Make money on Kindle with 1 book??

34 replies
I plan on writing an ebook and put it on Kindle for 99 cents

Is it possible to make a ton of money from just 1 ebook for 99 cents??


Thanks
#book #kindle #make #money
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Sure, anything is possible but you need a plan. Are you building a brand for yourself as an author? Do you plan on getting some media for your book? Will the book be in a hot market and is it written very well? What do you consider "a ton of money"?

    Amazon won't be a place you can just put something up and sell like crazy. You will have to write an excellent book in a popular topic and then work hard branding and promoting yourself and your book. Some people think people like Amanda Hocking were basically overnight millionaires with the Kindle but that's not true. She built a following on her blog and social media and did blog posts twice a week for over two years before her books even took off on the Kindle.

    The good news is, it can definitely be done but it does take some work.

    I will say it's pretty easy for skilled writers to make $50-$100 per month on the Kindle very quickly.
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    • Profile picture of the author hobokook
      Thanks Paul,

      I plan on making the book super high quality. The book will be in the fitness niche and as far as I can tell there's absolutely no competition for the subject I'm about to write on.

      I already have a blog, facebook page, and twitter following so I plan on selling it to them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ted Jandee
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    • Profile picture of the author Josh880
      Why not write more than one???

      You can write one book and release several follow ups.

      People can easily become your loyal fans and you can make more money.

      But Kindle is a great platform and it's growing everyday.

      Definitely money to be made with Kindle.
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      • Profile picture of the author Lucy Writes
        I've got two original books on Kindle that are earning me about $60 a month (together) in royalties, and I'm selling each one for 99 cents. I'm selling quite a large number of each book each week, so even with Amazon's cut, it does add up to a nice monthly royalty.

        I'm working on more books now, as I see the potential to scale it up to really nice financial levels. The key is having a good quality book that offers something readers are interested in, is written well, and over-delivers, while selling it for a good, reasonable, even lower-than-it's-worth price, and having a good author bio page so people can read more about you.
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        • Profile picture of the author megaquests
          Originally Posted by Lucy Writes View Post

          having a good author bio page so people can read more about you.
          thanks Lucy, i've gone some books in the pipeline and looking forward to finally publishing on kindle.. thanks for sharing your experiences... with the author bio page... are you talking about authorcentral or on a blog etc or both?
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  • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
    Why would you only plan on one book? If you are shooting for high quality, make it a series of some kind...surely there will be new things on your fitness niche, or you could write on something related. Perhaps make separate titles on fixing different body parts with the exercise?

    You will need to do a lot of marketing yourself, create a blog, promote it and the book among dozens and dozens of other things. I see you haven't joined the War Room yet, besides a lot of good information on this forum, there's tons more in the War Room. Kindle isn't magic, even if you write a great book, it takes promotion.
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Originally Posted by AprilCT View Post

      Why would you only plan on one book? If you are shooting for high quality, make it a series of some kind...
      It doesn't mean to say that the OP is stopping at one book - only starting.

      "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".


      Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author aizaku
    Kindle this and kindle that. Im hearing so much about it on wf.

    Is there anybody you recommend that i should follow?

    Id like to learn more.
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    • Profile picture of the author MP80
      Originally Posted by aizaku View Post

      Kindle this and kindle that. Im hearing so much about it on wf.

      Is there anybody you recommend that i should follow?

      Id like to learn more.
      Yes, I highly recommend Dennis Becker's Kindle Case Study ($37)
      and Shola's Skype Mastermind (Free).

      I am involved in both right now.

      Also, Paul Coleman has a free WSO (Kindle Revolutions) available in the WarRoom... it's worth getting on his mailing list as well, since he lives and breathes this stuff

      Originally Posted by hobokook View Post

      I plan on writing an ebook and put it on Kindle for 99 cents

      Is it possible to make a ton of money from just 1 ebook for 99 cents??

      Thanks
      To the OP... Yes, it is possible, and here is a guy that did it: Self publishing writer becomes million seller - Telegraph
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      Before you do ANYTHING else in your day - do at least ONE thing that brings money into your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author BrianTerr
    Originally Posted by hobokook View Post

    I plan on writing an ebook and put it on Kindle for 99 cents

    Is it possible to make a ton of money from just 1 ebook for 99 cents??


    Thanks
    On Amazon Kindle Store $0.99 cents books pay a $0.35 cent royalty for every unit sold.

    To make $350.00 a week you need to sell 1000 books per week @ $0.99

    If your book was priced at $2.99 you would get a royalty of about $2.05 per book.

    To make $350.00 a week you would need to sell 171 units at $2.99 per book.

