Have You Tried Publishing on Kindle? Did You Succeed?

79 replies
I'm wondering how many warriors have tried publishing on Kindle and what their success rate has been. Have you published Kindle books? Have you had success with them? If so, could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this? For example, maybe you've earned good money, built a list, etc. etc.

And finally, whose information have you found the most useful? A WSO of some kind? Several of them? A course?

I'm asking because I'm interestsed in the answers. I'd really like to know what people are finding from their Kindle experiences.

I'd really appreciate your feedback.

Marg
#kindle #publishing #succeed
  • Profile picture of the author esk
    Kindle books are awesome. I have one ebook (13 pages, $ 4,97) in a tiny tiny market that makes around $100 per month. Which actually remembers me that I should publish more books on Amazon
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Hey, that's great. You are doing well with only one book!
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      • Profile picture of the author Sean Earley
        I just added mine yesterday, so I guess it's too early to gage success. It was a pretty interesting experience though and getting it formatted and finally uploaded.

        I think it would be cool to see some courses on how others are tracking their results such as traffic, picking the right categories, sales ranking, getting legit reviews, working the Amazon system. Seems like there is a lot to be learned there.
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    • Profile picture of the author RyanLester
      Originally Posted by esk View Post

      Kindle books are awesome. I have one ebook (13 pages, $ 4,97) in a tiny tiny market that makes around $100 per month. Which actually remembers me that I should publish more books on Amazon
      That's great! How long did it take you to get to the $100 per month level?
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      • Profile picture of the author cherchar
        I published an eBook on Amazon Kindle recently. I think the idea is publishing something of public interest as well as a topic you are knowledgeable in (non-fiction). Fiction is what may sell better. You'll also need to have a few eBooks published to make some $$'s. I'm planning on what to write for my next kindle eBook.
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      • Profile picture of the author cashp0wer
        I am definitely going to get into Kindle publishing real soon. It seems to be a good money maker for many people.
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  • Profile picture of the author fedor50
    I have heard many marketers making a decent living by simply publishing cheap books on kindle. they make up for the cheap prices by selling in volume. I think if you're a quality writer you can find great success on Amazon Kindle
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    • Profile picture of the author Dean Shainin
      There are pros and cons juts like anything in life with Kindle.

      Pros = Easy to get started without a single red cent and Amazon does most of the advertising within their own platform. Massive upside $ potential when expounding upon what works...

      Cons = You need to really pay attention to details of Amazons TOS so your books don't end up getting what's called 'Blocked'. Usually you simply have to reply to an email with proof of what Amazon wants to see but in some cases there is nothing you can do to get your book un-blocked even IF you followed all the rules and TOS.
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  • Profile picture of the author maggie2
    Interesting replies so far. I may as well add my experiences to date. I publish in the cookbook category...not because it's easy, but I published paperback cookbooks long before Kindle and so it's something I know and have experience in and besides, I love doing it.

    I started with four cookbooks and added two more about a month later. I have one priced at $0.99 and the other five are priced at $2.99. I enrolled in the KDP Select program and am glad I did.

    Over the first five months I have averaged around $1300.00 per month with July being on track to being that much too. I really like the lending program as it has contributed an average of $175.00 a month to those totals.

    I am now working on another series of cookbooks and a book in a health topic that will relate to the new cookbooks.

    I really think that Kindle can be a means of creating a successful business online and I plan to pursue it further.
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    • Profile picture of the author Philip John
      Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

      I started with four cookbooks and added two more about a month later. I have one priced at $0.99 and the other five are priced at $2.99. I enrolled in the KDP Select program and am glad I did.
      maggie, you may be underselling the value of your books. Just because most authors/marketers are going down the .99c book route doesn't mean it's necessarily the right way to go.

      I have been aggressively price-testing over the last 8 months and pricing a book higher almost always results in a significant bump in sales.

      I had one book priced at $.99 selling 2-3 copies a month during the review getting process. Once I changed the price to $5.07 it started selling 50-60 copies a month.

      I think the major factor is perceived value. Kindle owners are swamped with .99c books; the vast majority of them being utter rubbish. Price yourself above the pack and you might be surprised at the results.
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      • Profile picture of the author maggie2
        Originally Posted by Philip John View Post

        maggie, you may be underselling the value of your books. Just because most authors/marketers are going down the .99c book route doesn't mean it's necessarily the right way to go.

        I have been aggressively price-testing over the last 8 months and pricing a book higher almost always results in a significant bump in sales.

        I had one book priced at $.99 selling 2-3 copies a month during the review getting process. Once I changed the price to $5.07 it started selling 50-60 copies a month.

        I think the major factor is perceived value. Kindle owners are swamped with .99c books; the vast majority of them being utter rubbish. Price yourself above the pack and you might be surprised at the results.
        Thanks for that information and advice. I'll think about it over the weekend. I have five of my books at $2.99 and only one at $0.99 but I might need to consider raising the price. Thanks again.
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        • Profile picture of the author Blogaddict
          Is there distinction, sales-wise, between books that "fill a need" and books that are works of fiction? Not that fiction isn't valuable! And not that there haven't been fiction books that sell like crazy. But 50 Shades of Gray is an outlier.

          I'm thinking...hoping.....that books that have been researched to have a subject that is in demand, and are marketed well, stand a good chance.
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          • Profile picture of the author The Real Deal
            Originally Posted by Blogaddict View Post

            Is there distinction, sales-wise, between books that "fill a need" and books that are works of fiction? Not that fiction isn't valuable! And not that there haven't been fiction books that sell like crazy. But 50 Shades of Gray is an outlier.

            I'm thinking...hoping.....that books that have been researched to have a subject that is in demand, and are marketed well, stand a good chance.
            The biggest different for me though is the back-end on non-fiction books is just so much better, and this is where the money is really at in Kindle publishing.

            Say for example that you write a book about

            "How To Build A Website In 4 Hours - Even If You Have Never Done It Before" (ok, crappy title but you get the idea! )

            Inside the book you then offer a free report to all your buyers as a "Thank You For Buying My Book". All the user have to do is to go to a squeeze page on your website, (make sure its your own site to stay within Amazon TOS), and enter their name and email so you can email them the report.

