26-Year-Old Is Making Millions With Amazon Kindle

[cmb]

It sounds too good to be true, but really, I wouldn't object to making that kind of money...

http://www.businessinsider.com/amanda-hocking-2011-2

[Cheryl Shireman]

It is true. She has had an amazing success story. As had other writers going the independent route. I just wrote an article on this subject today if you guys are interested. I think we call all support and learn from each other!

Independent authors are the new pioneers. Go West Young Man became the mantra for the Nineteenth Century migration. Adventurous and bold men and women packed all of their belongings into a wagon and headed west with dreams of a better life. The mantra for the Twenty-First Century might well be - Go Independent Young Man.  Only now that mantra applies to both young and old, both men and women. The world of Independent Publishing is full of pioneers breaking trails and bushwhacking their way through the wilderness of eBooks and eBook promotion.

Amazon is selling more eBooks than traditional books. Amazon, one of the largest retailers of books, reports since mid-year 2010 they have consistently been selling more eBooks than printed books. While industry analysts predicted that Amazon was likely to sell 2 to 3 million Kindle eBook readers in the year 2010, actual numbers are reported to be over 8 million.

Amazon’s list of Kindle bestsellers is full of Independent Authors. Amazon’s “Bestsellers in the Kindle Store” which lists the top 100 titles (and is updated hourly) is full of independent authors. As of this writing, Amanda Hocking, 26-year-old Indie Author (as Independent Authors are often referred to) has a staggering 5 novels in this top 100 list (#37, #44, #57, #58, #60). Right now, one of her novels....  Click here if you would like to read the rest of the article.  http://cherylshireman.com/781/independent-publishing-the-wild-wild-west/

[AJ Barnett]

Wow! I'd like a bite of that cherry.

[Tony_A20]

non-US residents might like to check out this thread before they start counting their money.

http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?messageID=19585&#19585

Tony

P.S. cub06h is an Amazon shill.

[DGSquared]

Tony, I'm assuming that you are the one with the Amazon Kindle Candian/US Tax trouble, yes?

I'm curious as to what became of your struggle there.

Thanks.
~Deb

[Tony_A20]

Hello Deb,

Yes, I’m the one who started the thread on the Kindle direct publishing forum.

There wasn’t any “struggle.” There was a week of investigation, browsing, and commenting, in order to come to my decision, which was not to publish with Kindle.

If you had continued reading the thread from the point at which the above link takes you, you would have found this post.
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Personal Website vs. Mass Market Web Publisher
Posted: Nov 22, 2010 8:44 PM   in response to: notjohn       
     
As the person who started this thread, I thought you all might be interested to know how I made out by self-publishing my books on my own website, www.katiebooks.ca as I mentioned above was my intention after I investigated the problems associated with obtaining an exemption from US withholding taxation.

Without any attempt to advertise or promote my books, and relying solely on chance and word-of-mouth, I have been averaging 400-600 unique visitors/month, from 40/50 countries, and an average of 60/100 copies of my books have been downloaded each month since the first version of my website appeared eight months ago.

Giving the books away for free certainly encourages downloads, and I might starting charging if I ever consider my writing worth someone's money, nevertheless I'm sure my monthly traffic is more than I would have if my books were buried among the countless thousands on any mass marketing web publisher.

I'm sure it worth every author's time to explore selling their work on a personal website, as the initial cost for acquiring a domain and web building software is nominal (under $200), and building a website not difficult to do nowadays with available software. Resultant book sales then provide 100% royalties, no tax problems other than reporting income on your personal tax return in your own country, with all writing expenses including purchase of the domain name, software, additional website content (stock photos etc), and internet access as deductible expenses. If my writing skills were better, or my ego greater, the additional minor cost of a PayPal account would, I'm sure, provide a steady income for an activity I enjoy.

Wherever an author may live, a personal website provides a world-wide retail outlet and an opportunity to sell to readers at a remarkably low cost. It provides closer contact with readers, and a focus for future sales. Please visit www.katiebooks.ca for an example.

Good luck with your writing,

Tony
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Since posting the above, my website stats have improved somewhat. Katiebooks.ca is now averaging about 1000 visitors, and 250 book downloads, a month. Site visitors come from over fifty countries. The most popular pages are still the e-book tutorials, but the Reader’s page displaying my books are a close second. The Writer’s page is gaining popularity.

As an amateur writer, making my stories available on my own website is a good solution to the problem of what to do with them when they are finished. The one problem I am experiencing is that I receive almost no feedback from readers, therefore I have no indication how well my books are received. Nevertheless, I still think avoiding the tax reporting problems on Kindle was a wise decision. Since I publish my e-books in the most popular e-book formats, they are still available to Kindle readers, and the users of other reading devices.

I hope the above answers your question and satisfies your curiosity.

[DGSquared]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I may have misconstrued comments from others fielded by you as a 'struggle' to get to the bottom of things. If I glance over a page and smell a troll - I'm out as I don't have time to waste arguing with people who don't agree with me. That was a bad joke.

Nevertheless:

Your comment is most intriguing and I like that you have chosen to branch out on your own.
As for feedback from your readers, I would think that your steady incline of popularity is a good indication that people enjoy or benefit from your work. Your tenacity is a gift that coupled with your writing should allow you to see some sort of profit from your efforts. Don't short sell yourself. Once you put a price tag on your work and try to sell it, what is the worst that can happen?

Best of luck to you.


~Deb

[Tony_A20]

Hello Deb,

Visitors increase over time because more people are on the Internet, and the increasing popularity of e-book readers, means that more people are searching for e-books to read. The increase of visitors and downloads indicated by my website statistics, just means I’m getting a share of the demand.

Unfortunately, downloads are not a measure of reader satisfaction. More visitors means more people will download something. I would much rather have fewer downloads and some reader feedback.

As an amateur writer, my goal is to learn how to write interesting and satisfying stories, that’s all. Feedback tells me how I’m proceeding towards my goal. If any one of my stories became truly popular, with hundreds of downloads each month, I would believe I had reached my goal, and stop writing, so I could begin learning something new. I think however, I will be stuck on this writing treadmill forever.

My website provides an opportunity for public “beta-readers,” to read what I write, and tell me what they think.

I am progressing in learning how to write stories, but I am failing abysmally in attracting readers willing to comment on what they have read.

This forum provides an opportunity to receive critical comment, and I have learned a great deal in the few months I have been a member.

The only “profit,” which interests me, is the pleasure and satisfaction readers find in my stories. Of course, it would help a lot if they told me, good or bad, what they think.

Oh well, back to my keyboard (microphone really), I'm starting another one.


 

[DGSquared]

When I get a good chunk of spare time, I'll try to look over your site and get some feedback to you, for what it's worth.

[Tony_A20]

Thanks Deb,

Your offer is appreciated, but it's not necessary.  I'll hit on the right formula sooner or later.

Tony