    I know which one I'd prefer.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by BrianTerr View Post

      To make $350.00 a week you need to sell 1000 books per week @ $0.99

      If your book was priced at $2.99 you would get a royalty of about $2.05 per book.

      To make $350.00 a week you would need to sell 171 units at $2.99 per book.

      I know which one I'd prefer.
      I know which I'd prefer, too.

      I used to look at it that way, Brian, until I read Kindle superstar author John Locke's detailed explanations of why he can make far more money selling his books for $0.99 than at $2.99 (having tried both).

      The royalty difference between a higher percentage of $2.99 and a lower percentage of $0.99 is considerable, but apparently the difference in potential numbers of sales, for various reasons, isn't just "considerable": it's absolutely astronomical.

      It struck me that comparing the "raw figures" without allowing for that factor is perhaps a little like deducing that you can earn far more from ClickBank than from Amazon, as an affiliate, just because the commission percentages are so much higher, without also looking at the conversion-rates.
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      • Profile picture of the author megaquests
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        It struck me that comparing the "raw figures" without allowing for that factor is perhaps a little like deducing that you can earn far more from ClickBank than from Amazon, as an affiliate, just because the commission percentages are so much higher, without also looking at the conversion-rates.
        Good analogy!! i've heard Jonny Andrew talk a lot about John Locke... where did you hear, read his story? i think it's a good point.. with websites we are taught to split test rather than makes assumptions.. makes sense to do the same here..
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      • Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I know which I'd prefer, too.

        I used to look at it that way, Brian, until I read Kindle superstar author John Locke's detailed explanations of why he can make far more money selling his books for $0.99 than at $2.99 (having tried both).

        The royalty difference between a higher percentage of $2.99 and a lower percentage of $0.99 are considerable, but apparently the difference in potential numbers of sales, for various reasons, isn't just "considerable": it's absolutely astronomical.

        It struck me that comparing the "raw figures" without allowing for that factor is perhaps a little like deducing that you can earn far more from ClickBank than from Amazon, as an affiliate, just because the commission percentages are so much higher, without also looking at the conversion-rates.
        I'm closing in on 30 titles on Kindle and I have tested both at the .99 cent and the 2.99 price point and have had a significantly higher and consistently growing income at the 2.99 price point.

        The key to remember is that it's truly niche dependent.

        Take Erotica for example...

        I can pump out 2 short stories every week and people are perfectly fine paying 2.99 for these short 3,000 word stories... whereas in another niche this price point may be too high for the markets acceptance... at least in majority.

        I put my first title up about 6 months ago and for the first 3 months I had every title priced at .99 cents. Changing price point again, I immediately doubled my income on nearly every title.

        The perceived value definitely changes from niche to niche.
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        • Profile picture of the author jwiggens
          Originally Posted by Esartee4 View Post

          I'm closing in on 30 titles on Kindle and I have tested both at the .99 cent and the 2.99 price point and have had a significantly higher and consistently growing income at the 2.99 price point.

          The key to remember is that it's truly niche dependent.

          Take Erotica for example...

          I can pump out 2 short stories every week and people are perfectly fine paying 2.99 for these short 3,000 word stories... whereas in another niche this price point may be too high for the markets acceptance... at least in majority.

          I put my first title up about 6 months ago and for the first 3 months I had every title priced at .99 cents. Changing price point again, I immediately doubled my income on nearly every title.

          The perceived value definitely changes from niche to niche.
          That's a really good point. I've also found that certain niches are more responsive to the .99 cent price point while others respond to 2.99 just as well (or in some cases better).

          One thing I've found extremely valuable on the Kindle publishing platform is the ease of testing. Changing prices, description and even covers to test response is very easy and can often mean the difference between a book languishing in obscurity and one that makes an appearance higher up in search results.
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          • Profile picture of the author megaquests
            Originally Posted by jwiggens View Post

            One thing I've found extremely valuable on the Kindle publishing platform is the ease of testing. Changing prices, description and even covers to test response is very easy and can often mean the difference between a book languishing in obscurity and one that makes an appearance higher up in search results.
            Is there any way to actually split text and compare stats?
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            • Profile picture of the author jwiggens
              Originally Posted by megaquests View Post

              Is there any way to actually split text and compare stats?
              I just do it manually myself which is admittedly not the most efficient way but it works. I will usually only test one element at a time (A/B test) and let each test run for a set period.

              The main 3 things I'm constantly testing are 1) book cover 2) title with sub-description and 3) price point.

