There are many lessons, I am sure, you can take away from the Covid-19 Pandemic from 2022 – 2021. So many people have started looking for new skill to make money. And, one of the simplest is to publish on Amazon.
Why has Amazon been so successful?
Most importantly, the buying process is frictionless. It is easier than ever before to buy from Amazon. And delivery is quick. There are options for the next day. And if you live near an Amazon warehouse, your delivery could be with you within 2 hours.
People go to Google for free information. And people go to Amazon to buy. People don’t open their Amazon app or browse the website to ‘window shop’. They have a product in mind and they go to Amazon to buy it. Think of Amazon as a search engine where everyone is there to buy something.
It is easy to sell on Amazon
The systems to sell on Amazon are very user-friendly. And it is now easier than ever to make money on Amazon. There is no cost to upload an ebook to Amazon. It is totally free.
All you need to do it upload a pdf to the Amazon platform and they will turn it into an ebook and / or a printed paperback. They have a big machine, like a large photocopier, that will print your book in minutes as soon as an order comes in. This is called POD – Print On Demand.
Create your book
An ebook is the easiest to get started. Once you have that out there, you can format your book for paperback. As long as your kindle ebook is 24 pages or more, you can offer a paperback version at a higher price.
You make so much more money publishing on Amazon that looking for a traditional publisher. Amazon takes all the money from the book sales, deduct their costs and simply pay your profits.
Topics
This is often where people get stuck, but remember you are an expert in so many things. Currently, people are making fortunes in every niche from anxiety to depression, insomnia and weight loss to baking bread, exercising using items around the house, and more.
Even if there are many books on a subject, you might think:
“Is there room for another book about….?”
The answer is YES! There is always room for another book in any niche as people always want another angle. And your angle is unique to you. Never worry that a market is saturated – it isn’t!
Length of your book
People are enjoying shorter books so your book can be thin. Some of the most successful books on Amazon take an hour or less to read.
Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard is only 26 pages, but only 14 pages of real content. This is only a few thousand words and takes about an hour to read. He has sold several million copies.
‘This is Water’ by David Foster Wallace is 135 pages from a 22 minute speak of 4,000 words. It has also been translated into any languages and been released as an audio book.
So, your book can be super-thin with your core message being one page of text on Kindle.
Outsource
Remember, you do not have to be a writer to publish a book. If you are concerned about your writing, you can outsource the writing of the content. But, don’t use Fiverr for writing. The quality is not great. You can find brilliant writers on upwork.com as well as editors and illustrators.
Find experts to outsource:
- Rewrite the text
- Add illustrations
- Research and examples
- Cover design
- Turn Word doc into Kindle format
- Formatting a kindle book into paperback
- Book promotion
There are highly qualified and talented outsourcers out there who are eager to help you.
Pen names
Thousands are making a fortune on Amazon and most use pen names.
Pen names mean you can:
- Hide your identity
- Keep your success a secret
- Publish in different niches
JK Rowling took the name Robert Galbraith from one of her personal heroes – Robert Kennedy. And the surnames from a childhood fantasy name she invented herself – Ella Galbraith. She has published many books in this name and sold millions of copies.
Even if your book is not everyone’s taste, millions will like it.
That’s what matters!
The principle of Amazon book success:
Solve:
- One problem
- For one person
- With one solution
- To read in one sitting
Keep this quote, from the 1993 movie Philadelphia in mind when you write:
“Explain this to me like I’m a two year old, okay?”
All your books need to be simply written so a 10 or 11 year old can understand it.
Make money
On Kindle Unlimited, you get paid when people buy your book AND when they read and complete the book. These pennies all add up.
You can also use your book as a lead magnet into your business and encourage your buyers to join your email list. Then of course you can sell a much higher-priced digital product or service through your email marketing.
You can work backwards with your income:
If you would like £100 extra income per month and your book sells for £12.00 you only need to sell 15 books in 30 days for that pocket money.
Rinse and repeat to publish on Amazon
4 steps to create your formula:
- Choose a niche
- Outsource what you can and need to
- Publish on Amazon
- Rinse and repeat
Imagine you can sell hundreds or thousands of ebooks and paperbacks. It’s about having a system and there is massive profit to be made on Amazon.
You can also turn your talk into a book
