FREE Webinar
hosted by Christian Mikkelsen
The Future of Life-changing Income with AI and Amazon
Yes, I Want to Make More Money Online NOW
Everything you need to know about self-publishing online!
As far as side hustles go, self-publishing isn't exactly brand new. The thing is, it's already generated millions of dollars in royalties, has a better track record than most side hustles on the market, and has only gotten more accessible over the past few years. There are tons of book aggregators, distributors, and publishing platforms out there for self-publishers these days, yet Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing consistently ranks at the top because it has virtually no barrier to entry and costs nothing. But is it worth it? That's the question of the day.
We know self-publishing won't be everyone's cup of tea, but hopefully, this blog post will help you make sense of everything if you've been seeing our ads and want to get a better idea of what the publishing process actually looks like.
Would you rather watch the video version instead? Skip straight to our 100% free publishing webinar to see how anyone can tap into Amazon's multi-billion-dollar market with zero writing or publishing experience! Our students have seen results like adding an extra $500 and even $10,000 a month to their income with our proven system. Click here to sign up.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, or KDP, is a platform that lets you publish and sell your books to Amazon's massive audience just by creating an Amazon account and uploading your manuscript/cover directly to the platform. It even has step-by-step prompts to guide you through the entire process.
KDP eliminates the hassle of going through traditional publishers and lets you sell paperback books and Kindle eBooks to make money. The platform allows you to do it without any upfront costs or inventory management, and you get paid by the royalty system for each and every book sale. These royalties are automatically released to you within two months of the actual book sale.
Just how big is the Kindle eBook market?
Well, according to Statista:
A fun fact is that many of these books are published under a pen name or author alias, which means you don't have to give up your anonymity to generate income online.
While we're on the topic, here's a pen name generator to play around with:
(Slight disclaimer: Be sure to double-check that a pen name hasn't already been taken if you decide you want to move forward with it. This goes for any AI generator you use online.)
These are some major reasons to consider joining the Kindle eBooks game:
As we mentioned earlier, Kindle publishing works but only for those who work it.
Here are some things you might want to consider before you decide to start your Kindle publishing business:
Anyone can turn publishing on Kindle into a solid side hustle or profitable business if they're willing to put in the work. We can't stress that enough.
But let's break the numbers down!
Business Insider and Forbes have showcased plenty of authors and publishers who are making well over six figures from their self-published books on Kindle, including this couple who make up to $17,000 a month selling their journals and coloring books.
Of course, not everyone who gets their book published is going to strike gold like they did, but making decent book sales might still be more common than you'd think.
Our Student Success Hub features the stories of couples, single parents, and college students who are all making more money with their books than they ever would if they tried to sell physical products instead.
The income from Amazon KDP varies quite a bit among indie authors and publishers, but it's pretty straightforward: Every time that your book is purchased, Amazon automatically owes you royalties that range between 35% and 70%. And they owe you these royalties in perpetuity. Yes, even if you haven't touched the book or published anything else in months (or even years).
Of course, recurring income takes work on the front end to get the flywheel turning, so you won't exactly be printing money the first day your book goes live. Still, most indie authors and publishers find that the prospect of working for themselves and eventually creating recurring income is more than worth it, especially compared to the corporate grind (that, let's face it, just isn't working for most people anymore).
The average newbie publisher might only make a few hundred dollars their first month, but publishing is one of those businesses that compounds with time.
The better you get at it and the more high-quality content you publish, the more the royalties can start stacking on top of each other to bring in recurring income.
It's nearly impossible to make six figures with a traditional publisher these days, but the same can't be said about self-publishing!
KDP offers two royalty options: 35% and 70%.
Choosing between these options will affect your profits, and you do have a choice!
The 35% royalty rate is available globally for books with a minimum list price of $0.99, whereas the 70% royalty rate has certain eligibility criteria you can find on the KDP pricing page. Keep in mind that there are no delivery fees for the 35% option, so your profit will be 35% of the listed price.
Now, we know math isn't everyone's forte, which is why the next section has a handy tool we recently released to the public for the very first time.
To estimate your earnings potential, you'll need to consider factors like your book's price, royalty rate, printing type, and projected sales.
For instance, if you sell a book at $4.99 with a 70% royalty rate, you will earn $3.49 per sale.
If you sell 100 copies, you'll make $349.
