Even though you are not required to submit a screenshot or masthead, images always help sell a subscription, so use them.
   • Make sure the blog description section contains SEO keywords and compelling marketing copy.

   

3. You will then need to add the relevant bank account and tax ID numbers.
4. You will then be taken to a preview page that shows how your content will be displayed on Kindle devices.
5. Your subscription offering should be viewable on Amazon and available on Kindle devices within 48-72 hours.

Do not count on Kindle, or Amazon, to do any marketing for you. They are simply making your content available on the Kindle — you will have to get your readers to subscribe.

We recommend:

• Placing ads on your site, in your newsletter and announcing to your readers through social media that your free content is now available conveniently on the Kindle. Do NOT advertise directly on Amazon — the ads are likely to be expensive and have a poor ROI for most publishers.
• Asking readers and fans to submit reviews on the Amazon site. More reviews make it more likely for your publication’s name to show up in search results on Amazon.
• Creating keyword-loaded descriptions when registering your blog or newsfeed (see Step 2c above).
• Publishing premium content, like eBooks and special reports, on the Kindle, if you’re not already. Amazon’s automated suggestions to readers makes cross-selling easy for publishers, so the more you upload, the more revenue you’ll likely see.

Here are some B2C and B2B subscription sites publishing their free content through Kindle:

The New York Times makes only its Breaking News available through Kindle devices. The Kindle-formatted content is updated several times throughout the day, as the site is also updated. Note the screenshot of their content on the Kindle, which shows how color images are converted to black and white and resized.

A B2C membership site that uses the blog for additional revenue and social proof (in the Customer Review section, 14 out of 19 Amazon reviewers gave this Kindle-formatted blog five out of five stars). This blog was in the top 10 sellers for over a year on Amazon, and in the top 100 now for four years, since September 2008. However, owner Lorie Marrero told me she has received a greater number of cancellations since she’s begun posting more videos. At first she scaled back on video to keep Kindle subscribers happy, but since video has been a highly effective marketing tool for her online subscriptions, she’s now willing to let her Kindle subscriber numbers lapse a bit — especially since the Kindle Fire makes it possible for her audience to view videos on her blog through a Web browser and without a subscription.

A B2B publication that’s set up its RSS feed to distribute all free content on the site, but not premium content. Since they are not the most popular blog on Kindle, StorefrontBacktalk doesn’t solely rely on advertising through Amazon. Instead, the site has display and overlay ads on its own site, letting visitors know they can receive the content in a more “convenient” form through a Kindle device (see below).