            Let's say the free report is called:

            37 Great Tips On How To Get A First Page Ranking On Google (Ok, I know another crappy title! )

            What you can do then is the following:

            1. In the free report you can recommend some great SEO tools that pay an affiliate commission, (make sure to cloak the links to something like: http://www.mywebsite.com/great-seotool.html and also to track them)

            2. You can email your book buyer with more tips and tricks regarding how to build their website. Some of these tricks will include recommendations for hosting and great plugins etc. and these pay a huge affiliate commission.

            3. You can continue emailing your list virtually forever as long as you provide quality information together with your affiliate links.

            Now instead of having made $0.35 from a book sale you have made:

            Book sale: $0.35
            Webhosting Affiliate commission: $100
            SEO Tool nr1: Affiliate commission: $45
            SEO Tool nr 2: Affiliate commission: $30
            Wordpress Plugin or similar: Affiliate commission: $20

            A grand total of $195.35 from a single buyer of your $0.99 book!

            This is one of the techniques I use to make a lot more money on Amazon Kindle than just from direct publishing commissions.
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            • Profile picture of the author cashcow
              Originally Posted by The Real Deal View Post

              Inside the book you then offer a free report to all your buyers as a "Thank You For Buying My Book". All the user have to do is to go to a squeeze page on your website, (make sure its your own site to stay within Amazon TOS), and enter their name and email so you can email them the report.
              What kind of conversion rates are you seeing for this?
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              • Profile picture of the author The Real Deal
                Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

                What kind of conversion rates are you seeing for this?
                It varies to be honest but I have started to implement a new technique recently, (which I prefer not to reveal) that has increased the opt-in rate massively. On all the books I am using the new technique the opt-rate is in the double digits, and on a couple of books well into the double digits.

                One of the key points is to make the report look really valuable and to present it as a true "thank you gift". You also need to make sure the URL is easy to remember because a lot of people will be typing it in, something like: www.mysite.com/kindle.

                The report also has to complement the book so the readers feel like they "need it".
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    • Profile picture of the author pedalman
      Maggie, what products do you use to publish kindle books.

      Regards,
      Felix
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  • Profile picture of the author pcpupil
    I tried to put up a cook book for diabetics since my wife has diabetes.
    It was diabetic pie recipes.
    I looked and there was only about a dozen on there.
    but i was told mine couldnt be published because there was already copies there.
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Originally Posted by pcpupil View Post

      I tried to put up a cook book for diabetics since my wife has diabetes.
      It was diabetic pie recipes.
      I looked and there was only about a dozen on there.
      but i was told mine couldnt be published because there was already copies there.
      Was your cover and content all unique and original? I've never heard of them turning down books like they did with you.

      Anyone else had this experience?
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      Marg

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    • Profile picture of the author edlewis
      Originally Posted by pcpupil View Post

      I tried to put up a cook book for diabetics since my wife has diabetes.
      It was diabetic pie recipes.
      I looked and there was only about a dozen on there.
      but i was told mine couldnt be published because there was already copies there.

      I obviously don't know the details of your situation here....but my guess is that either your content was found elsewhere online or on Kindle...or your ebook was crummy.


      The cookbook market on Kindle has been flooded with ebooks and they have had to put their foot down.

      Even though it sounds nice....not everyone in the world can get rich by publishing their very own cookbook on Kindle with stolen recipes from blogs around the internet or recipe websites. Hate to burst the bubbles of some people...

      That leaves Amazon with two options - the first is to eliminate or reject "duplicate" content...ie content that is readily available online or already on Kindle. They have ways of doing this.

      The second option is similar to what they did before with PLR content....yep another Amazon "slap".

      As I like to tell people, the next Kindle "slap" will be something I call "The Crap Slap".

      When EVERYONE can show up, EVERYONE does...even the riff-raff and the people you don't want around.

      In Kindle terms what I mean is that they've made it so easy to publish, that some people who shouldn't be publishing ARE.

      That's fine for awhile, as Amazon figures most will just go away when they don't make any money, but it won't work forever and eventually Amazon will have to do something.

      The "Crap Slap" is coming...it's only a matter of time. Which is even more of a reason to publish quality ebooks that also LOOK professional - formatting, cover, etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author webmarket
      Originally Posted by pcpupil View Post

      I tried to put up a cook book for diabetics since my wife has diabetes.
      It was diabetic pie recipes.
      I looked and there was only about a dozen on there.
      but i was told mine couldnt be published because there was already copies there.
      Sometimes Amazon will pick your book up as being duplicate content even when you are the author and it is 100% unique content which you have written yourself. When this happens you simply need to reply to Amazon with full details of the publication, including your ownership of it, and things can be sorted out quite quickly.

      I am speaking from experience here as this has happened to me not once but twice and, in both cases, things were sorted out very quickly.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrankMiller
    Publishing an eBook is definitely high on my to-do list, but I haven't done it yet.
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Originally Posted by FrankMiller View Post

      Publishing an eBook is definitely high on my to-do list, but I haven't done it yet.
      There's no time like the present!
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      Marg

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  • Profile picture of the author Deacon Blues
    Anyone ever had a problem while uploading their book? I have a few books published on kindle so I know the process but the latest book I've been trying to upload won't work.

    When I try to upload it it says its uploading and the its processing and then it says the process didn't work, try again in a few minutes.

    I've tried it a bunch of times and can't get it to work or find any information.
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Originally Posted by Deacon Blues View Post

      Anyone ever had a problem while uploading their book? I have a few books published on kindle so I know the process but the latest book I've been trying to upload won't work.

      When I try to upload it it says its uploading and the its processing and then it says the process didn't work, try again in a few minutes.

