Amazon Kindle Direct Publish (KDP) is a direct self-publishing platform that allows anybody to create books and self publish.
Amazon publishing is a viable means to make money online in Africa as it is easy to navigate. If you create quality content, the chances are that you will make an honest living with it.
It is one of the most convenient ways to make money online in Africa and every other part of the WORLD.
Amazon has leveled the playing field, allowing authors to take control and publish their work and make money without having to go through the “gatekeepers,” i.e. traditional publishers like Random House.
Although, there are several ways to publish your work online and make money! But I will walk you through how to earn money on Amazon publishing.
How to Earn Money on Amazon Publishing.
Amazon has democratized the publishing business so anybody with an interest and desire to write and publish a book can do it. Here’s how you can start earning with Amazon publishing in few steps:
1. Research for Interested Topics.
To earn money on Amazon publishing starts with a research for interested topics. To identify topics people are interested in should be your first step to making money as a publisher on Amazon.
Using keyword research to find out the types of resources that people are actively searching for on search engines is a good idea.
Another way to research the most profitable topics to write on interesting topics that suit “Amazon Bestsellers”
2. Write a Good Book.
After researching for interesting topics, the next step is to write a good book.
The first step towards writing a good book is by creating a structure of the book you are looking to create.
Next, divide the book into chapters, subtopics and other sub-structures. After that, you will find it a lot easier to write.
3. Format your Good Book.
Formatting your good book is an integral aspect of amazon publishing platform. Amazon has some stringent formatting rules that you must follow if you want to get approval for publishing.
Amazon wants to make sure that books published on its platform are accessible to everybody whether they are accessing amazon on PC, smartphones or tablets, so you need to follow their publishing guidelines.
4. Create a Nice Book Cover.
Creating a nice book cover is critical to your success or failure to earn money on Amazon publishing because most people will first see your book cover before they have the opportunity to read your book. Therefore, you must ensure that you design lovely book cover to attract people’s attention.
It is important to note that your book will appear in a feed with other people’s books, and often, when you put a lot of images together in a feed, the most appropriately designed one stands out.
So, to increase your chance of getting noticed on Amazon Kindle and make money with Amazon publishing, you must pay attention to your design.
5. Register On Amazon KDP.
Now that you have written your book, properly formatted it following the amazon guidelines, and designed the book’s cover, the next stage is to register on the KDP, the Amazon publishing platform.
Registering on the Amazon KDP platform is not complicated at all. All you need to do is enter either your email or phone number, then choose a password.
After that, a one-time password (OTP) will be sent to your email or phone. After inputting the OTP, you will be redirected to a page to enter your contact address, payment details and sign a tax form.
When you do that successfully, your account will be created, and you are ready to publish your first book on Amazon!
6. Publish Book On Amazon.
Anyone can publish on Amazon, and it’s free. All you need to do is create a publishing account with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and upload your book. Once you publish, you are in competition with other authors
Publishing a book on Amazon is pretty straightforward. From your dashboard, navigate to the “bookshelf” tab. From there, you will see an option to choose which book format you want to publish.
Choose between paperback and ebook kindle, and the platform will redirect you to fill in the book’s details.
You will need to fill in the book title, author’s name, contributors names and other important information. After filling in the necessary details, the platform will prompt you to upload your ebook and wait for the approval process to begin.
You can upload a book in Word or PDF format, or use the Kindle Creator tool to convert a book for publishing.
7. Write Catching Book Description.
Write the heart of the book, boil your book down to its central topics, themes, and purpose.
This knowledge should inform every external copy decision and will help you make sure you do the book justice. Emphasize the right themes and find your audience.
Give your readers a teaser, not the full plot. You want them to be intrigued enough to purchase a copy and dive right in, but not so informed that they can predict the plot line or content as a whole.
The trick behind writing a good description for Amazon publishing is that you need to write something interesting without necessarily divulging too much.
8. Work and Work a lot More.
Amazon publishing requires a lot of work. Even if you are using freelancers to create content for you, you still need to be very hands-on in reading, editing, and checking to ensure that the content is appropriately written and delivers value to the end-users.
If you are not interested in doing the necessary work, Amazon self-publishing might not be for you.
9. Be Very Patient.
To earn money on Amazon publishing, you have to be very patient . A few people started making a good income with their first book, but for many people, you will need to be patient and keep working on your craft before you start earning.
There is a high chance of you eventually earning good money on the platform if you stay persistent.
Being patient enables us to analyze things and situations beyond their face value. The resourcefulness, calm, and empathetic behavior and self-control of patient people can make them very popular. It also gives them inner peace and the ability to keep smiling despite challenges.
