Self-Publishing

As the author of 9 self-published books, including a few Amazon bestsellers, I think self-publishing is a fun and rewarding side hustle.

The lightbulb moment for me came early on. I’d published my first book (on how to hire and work with virtual assistants), and I expected to sell a few copies through my website, which I tracked with my Amazon affiliate link.

The surprising thing was almost none of the sales came through my site; instead they came organically through Amazon. Even though my first author royalty check was less than $50, I was excited. I’m a professional author! Someone (several people) bought my book!

Since then I’ve published more titles and learned more about the writing, editing, and marketing process. One of my book projects generated 20,000 free downloads in its first week and went on to earn passive royalties for over a year.

More recently, I launched a new book at $0.99 and it became a bestseller on its first day, and netted $2600 in its first month.

If you’d like to learn more about my book launch process, especially for non-fiction authors without a huge platform, check this link for a special offer on my Udemy course that walks you through the whole process start-to-finish.

How a Self-Published Book Turned into a Full-Time Business

August 25, 2023August 4, 2022

This week’s episode is about self-publishing, which we’ve covered before. But this week’s guests have turned the success of their book into a full-time business that’s still growing in momentum.

In late 2020, Justin and Alexis Black self-published their first book Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat The Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness and Love.

Redefining Normal currently has over 200 reviews on Amazon and has sold more than 9,000 copies in the two years since it was published.

19 Marketing Tips for Books (and Other Products) From Bestselling Authors

August 25, 2023August 5, 2021

What’s the best way to write a bestselling book? Ask a hundred people and you’ll get 100 different answers.

This post serves a couple purposes. The first is to collect and share some awesome book marketing tips from the authors you’ll find below. After all, the “round-up” post format is a proven winner.

The second purpose is admittedly a little more self-serving. I’ve got a new book launch coming up and wanted to hear from some of the best in the business what I should to give it the best chances for success.

$1K 100 Ways: The Book Project 6 Years in the Making

August 25, 2023July 27, 2021

In early 2015, I registered the domain name 1k100ways.com.

I thought it would be awesome to showcase 100 different ways to earn an extra $1000, and highlight some of the great work of the Side Hustle Nation community.

And then I sat on it.

Children’s Publishing: How to Make Money with Kids Books on Amazon

July 18, 2022June 24, 2021

Royalties from book sales is one of the most passive of all my income streams.

After you create a book, with print or digital distribution handled by Amazon, you can collect royalties for years.

And while I enjoy the writing process and have published several titles myself, I have yet to venture into the world of children’s books.

364: Public Domain Publishing: $100,000 Selling Classic Books on Amazon

June 22, 2020December 5, 2019

Looking for a part-time side hustle where you get can your inventory for free and there are almost no startup costs?

This week, I’m excited to introduce the side hustle of public domain publishing.

This is the art and science of republishing classic literature – where the copyrights have expired – and earning passive royalties when your version sells.

Lead Generation on Amazon: How to Reach New Qualified Prospects on Autopilot

June 19, 2021June 24, 2019

As a blogger or business owner, are you using Amazon to generate new leads and reach more potential customers?

If not, I think you’re missing out.

Amazon is the 4th most popular site in the country (according to Alexa), which means there are probably a metric ton of potential customers searching there for what you know about.

339: Low Content Publishing: Can You Make Money Selling Blank Books on Amazon?

August 25, 2023June 13, 2019

This week I’m excited to introduce one of the hottest side hustles of the moment, and that is low-content self-publishing.

What is low-content publishing?

Let me explain — self-publishing has been around for a decade, and we’ve covered that quite a bit in both fiction and non-fiction — it’s one of my favorite and perhaps most passive side hustles. Write the book, hit publish, collect royalties for years.

Creating and Launching a KDP Print Journal: The Making of The Progress Journal

June 19, 2021November 27, 2018

What inspired me to create and launch The Progress Journal last month?

Like many of my projects, a few planets came into alignment around the same time.

277: How to Set Up and Sell a Group Coaching Program

January 5, 2023April 5, 2018

Paul Brodie is a former special needs teacher turned 11-time Amazon bestselling author. What started as a side hustle writing about his own weight loss journey turned into a string of bestselling titles on Amazon, $3000 paid speaking gigs, 1-on-1 self-publishing coaching, and ultimately the group coaching program I invited Paul on the show to share … Read more

Self-Publishing Income Report: 12 Months Post-Launch

December 4, 2020September 25, 2017

A year ago I launched my book Buy Buttons out into the world.

It was my most ambitious book project to-date, and I put a lot of effort into the creation and marketing of it.

The launch did well. The book became an Amazon bestseller on its first day and earned around $2600 in profit in its first month.

But several people have asked how it’s done since then, and while I had a vague idea that it was still selling daily, I figured the 1-year anniversary would be a good excuse to dive into the numbers to see in concrete terms how profitable it’s been in its first year.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social