How To Do KDP Book Citations The Easy Way (With Generative AI)

Utilizing AI for Citations

One of the things that has been super helpful—since this is my third book and I've done the citation process before—is using AI tools like Google Gemini or ChatGPT. It will make your life so much easier.

I'll take the quote and whatever preliminary citation information I have, and then I'll put it into Google Gemini. I tell Gemini, "Create for me a footer citation in the Chicago style." It then provides the suggested citation, which I can review and verify.

In some cases, I've had Gemini correct me. For instance, Gemini might explain that for a quote, you want to source the oldest version possible. Since AI has a vast library of information, it can reference books and potentially find that the quote actually originated years earlier than my source. It gives me the citation for that older source, and I can decide whether to use it or stick with the one I have.

This process has helped me breeze through the citations, which can be quite technical.

AI for Manuscript Review

If I wanted to build a bibliography, I could just plug my manuscript into Gemini and say, "Build me a bibliography." This would save a ton of time.

I can also have the AI run a plagiarism check to ensure none of my quotes were accidentally absorbed into my own writing or misformatted. I also use Grammarly for grammar checks in my final manuscript.

Moving and Placing Quotes

I have a few great quotes that I've placed in sections where they don't quite make sense. For those, I plan to put the manuscript into Gemini and ask, "I have this quote. Where would this be a good place to include it in my manuscript? Where can I move it to?" This will be super helpful because some of them I want to move, but I don't know where they fit best. This will help me either find a better fit or decide to remove them.

Once the manuscript is more finalized, I'll use AI to audit things, going, "Okay, am I missing anything? Is there anything I can add here to make it better?" I won't use it to write anything, but I want to use it as a proof editor to catch any blind spots or mistakes.

Self-Publishing and Proofing Process

My book will be available on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). I decided to self-publish because this project has been four years in the making, and I didn't want the pressure of a publisher's deadline. I wanted to complete the book the way it needed to be done first. It will be released in paperback (since I have too many pages for a hardcover) and digital formats. I don't have an audio version yet, but that's something I'd like to do for all my books.

When I go through the physical proof, I mark it up for things I want to move, change, or add. Once I've made the changes in the digital manuscript, I circle the page on the physical proof. This indicates that I've essentially finished that page and don't need to adjust the digital document further. A half circle means I've made some changes but need to do more, usually because I couldn't complete the desktop-required changes (like footers) on my phone.

This first proof is the hardest one. Once I get this done and make a few additions, the subsequent proofs should get smoother and easier.