      I've tried it a bunch of times and can't get it to work or find any information.
      Now that's a real pain in the butt! Why not call Amazon and ask to speak to someone about the problem? I've called them a few times and they were always helpful. Their phone number is 866 216-1072. There may be something wrong with their platform. Now when I think about it, I had this happen once and they were having some kind of technical difficulties. I think it took two days that time to get things working again!
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    I am planning to publish my first novel this coming August and Kindle is my main target.
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  • Profile picture of the author chill_007
    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    I'm wondering how many warriors have tried publishing on Kindle and what their success rate has been. Have you published Kindle books? Have you had success with them? If so, could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this? For example, maybe you've earned good money, built a list, etc. etc.

    And finally, whose information have you found the most useful? A WSO of some kind? Several of them? A course?

    I'm asking because I'm interested in the answers. I'd really like to know what people are finding from their Kindle experiences.

    I'd really appreciate your feedback.

    Marg
    Marg,

    Here's my own truth... I created an eBook for Kindle and published that very same book with the very same hard copy title via Amazon's Create Space.

    After a year, I sold maybe 50 hard copies and no Kindle copies. I don't know how the others are marketing their Kindle books, but I tried using Fiverr Diggs and Stumbles, and a few Press Releases with limited success.

    However, I have the strong feeling that the title or subject means very little... Success depends more on how you market the books. You have to have a superior marketing plan as well as the right outsourcing plan.

    There's people on this forum selling one or two books per month raving about their success. Some of what is being written is pure rubbish...
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Originally Posted by chill_007 View Post

      Marg,

      Here's my own truth... I created an eBook for Kindle and published that very same book with the very same hard copy title via Amazon's Create Space.

      After a year, I sold maybe 50 hard copies and no Kindle copies. I don't know how the others are marketing their Kindle books, but I tried using Fiverr Diggs and Stumbles, and a few Press Releases with limited success.

      However, I have the strong feeling that the title or subject means very little... Success depends more on how you market the books. You have to have a superior marketing plan as well as the right outsourcing plan.

      There's people on this forum selling one or two books per month raving about their success. Some of what is being written is pure rubbish...
      I hear your disappointment. One of the things I learned with Kindle very early on is that to do well you really need a series of books so one can support the other. Having only one book makes it tough to get much traction. Even the big fiction sellers like John Locke and Amanda Hocking have a series of books and that is part of the secret to their success, I believe.

      I do think titles and subject matter mean a good deal but I also agree that marketing is essential. All those gurus who kept saying that all you had to do was write a book and put it up on Kindle were not telling the truth. And even the ones who said all you need to do is write a series of books and put them up there were not telling the truth, IMO. I am part of a number of Kindle forums and my experience and the experiences of others on those forums has shown me that you have to market your books to get them selling.

      If you really want to publish on Amazon, don't give up on your dream. Keep learning and tweaking and eventually you'll get to where you can earn some decent residual income from your efforts.
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    • Profile picture of the author playerrich33
      I have started working with KDP this Dec I have three cooking books only one is selling. 12/02/2012 listed as of today 12/27/2012







      Units sole 24 Refunded 3 Borrowed 17 Free Promo 2 days 2213 Downloads.
      So as you see I have found a system to sell now to use it on all of my books.
      If you would like more info PM me .
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  • Profile picture of the author martimoney
    I have three eBooks in the k-5 education niche. Two have sold very few. My guide to stop bullying has done better. I'm an elementary school principal so I think that adds some credibility. But definitely only a few bucks at the moment.
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  • Profile picture of the author Deacon Blues
    What's everyone's opinion on DRM (digital rights management)? Do you use it when you upload a book? Why or why not?
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I published "An Idea Archive" for Kindle. It has not sold much.
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  • Profile picture of the author HD Node
    Anyone who has a site with a loyal readership, or a social media presence with a large following, is well positioned to make money publishing Kindle books. Expand on whatever produces the most engagement amongst your readers/followers and you could find yourself onto a winner.
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  • Profile picture of the author eibhlin
    I've had the opposite experience than Audry's, and it's worth noting:

    I wrote a silly book in the UFO niche. It's not my usual niche -- not even close -- and I put the book together as a personal challenge, to see if I could write a book that was completely different from my usual books.

    I wrote it under a pen name I've never used before. I published it (printed) with CreateSpace.com. There were no promotional or marketing efforts at all. It seemed silly to invest time & effort into promoting a book that took me five days to write (part-time) and it's completely separate from my usual niches.

    I didn't write it to sell. I wrote it to see if I could do it. That's all.

    So... it sold maybe a dozen copies the first year.

    Then, in a "why not?" mood, I formatted the exact same book as a Kindle book.

    Same routine: No marketing, no PR. I just threw it into the Kindle store.

    I'm averaging one Kindle sale every two days, and suddenly, my printed (CreateSpace.com) version of the same book is selling about 6 - 15 copies/month. :confused: Weird. Cool... but weird.

    In general, I think Kindle is a gold mine for anyone who likes to write books. The KDP program is excellent, and I've had success with their Select program so I can give away my books for 1 - 5 days, at the launch.

    But keep in mind, I'm a nonfiction writer. Books are time-consuming for me, but I like the research and writing.

    I dictate my books in the free voice recognition software that comes with Windows 7. I design my own covers, following the advice in Tony Laidig's course. I either format my Kindle books myself, or I use someone at Fiverr for that.

    And, when a book is long enough, I publish it in print via CreateSpace.com) as well as at Kindle. (That's what I did this week with my content curation book, that stayed in Amazon's top 10 in Direct Marketing for four months with no additional promotion by me.)

    So, I'm enthusiastic about Kindle books for income... and for fun.

    And, I have writing & publishing tips at my eibhlin.com/writing blog, if you're just desperate to see the advice I share in (very infrequent and irregular) posts.
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  • Profile picture of the author maggie2
    Wow, Eibhlin,

    That's a really neat story. I love it that the Kindle version is helping to sell the Createspace version. That's good to know.

    And isn't it funny how we do something not expecting any results and then we're surprised when we have them?

