Much has changed in the world of books over the past few years, and it has made the possibility of becoming a published author much more attainable for everyone. Yes, everyone!
That’s not to say that any piece of nonsense will qualify as literature – quality writing and clean text still will rule the day – but there now are no barriers for you to see your work in print.
Zero … None … Nada.
That’s right … you no longer have to wade through a quagmire of publishers and literary agents with the faint hope of having one of them pick up your manuscript. No more rejection letters!
Why? It’s because the largest product site on the web has made it easy for you to self-publish and bypass all that nonsense. Amazon wants to be your retailer and distributor to the world for e-books and print-on-demand physical books.
And yes, I highly recommend taking Amazon up on its offer.
Have you noticed the trend over the past few years of bookstores disappearing? Borders went out of business, and Barnes and Noble has introduced board game sales and coffee shops to try and generate revenue while closing locations around the country.
It looks very similar to the losing battle that record stores fought with digital downloads and online sales of CDs, doesn’t it?
Amazon already is selling twice the number of e-books as it does physical books, and it has about 400 million credit cards on file to help shoppers make impulse buys. You no longer even need a Kindle to read a Kindle book. There are free apps for tablets, smart phones, PCs and Macs.
Amazon was very smart in realizing the way it would generate the most revenue was by making it as easy as possible for the buying public to purchase these digital books. Thankfully, Amazon is willing to share the wealth with us.
Think about it: Amazon offers the ability to upload manuscripts for digital or physical books at no cost; they don’t pre-approve manuscripts; and they pay royalties with far sweeter percentages than traditional publishers would ever dream of paying.
The trick to selling copies and making money for yourself comes down to online marketing campaigns that attract web surfers and Amazon surfers to your book. That takes its own level of expertise, but the good news is there is help available.
Correctly formatting your e-book, choosing a title and cover design that will attract attention, editing services to make sure your text is clean, and marketing it to the world all are skills you or someone on your team needs to have.
I learned the hard way that the traditional publishing game is not a winning proposition for most authors. Click here to learn more about how you can work with me in making your dreams of becoming a published author come true.