Let me start this post by asking you:
Do you like books? Do you like to read? Do people you know like books? Have you ever used notebooks, planners, or a memory book like a baby book or a guest book? Do you have a kindle or other e-reader or app for e-books?
I love books. I love to read (I used to read in the before-times). People love books and reading and the technology age has given us many mediums and ways to read and find books. I also love notebooks and organizational planners. As with anything else I want to buy or search for, especially books, I go to Amazon, and so does everyone else. Yeah, it is good news for Amazon, but now it can be good news for you too!
It turns out, you can make or write your own books and then self-publish to Amazon for the world to buy! This platform is called Kindle Direct Publishing, or KDP. It is an easy and inexpensive way for people to create books, share their knowledge or creativity, and make money!
How it works: Amazon says “Hey, we will print your book when someone orders it and ship it to them so you don’t have to keep any inventory or pay anything to get started.”
You say, “sure, I guess that sounds cool, but I get paid, right?”
Amazon says “Yeah, of course! We do subtract a fee from every sale you make to cover printing, binding, and general marketing etc, but you get up to 70% royalties! Oh, and you get to decide what the price is, because it’s your product!”
You say “Ok, I’m going to write a book!”
Mamas, imagine turning those precious naptime hours into your creative time! With KDP, you can take that story in your head, put it in book-form and bam! You’re a published author without even leaving your cozy haven. Now people can buy and read your book without leaving their cozy havens because you can make paper-backs, hardcovers, and e-books!
Not a writer? That’s ok! You can also publish books that require little to no writing skills while still giving value to consumers. These two types of books are what I have been focusing on:
Low-content: These types of books are basically notebooks, log books, journals, planners etc. They are books that are mostly blank for the reader to fill up with all their own content.
Medium-content: These types of books are similar to the above types but they may have more content that the reader consumes, or that guides the reader in how to use the book. Examples would be prompt journals, guided meditation and reflections, baby and pregnancy memory books, kids activity books, puzzle books, and coloring books.
I’m enjoying making and publishing these types of books. I thought it would be so hard and I thought I would need expensive software and skills…
but I’m here to tell you that you 100% DO NOT.
All you need is BookBolt
With Book Bolt you have everything you need to make a book from start to finish. It includes amazing tools that help you zero in on types of books and niches that will sell and be popular. It helps you understand keywords and the KDP trends in real-time. It builds you a perfect template for the way KDP requires you to upload, so it is a seamless process with no glitches and no formatting issues. It is super user-friendly and intuitive yet powerful enough to create professional book covers and interiors. They have a multitude of free stock images and tons of pre-made templates for planners, lined notebook pages and even maze and puzzle generators! They offer a lot of tutorials and examples so you can learn to make beautiful books fast.
This is the all-in-one publisher’s tool and you can try it for free!
I have published 10 books so far starting at the end of October. Honestly, most of them aren’t really that great, but they were mostly for practice and to get to know Book Bolt, which was easy after the first couple. I also dabbled in different niches. My most recent medium-content book has become my “best-seller” and in a span of a month, it has sold over 30 copies! It is a very specific kind of book for a very specific kind of person and I spent a whole weekend researching this niche, playing with keywords, and perfecting the cover and interior. I watched countless tutorials prior to this and really tried to understand what sells and what does not. If I can do this, so can you!
I will admit that this was a little work, but it is work I am proud of! I wish I could show it off, but I’m not trying to divulge my niche secrets! But I can tell you that it is definitely possible to make money with this unique side-hustle. In my opinion it could definitely be a great passive income once you’ve found a good niche, built a brand, and made multiple books that make sales consistently. This is my goal.
Obviously this is a basic breakdown of how it all works, and I haven’t become rich from my modest sales so far, and I have done a little bit (and I mean a miniscule amount) of marketing and advertising, and it is the holidays and people are desperate for unique gifts, so sales come a little easier. With all that said, I have extra cash (that will probably go towards diapers) and I think there is real potential here.
I am excited to make more books, grow my at-home-hustle, and let you all know how it goes, and then teach you how to make this endeavor work for you too!
Stay tuned for updates, more in-depth KDP information about niches, keywords, marketing etc.
Have an amazing day!
Heather