    I have your Content Curation book, BTW, and find it excellent. I just haven't gotten around to doing any of that yet...too busy with books at the moment.
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  • Profile picture of the author wlasikiewicz
    I currently have about 11 books in the Kindle Store. I dont make many sales but i hit the £25 per month threshold for payment.

    If you are good at making stuff up then there is a massive market for you on Kindle.
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Originally Posted by wlasikiewicz View Post

      I currently have about 11 books in the Kindle Store. I dont make many sales but i hit the £25 per month threshold for payment.

      If you are good at making stuff up then there is a massive market for you on Kindle.
      When you say "if you are good at making stuff up" do you mean writing fiction? I assume that's what you meant but just wanted to clarify.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
    Banned
    I have a book there. its on Photography and 44 pages. its out there for 10$. but I don't remember when i got the last sell
    So I should say that it varies person to person.
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    • Profile picture of the author maggie2
      Originally Posted by marketwarrior06 View Post

      I have a book there. its on Photography and 44 pages. its out there for 10$. but I don't remember when i got the last sell
      So I should say that it varies person to person.
      Have you done any research into pricing for that size of a book? Most 44 page books that I see on Kindle are priced at $2.99 and lower. Maybe that's why you aren't making many sales? Just a thought.
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  • Profile picture of the author iSoftware
    Here's what no one tells you....
    When you publish on kindle you are SENDING THEM CUSTOMERS - not YOURSELF!

    Remember that.

    During the early days, everyone was able to get an adsense account - then there was a crackdown.

    Whenever this happens, someone always gets the short end of the stick. What I am saying is that Kindle should be seen as a way to build a long term business for yourself (translation: build up a readership off Amazon.com then use certain strategic tactics to bring readers back on to your own site).

    We have many members who are making upwards of $x,xxx (some on track to be close to $xx,xxx).

    Yet I say this everyday. Consider this math:

    You could try selling 100,000 $.99 ebooks.

    Or, using the strategy we focus on, you could turn 1000 readers into "lifelong" customers who pay you $10 each per month.

    What do you think is easier - getting 100,000 people to do something, or getting 1000?

    Once again, I think Kindle is WONDERFUL but we have to keep the big picture in mind.....
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    • Profile picture of the author The Real Deal
      Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

      Over the first five months I have averaged around $1300.00 per month with July being on track to being that much too. I really like the lending program as it has contributed an average of $175.00 a month to those totals.

      I really think that Kindle can be a means of creating a successful business online and I plan to pursue it further.
      I think you are doing very well with only four books published, congrats!

      To create a successful long-term business out of your Kindle publishing I would suggest that you start capturing leads from the buyers of your books, if you are not already doing this.

      The best way of doing this in my opinion is to offer them a free gift as a thank you for buying your book. This should be something complimentary to the book they have bought, like perhaps My 17 Secret Favorite Recipes and you need to make sure that the squeeze page where you are offering this is on your own domain name.

      You can then use your book buyers to build a list with, and continue to market to them virtually forever. Not just your own books, but all sorts of suitable affiliate or real product offers that you want to recommend. It's just like building a list in any other way, except that this is a highly niche'd buyer's list.

      I have found this to be the most profitable way to make money from Kindle publishing, and it has also affected my choice of niches that I target to a large extent...

      Originally Posted by chill_007 View Post

      However, I have the strong feeling that the title or subject means very little... Success depends more on how you market the books.
      I completely disagree with you on this point. Although there are exceptions such a book sales that are driven by celebrity endorsements for example, the title for any non-fiction book is crucial in most cases.

      Originally Posted by pcpupil View Post

      I tried to put up a cook book for diabetics since my wife has diabetes.
      It was diabetic pie recipes.
      I looked and there was only about a dozen on there.
      but i was told mine couldnt be published because there was already copies there.
      From what I can see Amazon is coming down very hard on the whole recipe book category. This is because recipes generally can't be copyrighted, (well at least not the ingredients), and therefore a lot of Kindle publishers have gone out and copied recipes from the major recipe websites, and they are now going after Amazon to try and stop this.

      It is possible that your book was caught up in this "crack down" on copied recipe books, especially if you are a new publisher on KDP. Assuming the content is 100% original and your own, I would suggest that you contact them and clarify that these recipes are your own and not copied from anywhere. In my experience they are usually pretty helpful if you actually talk to them. Good luck!
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      • Profile picture of the author edlewis
        Gonna let'er rip here...

        Most of the time I see people publish on Kindle and fail it comes down to a few simple things.

        First off, lots of people try to sell ebooks that no one wants to buy. They sell books that are dull, boring, and expect customers to buy them simply because they were published. Like there are people out there in the world who just buy up crappy ebooks for no good reason all day long.

        Second problem is almost always the cover. Even when someone thinks they have a good cover, they usually don't....too many are hideous and look like they were designed in 1999.

        If someone tells me their cover is "pretty good", I know almost without fail that it sucks.

        Can you make sales with a BAD, hideous, amateur-looking cover...?

        Yeah...but not as many as you would with a good one.

        And those sales matter on Amazon because the more you sell...well, the more you sell. So if your cover is costing you sales, it's actually costing you even more sales then you think.

        Getting a cover done for a Kindle ebook is EASY...it's a flat image with no back cover or binding. Even newbie graphic designers can knock one out in a few hours in Photoshop.

        Sure, some designers are expensive, but others are willing to work cheap - especially if they are looking to build a portfolio...or if they live overseas.

        Less than $50 might not motivate some people, but for people in some parts of the world $50 for 3 or 4 hours of work is more than a fair price.

        At the very least, if you REALLY want to do it yourself - buy yourself an awesome stock image, swing over to GraphicRiver and buy a professional pack of Photoshop text styles, and find a killer free font, maybe even pay for really good one....and do the work yourself in PS. We're talking $25...maybe. I've put together covers that looked like I paid hundreds for them for less.

        No offense, but in my experience Fiverr stinks for covers...you're better off paying somone who knows what the heck they are doing. Anyone with even a little talent is doing work for more than $5...but maybe things have changed over there, but I'm betting they haven't.

