How To Write A Short, Super Useful, Bestselling Kindle Book
Like the one I spent this week updating
This week I’ve been completely updating my Kindle book Free Tools for Writers, Bloggers and Solopreneurs. This is it’s 6th edition, since it was first published ten years ago. It has now sold well over 10,000 copies, and has more than 400 reviews with a 4.5 star rating on Amazon. It’s dipped in and out of the bestselling (in category) list over the years and hit number one (again, in category) a few times.
The odd thing about this, perhaps, is that it’s a ridiculously simple ‘book’. In fact it’s more like a list. A list of free tools any writer or blogger can use, with short descriptions of what they do and why I like them, and links to those tools. It includes apps, platforms, online tools, and free downloads.
It’s also very cheap, at 99 cents, and therein lies its success. None of these tools are a secret. They’re all freely available online. But you can spend time and effort searching for all the tools you need (and then experiment to find which work best for you), or you can spend less than a buck to have them all on your device, easy to find, via a direct link, vetted by someone else.
You may be thinking: “Yeah, but you’re not actually earning any significant money from a 99 cent ebook.” You’d be right. The money from direct sales is just about enough to keep me in pens and notebooks (if I shop at the dollar store - which I’m just gonna admit I sometimes do).
However I do make money from my Kindle book, because it contains affiliate links. Odd, in a book of free tools, yes? But we all know that some free tools have upsells and that many of them have affiliate programs that track leads and pay out when people upgrade. (This is fully disclosed in the introduction to the book, of course.)
Far more importantly (in my opinion), my book has links to encourage people to come join me here on Substack, or follow me on Medium (the two most important platforms that are part of my 2024 three-platforms-only revamp). My Kindle book isn’t a just a book (as I’ve said, it’s hardly that, to be honest). It’s a tool to (a) help people, and (b) bring people into my community.
Want to follow in my footsteps?
Here’s what I suggest you do:
Write a very short, super simple, but very useful Kindle book
It’s fine if it basically compiles information that’s already ‘out there’ into one convenient, easy-to-consult, pleasant-to-consume resource
Solve one very specific problem that your current audience (or the audience you’d like to build) are facing
Make it clear in your title and book description what the book does
Include affiliate links if relevant, and disclose them
Add a clear call-to-action that’s extremely relevant to your audience
Price it low
Questions? The comments are open.
Some thoughts from others I’ve been enjoying this week
Empower Yourself: Writer's Toolbox for Battling Trolls and Cultivating a Supportive Online Environment by BadRedheadMedia, LLC
11 quotes from famous authors that will make you a better writer by Alex Mathers
Your next act: On sustaining who you are and what you create by
Your CTAs Are Not Working Because They Are Boring As Hell by
Podcasts as the "New" Book Promotion Tool by
6 Ways to Become Notable on Substack by Boosting Your Visibility by
What else I’ve been up to this week
(Re)Reading: Factfulness by Hans Rosling (it’s one of the 3 Books That Reduced My Anxiety & Depression About The State of The World)
Listening to: Trusting your gut on a complicated plot from the
podcast (just started this - will be listening today because I have a complex plot idea I’m wrestling with)Enjoying: Making (a little) progress with rehabbing my frozen shoulder (I can put my hair in a pony tail - but not my hand in my back pocket)
Not enjoying: How freakin’ long it takes to rehab a frozen shoulder
My recent Medium posts
(Friend links, of course, so you can read for free):
That’s all for this week. If you’re reading this online, feel free to subscribe to get future posts straight to your inbox.
Some of the links that you’ll find in my content all around the web are affiliate links. If you buy through me, I may earn a small commission. Find out more about how I use affiliate links here.
The newsletter is free right now, and will remain so for the foreseeable future, but if you want to buy me a cup of tea (or even a book) you can.
Just picked up a copy :) Looking forward to seeing how you laid it out.
I wrote a book called, "The Fiverr Work Week" [now oop] with lots of different gigs that you could do for minimal time and it also did a lot of sales, included a CTA for a consultation for new Fiverr'r's.
Brilliant. It's true, though. It's hard not to think of a book as an enormous project, but maybe it doesn't have to be. Do you have one problem that you can solve in someone's life? That's worth 99 cents to me!