How to Make Money Through Self Publishing
If your resolutions for the current year included trying to earn money online, then you are not alone. The internet revolution has driven people around the globe to go on a desperate hunt for ways of earning money online. In fact, “how to make money online,” is one of the most searched for terms on the World Wide Web.
Although most of the money making ventures that are floating out there are questionable, the good news is that there are a lot of legitimate ways of earning money online.
I have previously talked about freelancing and blogging. This article looks at self publishing, which is another way through which you can generate passive income over the internet.
About Self Publishing
Self publishing, like everything else that has to do with the internet, was the rage a few years back; till people discovered that you actually have to do real work in order to make it work.
That has proven to be a real letdown for some people. Self publishing, however, remains one of the most viable ways of earning money online.
How to Make Money with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing
When it comes to self publishing, it is safe to say that no other name comes even close to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.
This is a platform that I have used to, over the years, publish a few of my own books, including this Science Fiction ebook.
This write-up is, therefore, genuine (something that is rather rare on the internet), and is based on my own personal experiences.
What is Kindle Direct Publishing?
If you have been living on Planet Earth over the past decade or so, you will have heard of the name Amazon; the online retail giant that has revolutionized the ways in which we spend (read waste) our money. Kindle Direct Publishing is Amazon’s arm that is dedicated to the publishing of Books. It was launched in 2007 and has, over the years, helped indies publish thousands of books.
How it used to Work
It used to be that in order to get published, one produced a manuscript on pieces of paper and, after laboriously working for a number of years, walked into a publisher’s dingy office on some unmarked street in the proverbial middle of nowhere. There, nine out of ten times, the thing (the manuscript) was instantly recognized as the piece of such and such that it was.
The resultant rejection then meant that people had to go back to their day jobs while, in the dead of the night, trying to refine the condemned pieces of writing.
Of course, there were some whose manuscripts were found to be somewhat palatable and who, after the usual back and forth, became household names. Not to say that the system did not have its flaws. In fact, a number of those who had been rejected by one publishing house, with the typical hard headedness that is characteristic of writers, simply walked off one dingy street onto another, where they, one more time, tried their luck.
These are the ones that we all like to hear about; the ones who went on to make so much money that they are still figuring out what to do with it.
How it now works
Don’t get me wrong, the above scenario still obtains even today. Dingy publishing houses can still be found on forgettable streets with forgettable names, and they are still publishing forgettable books for the lucky few. However, the era of self publishing has brought about, a new breed of writer; one who never even leaves his or her sorry looking apartment in order to go and look for work; like a normal person.
Of course, this is another over-generalization. There are indeed, self published writers who have day jobs. However, instead of actually concentrating on their work while sitting bleary eyed in the office, they cook up some terrible tales in their minds all day long, with the result that their bosses never even bother promoting them. I mean, what’s the use of promoting someone who is barely good at what they are doing?
Their gory tales can however, actually turn out to be really good. So good, in fact, that there are some people out there who have become millionaires by writing about dinosaurs in miniskirts. In any case, self publishing has, over the past decade, become one of the most legitimate ways of earning money online.
How to Earn Money Online Through Self Publishing
How does self publishing work? Well, the answer to that is over a million books on Amazon and elsewhere, many of which are actually good. It simple, really! Instead of having to negotiate with some morose publisher in a barely lit backroom, now all that you need to do in order to get published is visit a self publishing platform, such as Kindle Direct publishing, and, before the night is over, you will begin to bring in the millions. (To those who are not discerning, this is a tongue-in-the-cheek statement).
Is Self Publishing A Viable Way Of Making Money online?
Self publishing is one of the most legitimate ways of earning money online. As with any other online venture, the thing that usually attracts people are the six figure tales that are told by some of those who have made it.
Stefan James, in this article, as an example, claims to have made “six figures passive income with Kindle Publishing.”
Outsourcing Book Writing
The thing about Stefan (some might even call it shameful), is that he apparently outsources the writing of some of his books! It’s the nature of the world in which we live today, that you can actually hire someone in Bhutan or Bangladesh to write books on your behalf, on any subject.
Who cares about creative pride, right? After all the whole world is obsessed with money.
The Majority Don’t Make Anything
As I have already mentioned, self publishing through the Kindle Direct Publishing platform, or in any other way, has become common, and allows ordinary people like you and me to get published without having to worry about contacting traditional publishers.
I have also mentioned that there are a few people who have actually become millionaires through self publishing. However, the truth of the self publishing world is that there are millions of other people who are making absolutely nothing!
Yes, you heard that right! Self publishing, I do have to say, is not for the faint hearted. After working so hard for so long, there is a 90% chance that your book, however, good, will get swallowed in a sea of failed million dollar dreams.
My Personal Experience
I have a few books that have been available on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing for quite a while. On average, I get about $10 every month from the sale of these books. I know that’s not much, but its $10 that I wouldn’t otherwise have had. My earnings can actually rise to about $50 per month if I run a free promotion.
It’s all about luck
Self publishing is one of the best ways of earning money online, but in order to make it, luck actually needs to be on your side. I know that this is debatable, but there it is!
It doesn’t matter that you are good or anything else. There are so many people who are trying to make it that it can be difficult to stand out. In my view, the moment that luck smiles on you, your earnings on KDP will rise significantly.
Self Publishing a good way of making money online
So, back to the question, is self publishing one of the best ways of earning money online during the course of the current year? The answer is, as I have stated previously, an emphatic yes. You actually have to work hard in order to get your book out there, but once it’s done, it all becomes passive income. If you are really lucky, you can have a six figure source of income for the rest of your life.