To save yourself the trouble of crunching all the numbers, you can also just head over to our Free Kindle Direct Publishing Royalty Calculator, and we'll walk you through each part of the equation to show you instantly how much you can earn from your book titles.
Apart from royalties, there are other ways to earn money with Kindle Publishing, too.
Some authors and publishers use their books as lead magnets to generate revenue from online courses, coaching, speaking engagements, and affiliate marketing (though you can definitely just stick to selling books and expand your offering with book series, book bundles, or exclusive book covers).
That's the beauty of this business model. You get to mold it however you want.
Aside from outright sales, you can also earn money through Amazon's Kindle Unlimited (KU) program.
KU is a subscription-based service where readers can access a giant library of books for a monthly fee. Authors and publishers are paid based on the number of pages read by people who have borrowed your book through the program instead of traditional book sales.
This means that even if your book isn't being directly purchased, you can still make money from KU subscribers who read your work.
Hear from three students who never thought they'd start online businesses or publish books and haven't looked back since starting!
Jamie talks about overcoming massive debt and a business failure by pivoting to publishing online with KPD:
In less than five years, Brock went on to earn over $100k from his books.
He made tons of mistakes along the way that he shares below:
Stephanie had to overcome some major challenges on her self-publishing journey, but she's been able to use that as fuel to inspire teenage girls and really make a difference with her books:
You've got two options to self-publish a book: Take on all the work yourself or outsource the parts you don't have the skills or time for.
(The majority of our students end up doing the latter.)
Writing your own books is obviously going to be much more time-intensive, but it might be your only option if your budget is really strapped.
You'll be responsible for:
If writing isn't your strong suit or you lack the time, you can opt for outsourcing the book creation instead. This involves hiring skilled ghostwriters or content creators to collaborate with you to write your books.
Even though they'll be doing most or all of the writing, you'll still be responsible for:
We'll get more into all of this later!
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) offers a ton of book categories you can explore, but there are three main types of books you can publish with your KDP account:
No content books typically include journals, diaries, or planners.
These books contain formatted pages with little to no text but serve a specific purpose for the reader.
The audience can use the loose structure provided to record their thoughts or organize their day, but ultimately, they have a lot of freedom.
Here are a few examples:
Low-content books have some content within them, but their primary focus is providing templates or frameworks for the readers to interact with.
These books encourage readers to contribute their own input, and they're especially popular in the productivity and relaxation niches.
Examples include:
High-content books are much more content-rich and text-heavy and usually contain more specialized knowledge or ideas on a specific subject.
The genre can range from fiction to non-fiction, depending on the author or publisher's intent.
Here's a tiny list of examples:
The short answer to how much it costs to publish a book on Kindle is that it's technically free. Amazon doesn't charge anything to create an Amazon account, house your books, or sell books on the KDP platform.
The longer answer is that the cost of publishing depends on how much of the work you want to DIY. Getting help with writing, editing, formatting, and designing your book in different formats (i.e., an eBook version, audio book version, paperback, and hardcover) is going to set you back anywhere from a few hundred dollars to the $1.5k-$2k range.
If you're not writing the book yourself, you'll need to hire a writer to create your manuscript.
The cost of hiring a writer varies depending on the length and complexity of your book and the writer's experience.
Generally, prices can range from $0.03 to $0.10 per word, which means a 30,000-word book could cost $900 to $3,000 on the high end.
Once your book is written and polished, you'll need to start formatting it with all the correct page breaks, line spacing, font styles, and images. You can either learn to format the book yourself or hire a professional formatter.
If you choose to outsource this task, prices can range from $100 to $1,000 depending on the complexity of the project and the formatter's experience.
You can also find affordable options such as pre-made templates and DIY formatting tools (like Reedsy).
Promoting your book is the step that makes a lot of new publishers groan, but this is how you'll reach your target audience and increase your sales. There are tons of great promotional strategies, such as paid advertising on Amazon and social media, book giveaways, email marketing, and reaching out to reviewers and influencers.
Depending on your campaign goals and tactics, the cost of your promotion efforts can range from $50 to $2,000 or more per month.
The good news is that Amazon also offers programs like KDP Select, which provide additional promotional opportunities for authors and publishers who choose to list their books on Amazon exclusively.
If publishing is just a hobby on the side, that's cool! But if you're looking to scale, you'll eventually need to make the mental switch to being a business owner running an online business.
