Lost In Amazon 2: Why Is Just As Important As How

Contrary to popular belief, everybody has at least one book in them. Before my fellow writers bite my head off, please note that I did not say, "Everybody has a good book in them." Nor did I say, "Everybody has a saleable book in them." 

The terms "good" and "saleable" may well be moot.

I started this series because I was curious. I wanted to see if we could put our collective heads together to crack the "Amazon Code." 

It started with a simple question, "Can a reasonably good writer make a reasonable living selling books on Amazon?" Like many simple questions, it's only simple on the surface.

There's no such thing as a simple U$136,000,000,000 market.

My goal is to generate U$100,000 in annualized sales from Amazon within three years. That would be about U$70,000 a year. That's my definition of "reasonable."

I may be naive. I also like tough goals. I reserve the right to modify this target. I do have other things to do. I still need to manage myTweetPack.com. I still have client work to put out.

I can't devote myself full-time to this. I'm guessing neither can you. We may have to extrapolate full-time numbers from part-time efforts.

I'll be chronicling the voyage from "OH, YES!!!!" through "OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!" while, no doubt, passing through, "What the f*ck possessed me to f*cking start this f*cking bullshit? F*CK!"

Success would put me in the Top 100,000 sellers on Amazon. A lofty goal. 

Not everyone will share that target

That's okay. Not everyone can. Not everyone even wants to. Frankly, I'm not sure I want to.

Everyone really does have a book inside them. Do you want to get yours out? 

You need to ask yourself that question. If you answer, "Yes." ask, "Why?"

This series will focus on eBooks-as-Widgets, or, if you prefer, eBooks-as-Products. 

• We will go into hacks of how to write them as fast as possible as cheaply as possible. All the while maintaining as high a quality level as we are able. we may well surprise ourselves.
• We will go into the technical aspects of eBook creation. That would mean how to bring a finished Microsoft Word document (the Amazon preferred source) to a near-professional-quality eBook. That's easier said than done.
• We will discuss how we can promote the work. Writing is the easy part.
• We will discuss crowd-tactics for support during the writing/editing phase as well as pre-launch, launch, and post-launch.
• We will do that while focusing on eBooks-as-Product

eBook-as-Product aims to monetize eBooks. We need a way to measure success. For this test, success will be measured in $$ as balanced against time. 

Financial gain is not everyone's end goal.

What's yours?

There are plenty of reasons to write that have nothing to do with money. 

• Maybe you just want to tell your story.
• Maybe it's a vanity piece.
• Maybe it's to set yourself up as an authority. An eBook can be glorified business card, and a darned good one at that.
• Maybe it's to cater to a set captive market. A manufacturer may publish eBooks for its dealers.
• Maybe it's just about something you need to get off your chest.
• Maybe you just want others to learn from your trials and tribulations.
• . . . .

These goals will require a completely different mindset. With dollars off the table, you're just looking at distribution. Much of what we will discuss will have little or no bearing. 

The posts about the actual creation of the eBook will help.

The posts about getting the first draft done will help.

The posts about the technical side of going from Word to Kindle will help.

The posts about promotion, co-promotion, and cooperative support will help.

The posts about additional revenue streams/sources may or may not, help.

So, Why do YOU want to write?

That assumes you do want to write. I expect many readers will just follow along out of curiosity. 

Some will follow along "just in case" they ever decide to do it.

Many others will follow along just to see just how spectacularly I can fail at this. 

No worries.

Step one is figuring out WHY you want to write if indeed you do.

I'll leave you to it.