              As it's a manual process I only do this for a book that I'm wanting to see perform better and once it's bringing in regular sales I'll generally move on to trying to improve any of my other titles that could use some help.
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              • Profile picture of the author megaquests
                Originally Posted by jwiggens View Post

                The main 3 things I'm constantly testing are 1) book cover 2) title with sub-description and 3) price point.

                As it's a manual process I only do this for a book that I'm wanting to see perform better and once it's bringing in regular sales I'll generally move on to trying to improve any of my other titles that could use some help.
                Cool.. thanks.. like you i guess there's no choice other than to do it manually unless amazon introduce split testing functionality which they are not really going to do because it could confuse their customers.. so much as we love to automate things, i guess manual is as good as it gets : ))
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  • Profile picture of the author martworld
    Yes, its quite possible but requires hard work and dedication.
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    • Profile picture of the author ILOVEFELIXTHECAT
      I believe the minimum is $2.99

      Professor Beetoven's First Adventure The Pacific Ocean Did Great its First Year selling for just $4.99

      You may want to sell it for more.
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  • Profile picture of the author kvnkane
    yes, it is. test various pricing points out
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketingChad
    TEST! Don't sell yourself short! If your content is good, people will buy your eBook for a measly $2.99 or even $5.99....if your content isn't good, they probably won't buy it even at $0.99! I see a profitable business model in Kindle eBooks but I think it's more successful if you can effectively scale it up. A $0.99 eBook isn't likely to net you six figures alone.
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  • Profile picture of the author royljestr
    Yeah of course it is, but not if you plan on just rehashing PLR like a lot of people do. If you are actually going to write a book and put the same effort that you would put into publishing a "real" book you can certainly do very well.
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  • Profile picture of the author lastreporter
    Originally Posted by hobokook View Post

    I plan on writing an ebook and put it on Kindle for 99 cents

    Is it possible to make a ton of money from just 1 ebook for 99 cents??


    Thanks
    Highly unlikely. Most people making any money on Kindle have many titles. Only way you can make it on one title would be if you are Stephen King or someone with a huge built-in customer base.
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  • Profile picture of the author imdomination
    I wouldn't sell for $0.99 on Amazon, as others have said. Especially if, as you say, your book is going to be of high quality, try selling it for either $5.99 or $7.99. You'll make around $3-$5 commission per book, which is much better than 35 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author milla04
    Ok, you can get away with .99 books, but why? I suggest getting a 10k+ worded book, split it up into smaller books then link them together, now you have a killer machine, where you can sell each book for .99. Rather then your method of selling 1 book for .99
    Think about it... 4 small books for .99 each rather than 1 book for .99.

    Hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by hobokook View Post

    I plan on writing an ebook and put it on Kindle for 99 cents

    Is it possible to make a ton of money from just 1 ebook for 99 cents??


    Thanks
    Sure. Currently, there are about 181 pennies to the pound. So, to make a "ton of money" with a 99 cent ebook, you only need to sell 10,343 copies and convert your royalties to pennies.

    Seriously, though. You might catch lightning in a bottle and sell that many of a first book, but the odds against it are pretty steep. You would be much more likely to sell a 1,000 or so copies of 10 books. Or whatever combination floats your boat.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWaters
    Is anyone building backlinks to their Amazon/Kindle book page? Will doing this have any benefit in having people find your book? Being very new to this I am not sure if people find your book from sources outside of Amazon. ???
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  • Profile picture of the author dcrodwell
    There is a Kindle book by John Locke, How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months. It is a step by step How to Book for all would be Kindle authors. I can't remember the price but reasonable.

    This guy is amazing...
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisg942
    The great thing about using kindle to publish. Is you can always go back and change a your cover or re-upload updated content for your book.

    You do have to do a little playing around on your first couple books to see what works, but one you have an audience, your golden.

    For instance I put out my first fiction book, it's been almost 2 years now. I think I sold about 10 copies the first 2 weeks. Thought at the time that was great. Then I changed the cover and the next week sales went over 250. It's a matter of what appeals to the eye and of course good content. And don't give up, keep trying. Don't have a "can't" attitude, have an "I will" attitude.

    Now I write kindle full-time and I'm loving it.
    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      I used to look at it that way, Brian, until I read Kindle superstar author John Locke's detailed explanations of why he can make far more money selling his books for $0.99 than at $2.99 (having tried both).
      This example from fiction does not carry over to nonfiction. People who buy one work by an author and really really like it nearly always want to read more by that author, often to the extent of reading everything that author wrote. That's much less common in the world of nonfiction.

      I can see from my Kindle "people who bought this also bought" listings that buyers of one ebook of mine often buy another one. But I can also see from my sales figures that not many people are buying all of them. Nor would I realistically expect them to.

      Marcia Yudkin
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