        And don't use an "ecover"...not worth it and it will make your ebook look lame. On top of that, it may even CONFUSE the hell out of some customers who won't be able to figure out if it is an ebook or a physical book - not everyone is as smart as you think they should be.

        Third...yeah I know I'm rambling...your ebook needs more than 2 sentences in the description. Seriously, if you can't think of more than 2 sentences to describe your ebook, then how the heck do you expect anyone to buy it...?


        These are just some basics...but you would be amazed at how many people don't get these right. Once you have these in place, then it's time to start worrying about other things like marketing, promotion, and having a backend in place.

        Too many people put the cart before the horse.
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        • Profile picture of the author IM Lover
          Originally Posted by edlewis View Post

          Gonna let'er rip here...

          Most of the time I see people publish on Kindle and fail it comes down to a few simple things.

          First off, lots of people try to sell ebooks that no one wants to buy. They sell books that are dull, boring, and expect customers to buy them simply because they were published. Like there are people out there in the world who just buy up crappy ebooks for no good reason all day long.

          Second problem is almost always the cover. Even when someone thinks they have a good cover, they usually don't....too many are hideous and look like they were designed in 1999.

          If someone tells me their cover is "pretty good", I know almost without fail that it sucks.

          Can you make sales with a BAD, hideous, amateur-looking cover...?

          Yeah...but not as many as you would with a good one.

          And those sales matter on Amazon because the more you sell...well, the more you sell. So if your cover is costing you sales, it's actually costing you even more sales then you think.

          Getting a cover done for a Kindle ebook is EASY...it's a flat image with no back cover or binding. Even newbie graphic designers can knock one out in a few hours in Photoshop.

          Sure, some designers are expensive, but others are willing to work cheap - especially if they are looking to build a portfolio...or if they live overseas.

          Less than $50 might not motivate some people, but for people in some parts of the world $50 for 3 or 4 hours of work is more than a fair price.

          At the very least, if you REALLY want to do it yourself - buy yourself an awesome stock image, swing over to GraphicRiver and buy a professional pack of Photoshop text styles, and find a killer free font, maybe even pay for really good one....and do the work yourself in PS. We're talking $25...maybe. I've put together covers that looked like I paid hundreds for them for less.

          No offense, but in my experience Fiverr stinks for covers...you're better off paying somone who knows what the heck they are doing. Anyone with even a little talent is doing work for more than $5...but maybe things have changed over there, but I'm betting they haven't.

          And don't use an "ecover"...not worth it and it will make your ebook look lame. On top of that, it may even CONFUSE the hell out of some customers who won't be able to figure out if it is an ebook or a physical book - not everyone is as smart as you think they should be.

          Third...yeah I know I'm rambling...your ebook needs more than 2 sentences in the description. Seriously, if you can't think of more than 2 sentences to describe your ebook, then how the heck do you expect anyone to buy it...?


          These are just some basics...but you would be amazed at how many people don't get these right. Once you have these in place, then it's time to start worrying about other things like marketing, promotion, and having a backend in place.

          Too many people put the cart before the horse.
          Very well said edlewis I agree with you 100%, I am about to get into the whole Kindle publishing myself, I know that it's best not to think cheap, when implementing the very tools that are there to potentially make you money.

          IMO you must be mad, if you expect to cut corners with covers, anything like this needs to look HQ, I see people spending months of their lives developing many different things online, only to then try and cut corners to save a few bucks.

          It's those guys who are the ones that lose out, funny thing is, they never see it coming either.

          Lastly, thanks for making this thread, it's got some awesome advice in it.

          Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
    I do decently with kindle sales as well. My best seller generates the bulk of my income with 12-15 sales a day, but overall I have about 20 titles that sell at least a couple of times each month.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    My advice is to build your platform - your blog as the "home" page branching out to Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, guest blogging, press releases and articles...make it your focus to build a mailing list around your topic that you can then mail to once your ebook is on Amazon.

    I sell books on my own website, through Clickbank, on Amazon (both print and Kindle) and all have worked well. I try to pick the right distribution based on the topic and level of detail for the book. Smaller, mass market books I put on Kindle, others I make available in print while bundles with multimedia I sell from my own website, etc...

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Kindle is very profitable. Amazon gets so much buyer traffic everyday that it wouldn't make sense to advertise on Kindle. I was making a nice bit of chance when i sold my products on there.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by iSoftware View Post

      Here's what no one tells you....
      When you publish on kindle you are SENDING THEM CUSTOMERS - not YOURSELF!

      Remember that.

      During the early days, everyone was able to get an adsense account - then there was a crackdown.

      Whenever this happens, someone always gets the short end of the stick. What I am saying is that Kindle should be seen as a way to build a long term business for yourself (translation: build up a readership off Amazon.com then use certain strategic tactics to bring readers back on to your own site).

      We have many members who are making upwards of ,xxx (some on track to be close to ,xxx).

      Yet I say this everyday. Consider this math:

      You could try selling 100,000 $.99 ebooks.

      Or, using the strategy we focus on, you could turn 1000 readers into "lifelong" customers who pay you $10 each per month.

      What do you think is easier - getting 100,000 people to do something, or getting 1000?

      Once again, I think Kindle is WONDERFUL but we have to keep the big picture in mind.....
      Very subtle... :rolleyes:

      At least you didn't just come out and say "see my sig"...
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  • Profile picture of the author drmani
    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    I'm wondering how many warriors have tried publishing on Kindle and what their success rate has been. Have you published Kindle books? Have you had success with them? If so, could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this?

    I'd really appreciate your feedback.

    Marg
    Two golden pieces of advice in this thread, re-published for emphasis.

    #1:

    Originally Posted by chill_007 View Post

    Success depends more on how you market the books. You have to have a superior marketing plan as well as the right outsourcing plan.
    #2:

    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    One of the things I learned with Kindle very early on is that to do well you really need a series of books so one can support the other. Having only one book makes it tough to get much traction.
    I'll add one of my own... have a Kindle publishing STRATEGY.

