How Amazon is breaking down costly barriers to entry for authors everywhere
Pop quiz time!
- Remember when Amazon sold books? Answer: Trick question, it still does.
- Ever read Harry Potter and think, “Damn, I could do that”? Answer: You could never. That type of mastery is above us all.
- Did you know you could do something kind of similar though? Answer: I don’t know. I don’t know you. I don’t know what you know. But for the record, you can!
Amazon customers are so busy buying necessities like groceries, electronics, and these costumes that they often forget where it all began: books. Shame on them, because for Amazon, this OG product holds a special place in its little innovative heart. Amazon has been making books cool again since 2007 with products like The Kindle, services like Audible, and its “latest” offering… drumroll please… self-publishing.
For those of you that live under a rock (don’t take it personally, we are probably neighbors), authors can self-publish their books on Amazon. Here’s how:
- Set up a Kindle Direct Publisher account (KDP)
- Add details like the title, description, categories, and publishing date.
- Upload the manuscript for FREE.
- Amazon handles the rest as orders come in.
No more need for buy-in from judgy publishing companies or god forbid, access to a printer (especially if you go the ebook or audio route).
This is a particularly attractive service for people trying to establish themselves as thought leaders without having to go through a traditional publisher, or a book publishing service like Scribe. Also, who doesn’t want “published author” on their Tinder profile?
Easy is nice, but it’s also about the money. Which is good news for Amazon self-publishers because with every book order, authors can earn anywhere from 35-70% royalties depending on the specifics of your publication process.
Compare that to the average 7.5% folks who go the more traditional route earn, and it’s kind of a no-brainer! Many first-time authors don’t sell many copies, so getting a larger piece of the pie is a huge bonus. In fact, most writers only eat pie for the first few years anyway, so this is a pretty sweet deal!
That said, high royalty percentages can only take you so far. If you want to make bank, you need to really capitalize on the opportunity. Try writing more than one book, sticking to one genre, and marketing, marketing, marketing. If you write a book, the world–and specifically book buyers–should know about it. It might be pretty radical thinking, but that’s all we’re saying.
