How To Make Money With Kindle Publishing On Amazon

Get the free checklist: the 12 steps I follow for every book I publish.

Yes, you can still make money with Kindle publishing on Amazon, but the years when almost anything sold are gone. To make money now, publish early, follow the key steps to optimize your book, and learn just in time instead of just in case. I can’t promise results, but it is realistic if you follow the steps. Here is how.

Is the golden age of Kindle over?

Between about 2010 and 2015, almost anything put on Kindle sold. Then the market filled with books, many people who had been making great sales watched them evaporate, and some became discouraged. Some wondered whether you can make money on Kindle at all.

When I started in 2015, I was told the golden age was already over and that I was far too late. That was wrong. It is true that you can’t throw garbage onto Amazon and make money, as people used to. But if you optimize the book and write something people want to read, it can still sell a lot of copies. There is already an audience out there. In nonfiction we pull those readers in and keep them buying book after book.

It is also a long game. The Alliance of Independent Authors surveyed more than 2,000 indie authors. For those who spend more than half their working time on writing and publishing, the median income for 2022 was $12,749, and over half of the self-published authors surveyed had more than 10 books out (ALLi Author Income Survey, 17-Apr-23). More on this in can you make money self-publishing on Kindle.

How much does Kindle pay per sale?

For ebooks, KDP has two royalty options. On Amazon.com the 70% option covers prices from $2.99 to $12.99, and the 35% option covers prices from $0.99 (it depends on file size) up to $200 (KDP pricing, effective 7-Jul-26). With the 70% option, delivery costs are taken off. KDP says they average $0.06 a unit and vary with file size (KDP royalty options). Public domain content is limited to 35%. Prices and rules change, so check the pages before you set yours.

1. Why should I publish before my book is perfect?

Get started today. When is the best time to plant an apple tree? Twenty years ago. The next best time is today.

With Kindle, you can update the cover, description, keywords, categories and price after the book is live (KDP, update book details). The title, subtitle and primary author name are locked once an ebook is published, so get those right first. A traditional publisher freezes much more and needs permissions. So put the book out, make sales and use the money to improve the cover and the rest over time. It does not have to be perfect, and it is easier to improve a book with real readers than to polish one nobody has seen. See when to self-publish.

2. Which steps matter most now?

Do not skip the key steps. That is why I made the 12-step self-publishing checklist: so you know the ones that make money now, because some have changed. It is more competitive, and there are still markets where you can make money. The question is not whether, but how well you do the steps. See also is self-publishing on Kindle still worth it?.

3. What is just-in-time learning?

This is the one that can destroy your income. If you learn all sorts of things “just in case” you might need them but never implement them, you use up your time, and time is your most valuable resource. Just-in-time learning means you learn a skill when you are ready to use it: when you need a new cover, you learn about covers. A good rule is to spend about half your time creating new content, so that you are not learning without doing. If you are, stop learning and start doing.

When do I get paid for Kindle+ page reads?

If your book is in KDP Select, Kindle+ earnings come from your share of the KDP Select Global Fund, based on subscriber reading measured in Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP). They show up the month after, when the Global Fund is announced, and KDP pays them on the same schedule and payment method you chose for your other sales. KENP counts can change until they are finalized near the 15th of the following month.

What should I do next?

Grab the free checklist and pick the next step. What tricks have you found for making money with Kindle publishing? Tell me in the comments.

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