    Chances are you won't get rich off the royalties of your $0.99 masterpiece,
    BUT it can become the seed of something VERY big that grows VERY fast - if
    you begin with the right plan in mind.

    You've seen some interesting tactics described in later posts in this very
    thread. Most are ideas I've tried - and found work quite well. The key is
    to build a fan base which will interact with you over time into the future.

    Publishing to the Kindle is FAST and EASY. My latest ebook was formatted on
    Monday, went live on the store Wednesday, and has broken into top #100 in 2
    categories by today.

    BUT... that does NOT mean you should blindly rush in and publish without
    first thinking through your plan, what you hope to achieve with a best-
    selling ebook on Kindle, and what you'll do with the new fans you'll reach
    through the platform.

    In that sense, it's like having a blog.

    Slapping up a blog is easy. Doing something meaningful with it is not.

    Hope this helps.

    All success
    Dr.Mani

    P.S. - 3 guides I read recently gave me insights into the marketing process
    for Kindle books which helped/will help. They are:

    1. Dean Shainin's "Underground Secret Kindle Manifesto"
    2. John Rhodes' "KDP Select Secrets"
    3. Kate Harper's "How To Publish and Sell Your Article on the Kindle"

    Together, I paid around $20 for them - a GREAT deal

    P.P.S. - TEST a lot of stuff you're being told.

    For e.g.

    Originally Posted by The Real Deal View Post

    Inside the book you then offer a free report to all your buyers as a "Thank You For Buying My Book". All the user have to do is to go to a squeeze page on your website,
    Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

    What kind of conversion rates are you seeing for this?
    In my testing, the conversion is REALLY low - around 1%.

    So I don't focus on that approach primarily, though it's still in there
    (because it costs nothing to include in a Kindle ebook )

    .
    Signature
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    • Profile picture of the author The Real Deal
      Originally Posted by drmani View Post


      Originally Posted by The Real Deal View Post

      The best way of doing this in my opinion is to offer them a free gift as a thank you for buying your book. This should be something complimentary to the book they have bought
      In my testing, the conversion is REALLY low - around 1%.

      So I don't focus on that approach primarily, though it's still in there
      (because it costs nothing to include in a Kindle ebook ).
      Ok let me offer a tip that helped me bring up the opt-in rate substantially.

      First of all describe your Free Bonus Report as something really valuable...something that other people normally pay a lot of money for, (MUCH more than the price of the book), but you are doing something crazy generous now...because they are special, because they bought your book... You tell them that you are being so generous with them very early in your book....as part of the introduction and as you explain how the book came about, and whilst congratulating the buyer on their purchase.

      See, what happens now is that a lot of those people who were using the "Look Inside" function without buying your book think they have found a way to "cheat the system"... :rolleyes:

      If you do this right they think that by mistake you have revealed the secret download URL only available to actual buyers of your book. Many of them will go ahead and type in that URL in order to find out more, and this is where your squeeze page has to take over and do its magic...

      This seems to work best with higher priced books, (perhaps people use the preview function more on those?), and it also works better in certain niches. I think some people get a kick out of "cheating the system" and if your book target those type of readers this works well.
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  • Profile picture of the author suxes2005
    Nice infos here I must commend you guys for giving out such powerful information.

    My own 2 naira is this: instead of using a special report to capture their e-mail. In the middle of the ebook, you can write a short info about a topic: KICK ASS AND MAKE MONEY. then you complete it by saying the report alone cannot take that full information.

    You then put your squeeze page there and tell them to download the full information about such topic. That will drive them down to your squeeze page. You can do this at the end of the report.

    Sheyi
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    • Profile picture of the author The Real Deal
      Originally Posted by suxes2005 View Post

      Nice infos here I must commend you guys for giving out such powerful information.
      Well someone else in this thread was being very cagey about this "secret" technique to capture leads...like they were the only ones doing this on Kindle, duh! That kind of upset me because this forum is all about sharing stuff.

      Stuff for sale goes in the WSO section, right? :rolleyes:

      Originally Posted by suxes2005 View Post

      My own 2 naira is this: instead of using a special report to capture their e-mail. In the middle of the ebook, you can write a short info about a topic: KICK ASS AND MAKE MONEY. then you complete it by saying the report alone cannot take that full information.

      You then put your squeeze page there and tell them to download the full information about such topic. That will drive them down to your squeeze page. You can do this at the end of the report.

      Sheyi
      Hmm, I think you will want to read my post above for a better way of doing this.
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  • Profile picture of the author RobertoM
    This is for any Kindle expert that maybe can help me out to step into the Kindle world:

    Somebody knows something about how is Kindle doing in foreign languages e.g. french, spanish or italian?

    Do you think that an ebook written in spanish could get some buyers in Spain, South America or even in english speaking countries?

    What kind of marketing is needed to sell ebooks in Amazon?

    Sorry for these silly questions, but I hardly know something (so far) about Kindle and selling ebooks, but I know a bit about writting.
    Thank you!
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  • Profile picture of the author RavishingRajni
    i have heard that it is easy to publish -
    but making sales is not easy
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    For anyone serious about Kindle I highly recommend the following WSO:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...-training.html

    Tiffany Dow also did a long and brilliant review of it - on her website or you can find it here:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ng-course.html

    Also remember that you have to have a good book. Then you have to do some smart marketing.

    In the early days you could upload public domain, unworked PLR, or crap - it was a free for all! But Amazon started getting complaints - so they pull all the obvious crap. I am sure that they are going to start looking at the not so obvious crap - bad formatting, incomprehensible English, one page books!

    Also in the early days there weren't many books available - so people had a restricted choice - However that has definitely changed!

    Hope that helps.
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    I like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out

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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      I'm really surprised that so far, no-one has recommended this earlier thread. It's packed full of excellent advice...
      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123754

      Since the beginning of the year, I've been getting involved with Kindle more and more, and without a doubt it has a huge potential. I've purchased several WSOs on promoting Kindle books and also a couple covering video promotions. I really think this is the route to take.
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  • Profile picture of the author colinph970
    Kindle publishing is THE number one way of making money on the internet bar none.

    The basics can be boiled down to some simple truths:

    Make sure your book is formatted correctly. This is easy but neglected by many. Nothing will turn off prospective buyers off more than a download of a sample in which the format is crap.

    Make sure that you have a series of books that are connected. Have a link to your website and your other books in the back of each one. (If cross selling is good enough for Amazon then it's good enough for me)

    Promote your book both on and off Amazon. I've tested many diffferent techniques (and I mean tested - proper split testing with the results tested for statistical significance) The best on Amazon techniques I've found so far are length of e-book, price (not what you might think) and quality of sales page. Off site techniques are even more interesting.

    Avoid Kindle Select like the plague.......really not worth it at all.

    Once you get your book to a paid rank of 20,000 or better then it will self sustain sales for several months without further marketing on your part.
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    • Profile picture of the author TycoonRob
      Originally Posted by colinph970 View Post

      Avoid Kindle Select like the plague.......really not worth it at all.
      Just wanted to throw in my two cents - KDP Select is TOTALLY worth it. Each month like clockwork I sell ~1000 copies of my best selling book. I also have it shared ~300 times, which sometimes results in MORE money to me from the sharing (KDP Select) than from book sales!

      And with the pot doubled for Dec and Jan, I think that the $2+ per share bounty will go up. Just from one book alone from shares I will probably make $700-1000 in December. So Select is WELL WORTH IT!
      Signature

      Doubt everything you believe.

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  • Profile picture of the author denislav12
    Do you use a specific software to take care of the technical part of the execution of the book after you write it? How do you actually create the e-book?
    thank you
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  • Profile picture of the author batkimi
    I must admit, i would publish my poetry, but i have not done it yet. I don't now if it would be a success, i suppose i am afraid of the bad feedback
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    • Profile picture of the author BillyPilgrim
      Ed,
      I lucked into a great writer AND a great cover designer, both on Fiverr. I outsource fiction because Geoff Shaw said that's where the real dough is. And the idea of multiple books is the right one. Create a rabid fan base and let them take you to the bank!
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      • Profile picture of the author edlewis
        Originally Posted by BillyPilgrim View Post

        Ed,
        I lucked into a great writer AND a great cover designer, both on Fiverr. I outsource fiction because Geoff Shaw said that's where the real dough is. And the idea of multiple books is the right one. Create a rabid fan base and let them take you to the bank!
        Billy,

        That's good to hear...I've never had much success on Fiverr...although I have found some very good and reliable outsourcers here on the WF.

        I can't speak much on fiction...fiction certainly does outsell nonfiction, but I think hitting a homerun with fiction is more difficult than nonfiction.

        Fiction writers like Konrath, etc are killing it on Kindle, but these people are PROFESSIONAL writers...I mean some of them have been at this since they were literally children and they sell alot of ebooks because they are really good writers.

        If you are able to outsource fiction and get good quality, then it's definitely a way to make some money exponentially by leveraging the work of others.

        Personally, my problem is I wouldn't know good fiction if someone slapped me in the face with it. So it would be difficult for me to outsource content and really have a CLUE what I was doing...LOL.

        The "ceiling" for fiction is definitely higher...and fiction will likely stay "evergreen", as a good fiction book may sell copies for you until you DIE...and then make money for your children...while a non-fiction book could become outdated in less than a year or so depending on what niche it's in.

        On the other side of things, I think it's easier to create a funnel or back-end in the non-fiction market.
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    • Profile picture of the author DeanJames
      Originally Posted by batkimi View Post

      I must admit, i would publish my poetry, but i have not done it yet. I don't now if it would be a success, i suppose i am afraid of the bad feedback
      My Advice: Don't FOCUS too much on the bad feedback, instead focus on the idea of the people you would be reaching that will be delighted to read your poetry. Take on board the feedback and use it to improve your poetry in the future, but don't let the idea of getting negative feedback be a roadblock to you taking action. Make sense? If you give things your best shot you can always keep your head held high. That's much better than saying, "What IF".
      Signature
      Complete Blogging Course and List Building Kit:
      100% FREE Download - Click HERE

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  • Profile picture of the author DeborahDera
    Tiffany Dow has been writing a great review of the Kindling course. You should check out her blog. It looks like a great course. I just purchased it this weekend.

    Tiffany Dow's Five Parts of Me Blog

    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    I'm wondering how many warriors have tried publishing on Kindle and what their success rate has been. Have you published Kindle books? Have you had success with them? If so, could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this? For example, maybe you've earned good money, built a list, etc. etc.

    And finally, whose information have you found the most useful? A WSO of some kind? Several of them? A course?

    I'm asking because I'm interestsed in the answers. I'd really like to know what people are finding from their Kindle experiences.

    I'd really appreciate your feedback.

    Marg
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    It's just my first day and I can't tell yet. But this thing is keeping me excited.
    Signature



    Moderator's Note: You're only allowed to put your own products or sites in your signature.

    Signature edited.
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  • Profile picture of the author louie6925
    I'm really interested in publishing a series of kindle books, but not sure what subject to write about! My heart tells me to pick a big niche for a large audience, but feel I could offer most value writing about my expertise, which is firefighting.

    Would that be a niche that would sell? I know that getting into the fire service here in the UK is very competitive, and when recruitment opens its normally for a squad of twenty, you have thousands apply, and this is the same for every brigade up and down the country several times a year. Therefore its still a small market but would it sell?

    I was thinking of books on subjects such as 'how to get into the fire service? and " Pre-course learning and what to expect" and maybe as I'm an ex fitness instructor a training programme focusing on workouts targeting the required muscle area needed for firefighting and the fitness tests you have to do to get accepted.

    For anyone in the know with kindle, would this sell?
    Signature
    Feel free to chat if you live in the UK I may have something for you!
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    • Profile picture of the author iSoftware
      Good job. One thing to NOT FORGET is - build your own audience and list outside of Amazon. This is the one thing that can "Amazon-proof" your earnings (for the long run) when (not if) Amazon starts randomly disabling accounts like Google did with adsense!

      We talk about this in the mastermind. Fortunately, many people have taken to heart this warning before it was too late (an ounce of prevention....)
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  • Profile picture of the author DeeAnkary
    I agree with iSoftware - have a link to an opt-in page at the beginning and end of your book, and build a list for your backend. Just don't put any links in the description of your book - big no-no.
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    >>> Need Kindle covers fast? Get Instant eBook Covers, 12 ready-to-use high quality templates

    >>> Get Blog Transformation Secrets and transform your blog into authority traffic magnet.
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  • Profile picture of the author JamieSEO
    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    Could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this? For example, maybe you've earned good money, built a list, etc.

    Whose information have you found the most useful? A WSO of some kind? Several of them? A course?
    Hey Marg

    The most useful information is gained from experience

    I have read a bunch of WSO's, blogs, books, etc. The best way to learn is to try out the ideas and customize them to fit your own skills and preferred way of working.

    Other than the ego bump... the big advantages for me have been:
    - Royalty checks still coming in for books written months/years before
    - Increased profile and authority in my niches
    - Huge number of networking opportunities
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author PublishingMadeEz
    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    I'm wondering how many warriors have tried publishing on Kindle and what their success rate has been. Have you published Kindle books? Have you had success with them? If so, could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this? For example, maybe you've earned good money, built a list, etc. etc.

    And finally, whose information have you found the most useful? A WSO of some kind? Several of them? A course?

    I'm asking because I'm interestsed in the answers. I'd really like to know what people are finding from their Kindle experiences.

    I'd really appreciate your feedback.

    Marg
    Maggie,

    I have been publishing to Kindle for about a year now and I must say that it is by far the best passive income I have ever earned! The money is great but as far as list building goes, Amazon (At least to my knowledge) doesn't share that information with the seller. The only way to build a list is to have a link in your ebook to an optin page for them to sign up. I have had good success with this, not as much as I expected but none the less I grew my list from it.

    Also, if you are thinking about Kindle then I would incourage you to look at Barnes & Noble Nook Books and even creating a print book using CreateSpace. I am a believer in the more options you have for customers to buy, the more sales you will have!

    Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author fedor50
    Originally Posted by maggie2 View Post

    I'm wondering how many warriors have tried publishing on Kindle and what their success rate has been. Have you published Kindle books? Have you had success with them? If so, could you share an estimate of what you have gained from doing this? For example, maybe you've earned good money, built a list, etc. etc.

    And finally, whose information have you found the most useful? A WSO of some kind? Several of them? A course?

    I'm asking because I'm interestsed in the answers. I'd really like to know what people are finding from their Kindle experiences.

    I'd really appreciate your feedback.

    Marg
    I've heard stories of many warriors and newbies having success by simply publishing books on kindle. And every month they get a nice fat check from amazon kindle for work that they only had to do once. It is the very definition of passive income
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean Erickson
    Awesome tips guys. I have never tried my foot in Kindle but will do it soon once I am free from my current projects. Got 2 - 5 in between but if you can make $100 from a 14 page book then you can easily build 6 Figure Business with Kindle... I am sure there are many other there who have ,,, Kindle Market... Here I COME
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  • Profile picture of the author sailor4528
    I had an ebook in a family niche, put it on Clickbank. I built the site to sell it, I wrote the articles, followed all the guides. Poor sales. Then a year later I edited and built a kindle version. It sells steadily, much more than the clickbank version. Then I put it in iTunes and B&N and my sales doubled. I read somewhere that Kindle is only 38% of the market. That's my experience. It's only beer money, but I didn't have that before...

    I write and publish fiction and non fiction and Kindle/ePub is definitely the way to go. The profit per copy is much more than on self-pub hard copy, even at a fraction of the price (my fiction is 300 pages+)

    DRM only for non-fiction as I don't want to find the book copied and marketed via email - I wouldn't know it would I?

    I prefer to read hard copy myself!
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  • Profile picture of the author maggie2
    I use a free product called Calibre. Just google Calibre and you should find it.
    Signature

    Marg

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  • Profile picture of the author maggie2
    It's been a while since this thread was started and I'm wondering if anyone has any additional comments on Kindle successes?

    My six books continue to do well, although not fantastic. However, I am doing nothing to promote them so it's mostly my lack of doing anything that is responsible for that.
    Signature

    Marg

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  • Profile picture of the author dadhere
    Yeah, I published 2 books and didn't promote them at all and 2 months later made 200 bucks!
    So I'm going to start promoting them and see what can happen.

    Jonny Andrews new course has some of the best results but it's quite pricey. There are other but just read through reviews to get a good idea
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  • Profile picture of the author TDogger
    Everyone who wants to publish Kindle books should read John Locke's "How I sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months." John is the #1 Kindle author.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Wolfe
    I've been publishing Kindle books for the last few months. I'm actually documenting the journey on my blog...

    Month 1: $24
    Month 2: $555
    Month 3: $1754
    Month 4: $1170 (so far in Sept.)

    It's definitely a great little passive income ones the books are in place. It's super simple to get the books online. It's quite a bit more difficult to get people paying attention to them.

    I've found that setting the books to free and paying all the free book deal sites to promote when they go free really helps. PixelOfInk.com, BookDealHunter.com, KindleNationDaily.com, etc...

    I've also put several of the books on CreateSpace which has added a couple hundred dollars per month overall.

    I've got about 15 books in total now in all different niches.

    Matt
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    • Profile picture of the author DeanJames
      Originally Posted by Matt Wolfe View Post

      I've been publishing Kindle books for the last few months. I'm actually documenting the journey on my blog...

      Month 1: $24
      Month 2: $555
      Month 3: $1754
      Month 4: $1170 (so far in Sept.)
      Nice upward earning trajectory there Matt (and already heading towards 'bill paying' money). Thanks for sharing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Deacon Blues
    I have to agree KDP select is great, especially for any of your books priced at $0.99
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