Kindle books seem to be winning the publishing popularity contest. Every day more and more 99-cent Kindle books are released, flooding the market with good and not-so-good information. With all the competition today, how can you make money off a 99-cent Kindle book, especially when Amazon takes 70% of your profits? And why would you want one to begin with?
There are three primary ways to make money off Kindle books besides selling them directly to customers:
1. Lead Generation
Lead generation is essential for every business. Kindle is a new, yet often neglected tool for generating new leads for your business. Creating a lead generating Kindle book is as easy as editing a transcription of your latest teleseminar and converting it to Kindle format (MOBI), then uploading it to Amazon’s Direct to Kindle program. Seems like it’s as easy as… 1-2-3-Done!
But there’s more to it than that. You can’t expect leads to come flowing in simply from having a Kindle book published. You need to tell them to come. Near the beginning of your Kindle book, include a Call to Action. Something that tells your reader “thank you” for purchasing your Kindle book, then directs them to a special opt-in bonus on your website. The reader will follow the link to your website, sign up for your free offer, and you’ve captured a new lead to follow up with later.
2. Affiliate Links
If you reference any products or services in your Kindle book, check to see if they have an affiliate program. Sign up and make sure to embed the link they provide inside your Kindle book. Every time someone follows that link and purchases the item or service you recommend, you’ll get a commission. This is a great way to earn residual income from products and services you believe in, and you’ll be supporting things you love. It’s a win-win-win for you, the product/service and your reader!
3. Ads
Do you offer coaching, consulting or other products and services? If so, include an advertisement or two inside your Kindle book directing readers to other related products and/or services you offer. If you have graphics, be aware that they may mess up the formatting of your ad, so you may need to hire a professional eBook programmer to clean it up. Make your advertisements simple, clean and highlight the benefits of your program or product. If you have other books or eBooks you’ve published, this is a great place to highlight those as well and drive more traffic to other residual book sales.
Advanced Strategy: If you really want to use your Kindle book for one of the above three reasons and don’t care about making money off the eBook sale itself, consider listing it as “free” or putting it “on sale” for free for a limited time. You’ll see an influx of downloads and reach more people. Just keep in mind people who always want things for free don’t always make the best customers. I choose to sell my Kindle books as those who invest even just 99 cents are investing something and therefore are already pre-qualified to spend more money on my other products and services.
Since I began using Kindle books for my own business, I have seen increased sales for my other books, leads on my website and money in my bank account. I can honestly tell you that you’re missing out if you’re not using Kindle to get business. Get your Kindle book done today!
So excited to get something up on Kindle. This is the third Kindle training I’ve taken – and haven’t “quit my day job” so to speak – as an entrepreneur, my “day” is often 16-20 hours (and when it is, the NEXT day is 10, with the other hours in “basket-case” mode.) I’m taking the big leap this time. I believe in your NET!
Note: website WILL BE http://www.sunnybookfarm.net, but is only just being set up. The other site is my other work.
I thought Amazon’s cut was 30% not 70%. The rate doesn’t go up until your book cost exceeds $10.
Hi Renee,
Their cut is 70% in-between the prices of $2.99 and $9.99. It’s 30% if the price is above or below that range.
I’ve heard that Amazon often rejects books that have affiliate links in them, and that this practice is against the TOS. Is that something you’d worry about?
Only AMAZON Associates program links are against their TOS. Here’s the article I wrote on the topic: http://ultimatebookcoach.com/can-i-include-amazon-associates-affiliate-links-in-my-kindle-book/
Quote; ” … check to see if they have an affiliate program. Sign up and make sure to embed the link they provide inside your Kindle book”. Kristen doesn’t this violate Amazons TOS for Kindle Products?
Quote – “check to see if they have an affiliate program. Sign up and make sure to embed the link they provide inside your Kindle book.” Hi Kristen, doesn’t this infringe the (TOS) Terms of Service of Amazon?
Only AMAZON Associates program links are against their TOS. Here’s the article I wrote on the topic: http://ultimatebookcoach.com/can-i-include-amazon-associates-affiliate-links-in-my-kindle-book/
Realisatically, how many 99-cent ebooks can you sell on Amazon?
In non-fiction? Realistically not a ton. I have heard of some people selling up to 500 or even 1,000 copies each month, but that’s with some heavy duty marketing. In fiction? Much more realistic. Many fiction authors have become millionaires due to 99-cent Kindle books.