In the past few weeks, I’ve been working hard on pulling together books to publish on the Amazon Kindle Store. I’ve been watching others having great success on the platform and I already had one book that I could publish and was already working on a second. But what really pushed me over the top to move in that direction was the question I was asked by a friend and successful Internet Marketer.
I showed him my Twitter guide and told him about what I had planned to do, which was offer the eBook on my site. He looked it over gave me some great input but then he turned to me and asked “Why aren’t you publishing it on Amazon?” I hadn’t really given it much thought prior to him asking this question. Sure I had thought about it but that would be something more I’d have to learn and then I’d be sharing the profits instead of getting 100% of the income, etc.
He further pushed me over the edge by pointing out that a lot more people come through Amazon than are going to your website. Even if conservatively, only 5 times as many people saw and purchased the book on Amazon versus my website (which I would wager is way off), I would still make a LOT more money. For example if I made 10 sales at $10 in one month from my website, that would be $100 in profit. If I made 50 sales at $4.99 in one month from Amazon, with receiving 75% of the income after profit sharing, I’d be at $187 and change. I quickly figured out that sharing a little income with Amazon wasn’t such a bad thing. Of course those numbers are just estimates and aren’t based on actual data but it helped me to better understand that I had a much better chance of selling books if I partnered with Amazon.
It’s very similar to what happened back in the 1800’s when gold was found in the west. Tens of thousands flocked to the scene to strike it rich. The Kindle platform is the next great gold rush. Lots of people are moving in that direction and looking to make it rich publishing guides and books.
I’ve been working hard to understand how the whole process works and how to truly maximize my efforts as quickly as possible. I have 2 eBooks online on the Amazon store, with my book, The Ingenious Guide To Twitter as my current flagship. So far to date, I’ve made almost $50 and it continues to look promising. I’m working on identifying the best price point to put it at and that will take some time, but I’m getting there. In the meantime, I’m working hard on book two, The Ingenious Guide To Pinterest. That’s getting close to being ready to go.
As I am writing this, it’s Cyber Monday and I found some even more encouraging news online that makes me hopeful that this move to Kindle is the smart thing to do. I came across this story today about Black Friday sales of Kindle devices in the UK. “Amazon says UK Black Friday Kindle device sales tripled previous record”. I saw a few emails from Amazon around Black Friday where they were selling their base level device for only $59. At that price point, it’s almost crazy not to buy a Kindle device. Amazon is putting a lot of effort into selling Kindles and it was revealed earlier this year, that they actually lose money with each device sold. Of course, this means that they hope to make up that loss by selling books and other media for the device. The early reports I’m seeing is that digital content and subscriptions, which include eBooks, digital music and video, are up 29% versus last year’s Black Friday. It’s just another indicator that points in this direction.
This post is more about discussing what I’m working on, where I am focusing my efforts and to open a discussion to see what you think and have to add to the conversation. Please feel free to post below your thoughts. I love to hear from my readers.
Steve Eason is a professional blogger, internet marketer and social media enthusiast located in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area. Find out more on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
 |
|
Discover tips to help you make it happen.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Steve,
Thanks for keeping us in the loop on your progress, even if it just what you are learning at the time. Much appreciated. Kind of like watching New Yankee Workshop to see how the table is being built, rather than watchg Norm say “here’s the table I built”
Not a problem. I believe that is what most people are interested in the most. Taking the factory tour and seeing how the cheese is made.
I’ve heard of people who are quitting blogging altogether to focus on Kindle books because they were having so much success and making more money. I just hope the marketplace doesn’t become saturated with garbage content and crap books. Just like anybody can have a blog, now anybody can “publish” a book.
Well I promise you, the stuff I’m listing isn’t garbage. I’m working hard on making sure it isn’t!
I recently created a book on Amazon and have had moderate success. I believe the key is not only niche selection, but writing on a topic that is popular WITHIN that niche.
I’m currently writing a series of fiction books to submit next. Figured I’d give that a try, plus I enjoy writing fiction more anyway!
That’s great. I considered doing a fiction book or two, however Matt Wolfe, who has written several ebooks, commented to me that his non-fiction makes a majority of his income. So I’ve continued on with my non-fiction books for now. I’d love to hear how that goes for you!