This part of my giveaway holiday season tips series has a special place in my mind. Special because it is one of those rare things in life that has no natural boundaries or limitations and genuinely can generate, in time, a full-time income for someone with enough passion and a little drive.
And there are no qualifications required for this except perhaps passion.
When I was a teenager, there were two things I was very passionate about. Sadly, the passion did not burn high enough in me, and I was all too easily influenced and redirected away from what I wanted by the pressure to get out to work and earn, as I suspect most of us were.
The two things? I wanted to get into music as a profession and write books that people would like to buy. The desire to become a musician very quickly died when I realised that it took far more drive and determination than I had inside me.
But I had a particular love for fantasy novels and spy thrillers, and it seemed natural to dream about producing my own. I must have read everything Ian Fleming wrote (except Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - what the hell was that about!), and I was a JRR Tolkien nut.
The point is that had Amazon been a thing back then, well, I would have written books like there was no tomorrow!
Young people today have it so good. Anyone can write a book and get it published, but not so back in my youth. That doesn't mean you have to be young to get into this, but we all know how much extra energy we have as young adults compared to later life.
I have the honour of being one of those people rejected by a publisher. I wasn't strong enough back then to accept the rejection, so I gave up on my second big dream. back when I wanted to be the next Ian Fleming, your only route to a published novel was through a literary agent and publishing house.
Amazon and what you can do with it has now evolved beyond recognition. When Amazon first appeared and started selling books online in 1995, it changed the world forever. When Jeff Bezos started his "little" enterprise in his garage at home (originally called Cadabra), little did he know how many lives he would change in the process.
But let's think about something other than Amazon as a launchpad for the next one-million-dollar best-selling novel. Because thoughts like that, to be worthy of consideration, have to be fueled by a driving force inside that few of us really have. There are much simpler ways to tap into the Amazon money supply.
You Can Self-Publish a Low-Content Book on Amazon KDP
Overview:
You can create and sell low-content books like journals, planners, or notebooks using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.
Steps to Get Started:
Use Canva or Book Bolt (free trials available) to design simple journals or planners.
Create an Amazon KDP account (free to sign up).
Upload your book design and set a price. Amazon handles printing and shipping, and you earn royalties.
Research niches using free tools like Amazon Best Sellers (use the search tool inside your Amazon account) to find what’s trending.
Why It Works:
Low-content books are easy to create and have minimal competition compared to traditional books. For example, a visually pleasing gratitude journal priced at just £7.99 can generate significant ongoing royalties. Go into your Amazon account and type "GRATITUDE JOURNAL" in the search bar, and be prepared to be amazed.
I highlighted gratitude journals because they can be designed and written from scratch in a few hours and are then ready to publish. Quite frankly, with the help of A.I., you could probably get the whole lot done faster.
Do they sell? Will they make you money? Yes, they do, and the money literally comes down to how determined you are and how much effort you put in (especially with the look).
You can make separate ones with different themes, different target audiences, and different time of year occasions highlighted. Just think about it. You could be looking at low to Zero overheads and a range of products to sell almost overnight.
I kid you not, if you started right away you could get one up for sale in time for Christmas!
Free Resources:
Here's To You! You Inspirational Publisher!
John Duncan
