How you can make money from home writing ebooks and sell them as Kindle books on Amazon is what this post will be covering in as much detail as possible, without writing a book.
(You won’t want to miss out on the ‘golden nugget’ near the very end of this post, so keep reading)
Isn’t it most people’s dream to at least publish one book in our lifetime? Well, here is how you can do just that.
In today’s world, Amazon has become the best selling platform for quality ebooks, so please don’t fluff this post off as a pile of nonsense before reading straight through to the end. In fact, as of 2012…
Amazon selling more Kindle ebooks than print books. The UK’s biggest book retailer Amazon now sells more ebooks than hardbacks and paperbacks combined, the company has said. For every 100 print books sold through the site, Amazon said it sold 114 titles for its Kindle e-reader device.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19148146
Four Crucial Elements eBooks Need
- Cover
- Title
- Blub
- Copy Editing
According to the author of How I make $4,000 a Month selling eBooks on Amazon Kindle, Nathaniel Burns, you must make your cover, title, blurb and editing the 4 keys to your success, as you will only have one opportunity to grab a reader’s attention… especially when it comes to publishing ebooks.
Burns goes on to recommend that you hire a designer to create a very professionally designed cover, explaining that you are an author, not a designer.
As an author, you need to do your research, create a writing strategy, and a marketing plan. You will need to be prepared to hire a copy editor to review your work so that your writing will be presented without grammar and spelling errors or typos, as well as hiring a professional designer to create your book cover.
You may even give serious consideration to hiring someone to market your published works too.
As a self-publisher, it is recommended that you not skip the step of hiring professional help when and where necessary so that you will have a better opportunity to make the type of income that many writers only dream of.
After all, you really do want your books to receive rave reviews, right? Then please do not think it is a good idea to do everything by yourself.
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire and amateur. ~ a Red Adair’s quote
Ask yourself this, would YOU pay good money for your ebook if you designed your cover, copy edited your own writing and marketed your ebook all by yourself?
Probably not… right?
Go ahead ask yourself when was the last time you purchased a published item from an author that you don’t know… and, what drew your attention to their book?
Chances are it was the professionally designed cover that first grabbed your attention.
If you are proud of the book that you have written then it will need a professionally designed cover.
You could wait to hire the help you need until AFTER you have completed writing your first book. If you still insist on designing your own covers then you will run the risk of the design failure of publication standards.
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. ~ a Steve Jobs’ quote
Once your book cover has grabbed the attention of your potential reader, your title needs to convey your message so that it piques their interest.
It is important to use keywords in your book’s title so that it can be found in an internet search for the topic you are writing about. Therefore it is important for you to do a thorough search for any keyword(s) that may be used to find your book’s subject matter.
You may want to do your searching for keywords before you actually start your writing. That is how important properly researching for the keywords really is.
To help you find possible keywords for your book title, you could check out other’s book titles that are discussing the same topic as the information you want to write about. Using some of the wording of their titles to research for keywords for your book is recommended in order to create a unique, keyword rich title for your book.
NEVER ever use other author’s book or ebook titles!
Also, make sure your title is always relevant to your content so that you will not only not be deceiving your potential customers, but this will help you in preventing them from seeking a refund, or worse… leaving a negative review.
Learning how to write proper titles and subtitles really could make or break a sale of your finished work. Some authors have claimed that sometimes it is tougher to write an intriguing title than it is to write the book itself.
When writing a blurb for your book, you will need to find the perfect wording to get that potential customer to buy your book; so, be sure to ask yourself if the blurb you have selected to use would make you purchase your book if you were the customer.
Your book cover needs to grab the attention of your potential reader, your title should intrigue them, and your chosen blurb needs to make them really want to buy your book and read it. That’s why you need your blurb to be written like a brief cliffhanger, giving just enough information that your potential reader feels that they just have to know more.
Before attempting to write your own blurb, you should review the blurbs that are on the covers or jackets of other author’s books that you have enjoyed reading. Never reveal the whole story of your book in your blurb else your potential buyers who read your blurb won’t need to purchase your book.
Like learning to write titles that intrigue buyers, learning to write great blurbs will take practice.
One of the worst things that any writer can do is to do the final copy editing of their own work. Hiring a professional copy editor is truly a necessity. If you want to be perceived as a professional writer than you need to know that professional writers always hire a copy editor… some authors hire more than one.
This is the only way you will find that grammar, spelling and typos are less likely to get published. As a publisher-editor of a former national publication myself, I know all to well how quickly spelling errors can go undetected without a professional copy editor on your team.
Bad reviews received for a poorly edited book will definitely linger on the internet given that many readers may be months actually getting around to reading a book that they downloaded. You may have even fixed and replaced a bad version of you book but your previous version can definitely affect your sales for years to come due to any reviews that your book receives from those readers who have a copy of the original version.
Content is King
Now let us talk about writing the content of your book. Your stories can be anywhere from fifty thousand to eighty thousand words in length.
And yes, it IS possible for you to be able to learn how to produce a new Kindle book in a very short period of time. Though you will need to be dedicated and prepared to focus yourself by making the proper amount of time available every day, regularly.
Yes, this does mean writing even during the times you don’t really feel like writing.
Be sure to set writing goals and to reach them every day. Soon enough you will discover this becomes a habit, and writing will become easier and easier, and your turnaround time for completing your books will become shorter.
Loving what you do is the key to becoming a successful author who sells lots of books.
What is Your Target Audience?
Next, you need to know who your target audience is, as you need to know who would be interested in purchasing your Kindle books.
Once you know that then be sure you write your content though you are speaking to your target market by providing them with the information they are looking for.
This is why it is important for you to know your target audience: if no one would buy your book then there would be no point writing it, right?
Discovering your competition is as important too. By learning what information your competition is offering your target audience, you can then provide more details and information that they are not providing.
Armed with these tips, you are now ready to start writing. Following these steps will help you forgo the potential for developing writer’s block, and provide you with a focus.
Any successful book or ebook that has ever been published had a well thought out and executed marketing strategy, so you need to remember that simply writing a book is not enough. You have to let your target market know that your book is available from wherever it is being distributed from.
Marketing your book is every bit as important as writing it.
Advantages of Publishing Kindle Books
Amazon’s Kindle platform provides authors with the ability to put links in their published books, which provides you with a means of promoting your previously published books, along with mentioning your upcoming book(s).
You can even provide a link to encourage your readers to subscribe to your electronic newsletter, or add a brief passage of one of your other books at the end of each of your Kindle books.
As an author, Amazon encourages you to create an author page where you can share information about yourself with your readers.
You are allowed to add photographs, create a blog, upload video, and even create your author page as your home page. On top of all of this, Amazon also offers support from their author-trained staff to answer your questions through an email or their day-time telephone support number.
Advantages of Making Amazon Your Exclusive Selling Platform
There is also a real benefit to publishing your books exclusively on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) that you need to seriously consider.
Enrolling in KDP Select means you cannot sell your book on any other platform, including selling it in ANY store… BUT… what this does give authors is the opportunity for your books to be borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL).
From this library, Kindle owners can borrow a book to read for free without a due date, once every month and Amazon clearly states that, “Every time a unique customer reads pages in your [you the author] book for the first time, you will be eligible for royalties.”
Amazon also states the following:
A customer can read your book as many times as they like, but we will only pay you for the number of pages read the first time the customer reads them. It may take months for customers to read pages in your book, but no matter how long it takes, we’ll still pay you once it happens. This is true even if your KDP Select enrollment period has expired, and you choose not to re-enroll.
Source: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201541130
One such ebook author has stated earning $800 to $1,000 from the KOLL. Apparently, there is even free promotion days granted for every 90 days your ebook is enrolled in KDP Select. Free promotions like this can work to help increase the rank or your book in popularity.
You can even use social media platforms to “get the word out” about your newly published ebook, or even broadcast those free promo days where your book will be available for downloading for free.
Waiting until you have published more than one ebook to join KDP Select is recommended. This will allow you to use the free promo days to your advantage by allowing you to provide a direct link to your other Kindle books that your readers would then need to pay for.
There is also a benefit for getting your readers to sign up to a mailing list, as this provides you with a means of informing your previous customers about your latest book(s) being available. Though social media platforms can be beneficial, email lists are a lot more personal to use.
Creating a mailing list with a well established autoresponder company such as Aweber, is advisable… and you need to do this before you sign up for your KDP Select promotion days. This way, you can provide a link to your mailing list at the very end of your Kindle book.
Offering your readers an incentive to sign up to your mailing list is a great way to help ensure that they will sign up. Then be sure to continue offering incentives to keep them subscribed to your mailing list.
You could use incentives such as:
- an exclusive chapter from one of your current Kindle books,
- exclusive previews to your next ebook,
- the opportunity to have their name in a draw for a chance to receive a free copy of a limited edition,
- etc.
Giveaways can work well to keep your customers signed up.
Conclusion
This article is only providing you with a mere sneak peak of the reams of information available in the form of books and online courses on writing, publishing and selling your own ebooks on Amazon.
If you are serious about learning to write Kindle books, then I recommend that you take a few of these courses, and read through some of the well-known authors of books that offer information on writing, publishing, and selling ebooks on Amazon.
This will help you avoid the costly pitfalls that you could easily end up experiencing without the knowledge you would gain from these instructors and authors.
One such instructor provides a course that teaches his students to publish ebooks (that sell) in as little as 7 days, even if you cannot write, type, and failed high school English. Discover his secrets by clicking: how to write and publish an ebook (using my affiliate link).
Are you ready to make money from home writing ebooks and selling them on Amazon? Then what are you waiting for?
I do hope this article has provided you with the necessary information to help you decide if writing, publishing, and selling ebooks on Amazon is for you.
Should you have any questions, or maybe you just want to join the conversation about writing ebooks, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will be sure to provide you with a timely response.
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