I've been writing and self-publishing eBooks online since 2002. I uploaded my first one to Amazon in 2008. Since then, I've gone on to publish over 50 more on the site. Following are three pieces of advice for writers who want to enter the self-publishing waters in 2014 – the Amazon waters that is.

1. Write – a Lot! It's rare that you'll be an Amanda Hocking or John Locke and make a million or more dollars with just a few eBooks. Nine times out of 10, you're going to have to write and publish a lot of eBooks.

I know this from my own experience. It wasn't until I'd published maybe 15 eBooks that I started to see some good sales, ie, a few hundred dollars per month, then a few thousand. FYI, I write in very defined niches and on stuff I have first-hand experience with – and still eBook sales were slow until I started to get more titles published.

So just know, you're unlikely to get rich, or even make a few hundred dollars per month UNTIL you get a good number of eBooks under your belt.

2. Get Professional eBook Covers Done: I can't stress this enough. Why? Because when you're trolling the Amazon site, what's the first thing potential buyers see? Your eBook's cover, right?

And if it's unprofessional, you can bet that it's going to a lot – I mean a lot! – harder to make sales.

There's tons of do-it-yourself software out there where you can create professional eBook covers – cheaply. Or, you can hire freelancers on sites like Fiverr.com or Craigslist. Or, you can hire higher-priced professional eBook cover artists/design firms.

How Much Do eBook Covers Cost?

They can be a few dollars if you go the do-it-yourself route, or they can go on up to $300, or $500 or more. It all depends. From most of the research I've done, you can get really professional eBook covers done for between $200 and $300.

So do your research and choose an option you can stick with for a while because if you choose to make self-publishing a career, you'll be getting a lot of covers done.

3. Learn Some SEO: SEO is the acronym for search engine optimization in case you don't know. It's all about how people search for and find stuff online. Learn the basics and apply it to Amazon, as explained in the article, Promoting Your Amazon Kindle eBook, which states:

. . . keywords are very important on Amazon . . . You can use the keywords you use for SEO but you can also take advantage of the options Amazon offers. For instance, Amazon gives you a bunch of 'Related Searches'. Check if these keywords are OK for you. Keep going on till you get the keywords that best match your book. Try sticking to keywords found in the 'Related Keywords' suggestions because these tend to be the most popular ones.

If phrases like SEO, keywords and tags confuse you, you'd better do some research and start learning this stuff. SEO is the backbone of how to market EVERYTHING online. You don't have to become a tech guru, but you should learn the basics so you can make it easy for potential readers to find your eBook online. It can literally mean the difference between selling 5 copies per month – and 500 copies per month.

Conclusion

Self-publishing is growing by leaps and bounds. And more and more never-before-published writers are making goo gobs of money getting their work out there. Proof? See this post on the earnings of some self-published authors. You won't believe some of these numbers! But, you must treat it like a business, ie, getting professional covers, learning how to market it, etc., in order to make it profitable.

As an aside, since 2010, over half my annual income has come from eBooks I write and self-publish. I refer to it as my "retirement package," because as self-publishing guru JA Konrath is famous for saying, "eBooks are forever," (and so is their earning power).

Good luck if you decide to enter the self-publishing waters in 2014. There's never been a better time.

Author Bio
Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com, a site devoted to helping others start successful freelance writing careers. She self-published her first eBook in 2002, and has written over 50 to date – most without spending a dime. Learn how to make money self-publishing your own eBooks for $0, including how to market them and start getting sales within the first week! 

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