When I first researched the self-publishing industry, and how to self-publish a book and make money, I ended up in a spin.
Self-publishing experts seemed to expect new kids on the block, like me, to have a complete grasp of how the publishing world operated. They said – ‘Here are a quadrillion, all-singing, all-dancing products we produce on how to publish a book. This is what it costs. Now you choose what you need.
But as a fledgeling author, I had no idea what I needed, other than HELP.
You can learn how to self-publish a book and make money without getting into a spin. First learn the business of self-publishing. Embrace it, create a plan, and take these 5 steps. Learn to write well – Build an inventory – Create an author platform – Tell the public – Follow your plan.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Facing the challenge of publishing a book
While I was lying in bed, dozing, not sleeping, I thought. I’ve finished the manuscript for my first book, I’ve got others planned, and I just want to write them. How can I find the time to do that with all this publishing and marketing stuff to do?
If I don’t learn how to self-publish a book on Amazon and make money, I could spend the rest of my life in desperation, trying to sell ONE book nobody wants to read. Not only that but it could cost me a small fortune for the privilege, and I would have an attic full of wastepaper.
If you’ve had that feeling, you know what I mean. And this is the feeling you will continue to have until you accept – that’s the way it is.
You have to face it. If you don’t do the publishing and marketing stuff, you will not be a successful writer. Unless you have written a masterpiece that a big publisher spots by chance and pays you a fortune for the rights and leaves you free to do nothing but write more books.
If you believe that will happen there is no need to read any more.
How to Profit from Self-Publishing
Why not produce and self-publish your masterpiece as an ebook for free on Amazon KDP and as many other retailers as possible? Then promote it to your dwindling number of friends and contacts and get them to help you with reviews and referrals. Use social media and a blog and see how it goes.
You can forget the vanity publishers, living the life of Riley on tropical island paradises who are so keen on your upfront dollars. If you can generate enough interest and some favourable comments, you can then consider how to publish a book and produce a bunch of paperbacks later. With a little groundwork, you can at least have a product available to the world at zero cost. Marketing and promotion is still up to you, and there’s a lot to learn. But the big risk has been eliminated, and you won’t have an attic full of wastepaper.
With a haphazard approach like that, you can be sure it won’t go very well and you will get into a spin.
That’s not how to self-publish a book on Amazon and make money. But it is how many of us started, instead of where we should have.
How to Sell your Books on Amazon
Before you learn how to self-publish a book on Amazon, you should learn as much about the business as possible.
So far, I have been unable to find a definitive guide to the relatively young industry itself, so I plan to produce one. In the meantime, here is some information and a free book from Joanna Penn, who is an authority in our industry, to get you started.
Independent authors are authors who control the entire book process from writing, publication, printing, distributing, and marketing.
The author manages the process of independent publishing. He or she does everything or employs a professional to do it under instructions. It may sound daunting, and it does take time to learn, but the control and financial saving is worth it. Understanding how to self-publish a book and make money means you will be able to assess or evaluate outsourcing more effectively if or when you need to employ professionals. By then you’ll probably be one too.
Independent publishing means authors must have in-depth industry knowledge, cultivated management skills, and complete commitment to their entire publishing process.
Begin by learning how the business works and accept it will take some time. That’s all you have to lose as there are resources available to help you learn how to sell your book on Amazon for free.
Create a plan
Every business needs a plan. Author Indies are no different. You wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t serious. So, the sooner you start building your business plan the better. But keep it as simple as possible until you master each step.
Step 1 – Learn to Write Well
Are you a writer or did you just wake this morning and decide to write a book?
Practice writing every day. Emails, copywriting, blog posts, poetry, short stories, guest articles for online magazines, it doesn’t matter. In another post I wrote about the joy of writing and the more you write the easier it will become. Scrutinise everything rigorously. Every time you re-read a sentence you should be able to improve it.
I stumbled on this resource a few years after I began writing in earnest. It is Gold – nay, Platinum, and I’m giving it to you for free. I must be crazy.
Harvey Chapman sat patiently on my mouse’s tail for two years and never let me down. Thanks to Novel Writing Help, I rarely need to summon him now.
Step 2 – Build an Inventory of Books to Publish
Take heed. This is vital. A mistake many (maybe most) novices make, is to start marketing before they have anything to sell.
I know how problematic it can be. I was one of them. It was a stupid and obvious mistake when I looked back. Who in their right mind would open a grocery store with empty shelves?
Unless you intend to publish only one book, I suggest you write a minimum of three before you open a page of your marketing tutorial.
That’s it – one step at a time – you need a clear mind to put your inventory together.
Step 3 – Create Author Platforms
The same goes for building your author platforms – website, blog, social media, mailing lists and the like.
Start building an email list as soon as possible. Don’t leave it until you need it. You will regret it.
You will wonder how, but it may not be as hard as you think. Start by scraping your contacts together and use them as a starting point. This article is a good guide and here is a very important tip. Write 3 to 5 books to give away as soon as you can and create a landing page like this to collect email addresses in the process.
When you’ve got your inventory together, three plus books, then you should make an author website (here is mine), think about social media, and building a mailing list.
These are all topics I’ll be addressing in detail in other posts and publications. I don’t want you getting into a spin at this stage.
Step 4 – Tell the Public
When you have your platform set up you’ll be ready to publish, starting with Amazon KDP. It will take some time to master the biggest online retailer, so don’t consider others until you have.
Going wide at any time in your career will create a mountain of extra work. And it may never be worth the effort. So forget it for now.
Then you’ll want to grow your blog following, build a mailing list to get reviews and begin telling the public about your potential best sellers. Read in my post how blogs can boost book sales.
Then when your series or enough books are published, it will be the time to start advertising with AMS pay per click sponsored ads. But not till then.
Step 5 – Get Books into an Amazon Category Top Ten
Getting a book or multiple books into the Top Ten of an Amazon category, on the face of it seems like a great achievement.
See what it really means in my post.
Step 6 – Follow your Plan.
By now you should be on the road to success, following your plan.
Doing This will Help You Immensely
After many mis-steps, when I accepted there were no short-cuts, I studied self-publishing inside out. I read hundreds of articles, watched hundreds of Youtube videos. I ended up with a qualified list of authors and teachers. Experts in every field of self-publishing. People I could trust to provide the information I needed when I needed it. And most of it was FREE and available to everyone.
It took me a long time to find what I needed and I had to weed out a lot of junk on the way. I did it even though I knew there was no guarantee of making it, because that’s the way it is in business.
No magic dust. Just loads of hard graft, acquiring knowledge, applying commonsense, and a slice of luck.
Build a repository of valuable resources asI did. This enabled me to bootstrap most of what I do, writing and publishing novels, short stories and poetry. You will gain enormous benefit from doing this.
It Seemed like a Good Time to Start Sharing.
I read and studied as many successful authors and industry professionals as I could. While the knowledge I gained was valuable, I found many of them were doing so well they forgot what it was like to be a new and aspiring author. They had made the breakthrough too long ago and found it difficult to empathise with the strugglers.
So, it seemed better to me to share knowledge early while I was still learning at mid-level. That’s why I created Author Indie, and I
- had a plan which evolved as I implemented it.
- did what I enjoyed.
- built my blog, wrote my books, made mistakes, and improved my skills, albeit slower than I would have liked.
- learned about blogging, writing and photography, all at minimal cost.
It took time, but I wasn’t in a rush.
Final Thoughts
A word of caution. If you are in a hurry and don’t enjoy the whole experience, you may need to rethink. I enjoyed the ride, so the long wait for rewards, although frustrating at times, was not so painful.
That’s the route I took, and I am pleased with the progress. Though it has taken a long time to find my way through the brambles.
No-one can tell you specifically, how to self-publish a book and make money. Successful writing is a process of evolution. No-one can give you all the answers.
So don’t get into a spin, remember, it’s your show. And remember to check the rear-view mirror before publishing.
Why not Join Us
If you enjoyed this article, we would like to offer you two gifts – our Starter Pack of 4 James King’s books and our Weekly Digest, which you can receive by email.
Updated April 2024
It pleases me too, because it’s a very good book. But in my endless research for information, it has become obvious that until you have at least four or five books published and work like a dervish at marketing you can’t expect to make much.
One book I found helpful was”The Fine Print of SP” by Mark Levine but that was published in 2014 – sure if he has updated it. It was more for print books anyway. I ended up going with small “hybrid” publisher and have been very happy with the help they offer.
That said, after the bookstore readings and purchases from kind friends, I’ve sold not many print books. Now e-books, they are another story. I get an (admittedly tiny) royalty (mostly) from Amazon every month and this pleases me enormously, to think that someone somewhere is reading “A Place in the World.”