Business owners know how to see the long-term vision and how the day-to-day will get you there with the right habits and routines. They're not afraid to invest in themselves or their business because they know that, at the end of the day, that's the only way to grow.
You definitely don't need to run out and establish an LLC right away, but it's not a bad idea somewhere down the road. In the meantime, you can publish eBooks as a sole proprietor while still having that business mentality that you're working towards the bigger picture.
Here's the rundown of bringing a book to life:
And here's how to scale your publishing business from there:
Selling his publishing business for over $120k is exactly what Ed Fahy (one of our kickass coaches) did.
Listen to his story here:
Kick off your search on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, which house ghostwriters and other creatives from all backgrounds and experience levels.
Finding the perfect ghostwriter isn't always a smooth process—Just because someone has a book written doesn't mean they're going to be the right person for the job to write your own book. If you're early on in the process and have already given them the chance to make the requested revisions and it's still not working out, sometimes it's best to just move on.
Yes, this sucks, and yes, it's going to feel like a total waste of time/money, but should it get in the way of you putting out a really great book? Heck no! Easier said than done, sure, but you're much better off channeling any frustration into things that keep your business moving forward.
Here are some more Kindle Direct Publishing quick tips:
How does KDP self-publishing compare to the traditional publishing model?
Pros of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP):
Cons of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP):
"Optimizing" might be one of the most overused words on the planet right now, but it typically has to do with SEO or "Search Engine Optimization." This basically means making sure the right results pop up when a person searches for a particular word or phrase. So, in the book world, it relates to how your book appears in the Kindle store. Is it on the first page or page 30?
Be honest: When's the last time you looked at anything past page 3 or 4 during your own searches? It doesn't happen often, right?
Think about the Kindle store as a candy store. Your readers will be faced with distractions and temptations left and right. What makes YOUR book stand out?
Here’s how to pinpoint the best keywords for Kindle Publishing:
SEO isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it deal. It requires ongoing adjustments and updates:
Knowing how to price your Kindle books can be hard for a newbie publisher. You want to make sure you're getting paid a fair amount, but you also don't want to scare your potential readers away.
Here’s how to refine your pricing strategy:
Positive customer reviews boost your book’s credibility and improve its search discoverability on Amazon.
Here's how to generate more reviews:
The easiest ways to break Amazon's terms and conditions regarding reviews are to:
A) Have close friends and family or anyone that's connected to your address leave reviews
B) Incentivize or bribe people for reviews
While platforms like Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble Press also provide competitive royalty options, Amazon KDP's real edge comes from its massive audience. With millions of Kindle users browsing daily, your chance to earn more significantly increases by publishing with KDP.
Some might want to debate this, but Amazon is on track to fully take the publishing industry's market share. Check out these Amazon KDP facts as proof!
Intellectual property rights and publishing pretty much boil down to three things:
When incorporating external content like images or quotes, keep in mind:
Canva provides a versatile toolkit for creating book designs:
Canva has grown a bit controversial over the years, and some publishers claim their books have been taken down by Amazon because of Canva's images. If this happens, you usually just need to email them proof that you are a pro user, along with a screenshot of the terms and conditions that allow you to use certain images.
Of course, if you're nervous about potential account penalties, you can also take your Canva design to a graphic designer and have them tweak it to make it truly original.
Here are some problems you might run into as a newbie publisher:
If you upload your book in the wrong format, KDP will automatically kick back an error, letting you know that your manuscript wasn't accepted. For your eBook publication, KDP accepts common formats such as Word (.doc/.docx), ePub, and Kindle Create (KPF) files.
If your file isn't in one of these formats, consider converting it using a reputable conversion tool like Reedsy! PDF is the preferred format for print books, and ePub is more common for Kindle eBooks.
Your book cover consists of the front cover, back cover, and spine, and KDP has specific requirements for dimensions and resolution.
Make sure your cover image meets these requirements:
Your book title should be unique, relevant, and follow KDP's content guidelines.
If your title is being rejected, check for the following issues:
If you've addressed these concerns and are still experiencing issues, consider reaching out to KDP support and keep following up (In our experience, sometimes you need to be persistent).
Your best-seller rank on Amazon KDP depends on various factors, such as sales, reviews, and the competition in your specific niche. The more copies you sell and the more reviews you receive, the higher your book will rank in the best-seller list. Additionally, showcasing a well-designed cover, providing an engaging book description, and targeting the appropriate keywords will improve your chances of reaching higher rankings.
