The Truth About Self-Publishing Books on Amazon KDP
People will tell you it’s easy money, that’s a lie, kind of…
“5 Ways to Make Money Writing on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing” was the title of the article I read this week. It said how easy it is to make money by self-publishing books.
I thought, "this person must have found the magic sauce." You would, too, right? After all, we all want to publish and make money with our books. It's a good headline, and so I jumped into the article.
Much to my disappointment, I found five generic tips just touching the iceberg of self-publishing on Amazon KDP. Point number two was: Write a great book.
I'm typically optimistic, but this phrase is a slap in the face to anyone self-publishing on Amazon KDP. It's such a bold face embarrassment to the realities of self-publishing that it has me inspired to share three truths with you today.
I'm not particularly eager to pick other people's articles apart. Still, this person had many comments and likes, and I feel like they are setting people up for a lot of heartache and disappointment. So, I want to share some things I have learned to prepare the way for your book.
3 Truths About Self-Publishing on Amazon KDP
These are three things I learned the hard way with my four books. Mostly, they were failures from my first book, which I corrected as I published more books. So, I hope to help you shorten the learning curve so you can succeed more quickly.
No.1 - Do Your Research
Some say the only way to succeed is to write in highly profitable niches on Amazon KDP. That you can't write what you want to write about, I think if you are only in it for the money, that could be true.
However, I have seen outstanding success writing about the topics I am passionate about. The critical thing to do is research. If you aren't researching the books in your niche that are doing well, it will be hard for your book to do well.
You need to ask yourself a few questions:
What is my topic?
What are my goals for my book?
What are the best books in my niche?
What are the worst books in my space?
Who will read my book?
When you answer these questions, you are setting yourself up for success. It will help you write and craft a book that people want to read. And it will help you avoid the pitfalls of those books that aren't so good.
PRO TIP: Read the reviews of books in your niche. You will learn much about what works for readers and doesn't. This will help you get the upper hand at writing for your intended reader.
No.2 - Create A Budget
Having a budget means you are going to need to spend some money. Self-publishing on Amazon KDP requires a little money. Not to Amazon, but to make sure your book will be a success.
So many would-be authors refuse to put money into their books and self-publish to the sound of crickets or bad reviews. Then, in the end, they give up on the dream of writing books.
If you want your book to succeed, here are a few places you will need to spend:
An editor
A cover designer
A typesetter
Book promotions
Your time to write the book
If you want to self-publish books on Amazon KDP, you must put some skin in the game to succeed. Otherwise, you might as well stop before you begin.
PRO TIP: If you don't have much money, find ways to make money with your writing first. Sign up for Medium's Member Program or write on websites that will pay for your work. This is how I have funded all of my books.
No.3 - You Will Need to Write Multiple Books
How you will make money self-publish on Amazon KDP will be with more than one book. Every writer I have heard of who makes significant money there has multiple books on the platform.
This is a long game. One-hit wonders are a thing of the past. You will not make incredible amounts of money off of one book unless you have a huge following to begin with, or a miracle happens.
Instead of counting on a miracle, here are some ways to plan your journey:
Map out two to three books you could publish on the same topic.
Grow your email list ahead of time by creating content online.
Write and publish short books to help you set up your portfolio of work.
These are three things I have been doing to help me get the ball rolling on making a regular income on Amazon KDP. Each one enables you to set the stage for the long game and create a steady income with every additional book.
PRO TIP: Invite your following into your publishing journey. With the help of people you know, it will be easier to keep the inspiration and motivation for this long game. The more you publish, the more people will be excited for you.
Final Thoughts on Self-Publishing on Amazon KDP
My goal for this article wasn't to discourage you from self-publishing on Amazon KDP. However, I'm not too fond of it when people make it sound like a get-rich-quick-scheme. The truth is it's hard work, you'll need to spend some money, and it's a long game.
But, there is one more thing to remember, if you want to write a book and publish it, you can do it. Most of the time, you are closer to writing your book than you think.
Writing Books with Your Online Content
Every one of my books has started as online content. It has always started with an idea, then a series of posts, and then re-writing them into book format.
If you have 50 articles written online, you have enough content for a book. Learn more about how to do it with my book.
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith and help writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Substack!
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I spent a lot of money to put out the best book possible. If I can add one tip it would be to find a formatter on your own. I paid CreateSpace to do it and it took forever. The problem with them is there are many people working on your project, not just one person that understands your book. One person would fix something and miss the other three issues I told them about. I'd be working with someone else days later, because every small correction seemed to take that long, and they too would miss things. It was so frustrating! If you hire a freelancer they will have other projects they are working on but you will have one set of eyes on yours. Thanks for another informative post.
Great stuff! Particularly the end about repurposing existing content into an ebook.