If you don’t know what Kindle publishing is by now, then you must be new to the whole idea of making money online. Let alone the idea of making money online by selling ebooks on Amazon.
I say that with confidence because Kindle publishing is one of the easiest ways to start making money online for anyone with a few hours to spare and a few hundred dollars to invest. Because of this, Kindle publishing is one of the first streams of income most people establish online.
Kindle publishing is the act of identifying what the market wants in terms of published content and then creating it to make a profit. That’s the very core of how the business model works.
Kindle publishing is actually the beginning of my own journey into passive income and making money online. I make a steady $2000 per month from it and because of this modest, but steady amount, I have been able to live life on my own terms and less rat-race like. You can read more about Kindle publishing here if you’re interested.
But today I want to do some myth busting about Kindle publishing.
It Kindle Publishing Income, Really Passive Income?
Kindle publishing has been labeled as a passive income stream since day one, and that’s the reason why I got into it myself. (Who doesn’t like the idea of making money without putting active hours in?)
But as I help more and more people start their own Kindle publishing businesses, I’m starting to question how true this really is. And the reason for this is down to the fact that many of my students are asking me how I managed to take a step back from it all, TO ACTUALLY let it become passive income.
See, the thing is, all passive income streams take sweat capital or money capital to start. Online passive income streams mostly take sweat capital. A.K.A, your time and effort.
So much for passive income huh.
The idea is to put in the effort and time upfront and then reap the rewards from it in the long-run.
And the idea works. I’m a living example of it.
But the problem occurs when people get greedy. They learn how the business works, they start making money and they start making more and then at some point their initial goal of $1000 “passive income” per month turns into $3000 “passive income” per month and then $10,000 “passive income” per month etc etc.
I see this time and time again. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a problem, but eventually, that dream of having passive income fades and my students have found them stuck in another job they don’t particularly love…or even like.
Because let’s be honest, Kindle publishing isn’t a dream job. No one does it because they like publishing itself. We do it because it frees us from immediate financial stress and time in life to THEN go do things we actually love to do.
That’s why I’m going to do some myth-busting, because when I see some of my students falling into the rabbit hole of making Amazon Kindle publishing active income; they lose sight of what Kindle publishing was supposed to do in the first place.
It’s my job to knock some sense back into them.
And instead of doing it one email reply at a time. I’m just going to link them to this post. And if you’ve stumbled upon this post then stay until the end because this is still going to be helpful.
In terms of:
- Knowing how to approach Kindle publishing the right way
- Understanding business objectives
- Knowing how to avoid trapping yourself into an unhappy life
So let’s begin.
The Problem is in the Numbers
It takes on average 8 – 10 hours collectively to publish one book onto the Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Most publishers will aim to publish around 1 book per week. That’s up to 40 working hours per month.
Industry-wide, the average book makes $100 per month. That average doesn’t provide much insight at all. Because the amount a book makes varies based on the keyword, the publisher’s skill level, and the quality of the book.
For example, I have books that make around the $100 per month mark and I have a few that make $300+ then I have a whole bunch that brings in $20 – 50 per month. And then of course, another bunch that brings in nothing.
And this is what every publisher’s portfolio is going to look like. 20% of your books make 80% of your income and 80% of your books will make up the other 20%.
Additionally, not all books keep selling after the first 3 months. Again this depends on the keyword, the publisher’s skill level and the quality of the book.
I have books that have consistently made me money for a few years now and many that lasted 12 months, 6 months and only 3 months.
So what does this all mean?
It’s not simple math to reach your financial goals in Kindle publishing. You do not simply divide your target number by 100 and know exactly how many books you need to publish.
Sometimes you will need less, but most of the time you will need more.
Meaning more active hours into the business.
Now, you might be thinking “That’s okay, I just work a bit more to make more and then I’ll have a bigger passive income stream when I finally stop.” which seems logical but doesn’t actually work in real life.
And the reason is because of time.
Time is Always of The Essence
I mentioned the 20/80 rule that occurs for most publishers as well as myself, where I make $2000+ per month. If you want to make $5000, you’re looking to publish double my amount. On average.
It took me about 1.5 years to reach this level. So $5000 will take 3 years and $10,000 will take 6 years.
And don’t think you can shorten the time by publishing more per month. You just end up burning out and making more mistakes so your 20/80 becomes 10/90.
Yikes!
Of course, not everyone is going to take 3 years to reach $5000 or 6 years to $10,000, but these are very safe estimates based on my own experience as well as many other publishers I know.
So now you have to ask yourself, is 3 years worth $5000? This one is debatable, some people will say yes, some will say no.
Is 6 years worth $10,000? I would firmly say no. You could make that amount faster with other online passive income methods such as affiliate marketing.
And this is the reason why I always tell people to expect to make up to $5000 per month from Kindle publishing if they want passive income. Anything beyond this and it’s just another job.
A very repetitive, unfulfilling job.
On the other hand, if you stick to aiming for $1000 – 2000 per month, you’re looking at giving yourself a part-time job for a year or two and then enjoying a passive income stream that can really change your life.
$1000 to $2000 per month is enough to cover the bills and pay off debt quicker. It’s enough to start thinking about retirement and planning for it if you have a full time income as well. It can buy you time to spend with family. It can mean sleeping easier at night and waking up without a dark cloud over you.
My Advice for You
So here is my two cents for anyone thinking of starting a Kindle publishing business.
It’s a great opportunity that has forever changed my life and it can change your life for the better as well. Kindle publishing can be a powerful opportunity to enjoy the benefits of passive income. But it’s not going to make you “rich”.
Kindle publishing isn’t supposed to be a 6 figure income stream. Passive or active. It’s supposed to be a low barrier, low risk business model to start learning the key skills of online business. Like keywords, SEO, social media marketing, outsourcing and the concept of selling digital products.
Skills you can take and use in almost every other online passive income method out there.
Kindle publishing shouldn’t be your empire. It should be the first brick you lay to build your empire.
Learn how to do it, get some experience, make some money, experience first hand how incredible it is to make money online and make passive income in life. THEN RUN WITH IT!
Expand into more challenging online passive income methods that make more money.
I did. I now have 4 online based passive income streams and enjoy a location independent life where I can take time off for family and for travel.
You can check out my video course, If you’re looking for guidance on how to get started with Kindle Publishing.
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