Overall, your BSR is affected by things like...
The success rate of authors using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) who fail to put in the work is 0%, but that can be true of any business venture at all. Ultimately, it's always going to vary based on things like writing quality, marketing efforts, and finding the right target audience.
Some authors and publishers start crushing it in their first six months, while others may not see the results they desire. What we can tell you without a doubt is that dedication, perseverance, and a strategic approach all but guarantee success on the KDP platform.
The publishing business is all about learning...and, yes, failing too.
You can read about some of our own mistakes here in an exclusive interview featuring Rasmus Mikkelsen, one of the co-founders of Publishing.com!
Self-publishing can lead to pretty much anything you can think of—sailing the world, funding your kids' college tuition, retiring at 40. The proof is in the pudding!
By successfully establishing yourself as an author or publisher in your niche, you create opportunities for participating in live events. Event organizers often seek out experts in the field to speak at their conferences. As a publisher, you'll have a platform to showcase your knowledge, expand your network, and even sell your books.
Another potential avenue you can explore is hosting webinars. This can be an excellent way to share your expertise, grow your audience, and generate additional passive or recurring income. With webinars, you can provide valuable content to your target audience while also promoting your Kindle books.
Similar to webinars, hosting a radio show or podcast can help you reach your audience. You can use these platforms to share insights, interview industry experts, and discuss current trends in your field. Podcasts and radio shows help you connect with listeners and enhance your credibility as a publisher.
Just ask Jacob, whose books led to non-stop podcast, radio, and interview requests:
Publishing gives you the flexibility to set your own schedule and work from anywhere. This gives you the opportunity to travel more and even attend international events related to your niche. Moreover, you can use your experiences to inspire new book ideas.
This couple is set to retire in their 40s and travel the world together:
The flexibility that comes with publishing doesn't only apply to traveling. You can manage your workload, write or publish at your own pace, and control your income streams. This translates into more time for spending with your loved ones, while still growing your publishing business.
As a single mom, Carolina just wanted more time with her 3 boys, and publishing made that possible:
Most side hustles are better suited for short-term cash grabs, but that's not at all how publishing works.
We teach our students how to create long-term stability, even through recessions and iffy market conditions. Building a Kindle publishing business is a long-term commitment that can pay dividends for years to come if you approach it with integrity.
We all know a lot of people are going through some hard times right now. Companies are laying people off, the real estate market is absolutely bonkers, and AI advancements are moving crazy fast.
Publishing is an industry that requires agility and constant adaptation.
Here’s how you can maintain relevance and cater to your readers more effectively:
Part of running a stable Kindle Publishing business is balancing evergreen content with seasonal content:
Mixing these content types diversifies your portfolio and stabilizes your income stream across different periods. Read about the best time to publish in each niche here!
Here are three common misconceptions that we hear about publishing all the time:
Many people believe that to be a successful publisher, you need to have a degree in English, Journalism, or a related field. Cue the buzzer! This is simply not true!
Some of the most successful publishers don't have any formal education in writing or literature. Instead, they've honed their craft through practice, learning from others, and staying updated with industry trends.
Another misconception is that self-publishing is costly, requiring a large upfront investment.
While it's true that you need to invest some money into the process, it can be much more affordable than most people might believe.
Unlike a degree that could set you back six figures in debt, you can DIY every step of the publishing process with AI tools or outsource 90% of the work, knowing that more work and more investment upfront can lead to even greater returns in the future.
And you are always 100% in control of your budget.
The idea that self-publishing is less respected than traditional publishing is fading fast. Over the years, numerous self-published titles have become bestsellers, proving that it can be just as successful, if not even MORE successful, than traditional publishing.
If you got bit by the publishing bug after reading this blog post, all the information you need to become a publisher is already out there in this blog and out on the interwebs for you to figure it all out on your own. It's just a matter of how much time you have to make your income and schedule dreams a reality.
Amazon has tons of guides, flowcharts, tools, and help articles on pretty much any publishing topic you can imagine, including a file setup calculator, file previewer, and cover templates.
When in doubt, check out their free KDP resources!
Combing through all their online resources is going to take a hot minute, but if time is on your side, knock yourself out (and take notes).
We've already combed through every online publishing source imaginable and made all the mistakes, so you don't have to. We condensed it all in one tiny webinar, so if you're looking to skip Netflix tonight and take ONE step towards this next phase of your life, we'll see you there!
We'll show you:
