Writing An Ebook For Amazon. What You Should Know First

This "strip away the salesy talk" about writing an ebook for Amazon comes from a well known Youtube video. In fact, it is what we have talking about on Jasonera for ages.

But, people still believe the $10k/month 1 ebook selling at $2.95 idea. These are extreme outliers that fail to give you the clear background, the 12 months for an overnight success and the main point. Having a following before selling anything.

Of course, the video is not just making yourselves aware of the pitfalls of Amazon KDP selling- it is also promoting their own (or someone else's) products. But lets not distract that from an important point, they are right.

Quick stats.

The author is Maritza who has 17k subscribers and 440 videos- with 921k views. The one shown above has 215k views, so certainly found a video that resonates with the audience.

What is know about writing an ebook for Amazon

We have no real idea of how many authors are earning a decent income from Amazon KDP. What is know is that many are making enough money to maybe go on holiday one a year or so. We have to rely on Amazon and small reports to give us a good range:

LowContentProfits (mainly looking at things like journals and planners) suggests:

• 79% made less than $100/month
• 6% made over $100/month
• 15% made more than $500/month

Amazon themselves suggest:

• Independent (self-published) authors earning US$50,000 or more in royalties via KDP rose 40% between March 2020 and March 2022.
• Mre than 2,000 of those authors have surpassed US$100,000 in royalties.
• 2019, KDP authors earned over $300 million through the Kindle Unlimited “Select” Global Fund. More than 1,000 authors had royalties of $100,000 or more in that year.

However, there are possibly 1.4-2 million authors. Following the same rough idea as Low Content Profits, hundreds to thousands of those are making $100k+. The vast majority in the $100s/ year. You just hear more news about the higher earners because its what people want to hear and drives clicks.

The 7 things that most content creators won't tell you about writing an ebook for Amazon

Maritza covers some of these in her video. There are many more, but the 7 are the most common issues that are not addresses or very strongly skipped over in videos and content online:

1. Its not enough to design a journal, planner, devotional, or puzzle book and upload it on Amazon KDP. Looks cool, everyone else is doing it but sales it does not equal.
2. Because of so many people doing this, many just throw something together and that's it. It needs to look good, be professional, be relevant. 
3. How you describe the book, which keywords you use, what subtitle and title you pick, all influence whether someone finds your book and is interested in buying it. Thats part of Amazon SEO.
4. There are a lot of books on Amazon. To stand out, you need more than just “make a product.” Brand, niche, marketing matter.Again, it is not the early years when people bought ebooks that were just Word documents. 
5. You need an audience or platform (social media, email list, etc.) You need to promote: show what problem your book solves, share stories, use your platforms to highlight your work. Every author who is successful has a list or following. Every. Single. One.
6. You need to invest in a good cover, editing and maybe some ads to kick start the sales process. It takes time. If you read people who sold $1000 worth of ebooks in one day it is because they sent a link and pre-promoted to a list/ following months before hand. 
7. Got one ebook? Make more. Every other article on this website has the undertones that more than one ebook is the key. People buy one then if related, will buy the other.

So what did Maritza do?

Sure, everything is great- we know what not to do, or at least, where we can get better. But after identifying some of the problems, what did Maritza do to start her journey to make writing an ebook on Amazon profitable?

• Having a consistent voice, theme, design across your books and social posts helps readers recognize you. If you are into cats then everything you do will be cat related- even your branding name. people have come to rely on brands but they also want to know the voice behind that brand.
• Followers can also help you. We have found loads of examples where authors have asked their followers for ideas and even input to the last sections of their ebook. Followers love the process and want to be a part of your journey- that is why they signed up to hear from you in the first place! And...they want to know what is coming, they have interest in your work. 
• Good covers matter a lot. People decide quickly based on cover whether to click or buy. They see cover, quickly text and then description.
• Sometimes, putting a book in a smaller / more specific niche category can give you better visibility. Cars will only have you fighting against large authors and publishers who want to dominate this. Vintage cars is better. Remember niche and Amazon also shows this with their category choice.
• Be a marketer sometimes. Offer free chapters, free ebooks to subscribers, countdown deals, paid ads (where it could be profitable). Even linking your ebooks within one another (making sure there are no affiliate links).
• Get reviews...
• Make sure that you use Amazon as it is intended- an accelerator of sales rather than your complete sales office. Make sure you have your own website- filter people through your own funnels and use Amazon to get additional sales. Unless signed up, KDP is not exclusive. You can use other platforms.

Thoughts on writing an ebook for Amazon

For us the main takeaways from this video are the following:

1. Align with your strengths and interests: If you love poetry, problem solving, teaching, etc., build books around that. Authenticity helps with branding.
2. Don’t expect instant massive income, especially from day one or with a single product. Be realistic; many products make small amounts at first.
3. Invest in the non-creation side: design, titles/keywords/subtitles, marketing, building an audience.
4. Use social media and other platforms strategically, not just for hype. Share what you know, connect with people who might care about what you write.

Enjoy the content creators that state $10k month with KDP. They are great fun. You can actually learn one or two nuggets of information. But initially it is difficult without the infrastructure already present.

First? Have a voice and build your audience.

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