Passive Income: I Sold Blank Books On Amazon, here's how...

Summary

This video explores the lucrative potential of selling low-content books on Amazon, specifically planners, as passive income. The host tests the concept by creating a planner using Book Bolt, setting a one-hour deadline, and detailing the process from cover design to Amazon KDP listing. The result? Initial sales and a profitable venture with minimal risk.

Takeaways

• 💰 Selling low content books on Amazon can generate significant passive income, with some individuals earning thousands of dollars monthly.
• 📈 The creator sets a challenge to test the viability of this income stream by creating and selling their own low content book within an hour, adhering to three specific rules.
• 🛠️ Book Bolt is identified as an easy-to-use software for designing books, suitable for those without computer design skills.
• 🔍 Research is crucial for identifying popular low content book types, with planners being highlighted as a good choice due to their evergreen nature and high sales volume.
• 📚 The importance of avoiding high competition in the market is discussed, but it's noted that high competition doesn't preclude the possibility of making sales.
• 🎨 Creating an appealing book cover is essential, with the use of royalty-free images from Pixelbay suggested to avoid copyright issues.
• 🏷️ Branding the book can boost sales, as customers may be more likely to purchase from a recognizable brand.
• 📝 The script emphasizes the ease of creating book content using templates, which allows the creator to avoid writing any content.
• 📈 Amazon KDP is the platform of choice for publishing the book, offering a print-on-demand service with no minimum sales requirement for payment.
• 📊 Tags and categories are highlighted as key factors for visibility and sales on Amazon, with the suggestion to use high search volume tags and less popular categories.
• 💡 The creator's experiment resulted in initial sales after a few days, demonstrating the potential for passive income from low content books, even with minimal initial investment.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is about making and selling low content books, specifically planners, on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) as a source of passive income.

What are the three rules set by the person in the video for their project?

The three rules set by the person are: 1) Not writing a single sentence in the book, 2) Doing everything from their laptop, and 3) Finishing the book in less than an hour.

What software does the person use to create the book?

The person uses Book Bolt software to create the book, as it is easy to use and suitable for someone with no computer design skills.

Why did the person choose to create a planner as their low content book?

The person chose to create a planner because it sells well, is not seasonal, and has a high search volume, making it an evergreen option.

What is the significance of using the Book Bolt research tab in the process?

The Book Bolt research tab is used to find out what types of low content books are popular, helping the person decide on creating a planner.

How does the person handle the cover design for the planner?

The person uses a black minimalistic design for the cover, avoiding copyrighted photos and using copyright-free images from Pixelbay.

What is the importance of creating a brand for the books?

Creating a brand for the books helps in promoting sales and recognition. If one book sells well, customers may recognize the brand and purchase other books under the same brand.

How does the person ensure the inside pages of the planner are designed without writing any sentences?

The person uses template options provided by Book Bolt to design the inside pages of the planner, which allows for planning without the need to write any sentences.

What is the process of getting the book live on Amazon KDP?

The person exports the book from Book Bolt, downloads the necessary files, and then uploads them to Amazon KDP. They fill out the necessary details, set a price, and publish the book, which is then available for sale once approved.

What is the financial outcome of the person's first attempt at selling the planner on Amazon KDP?

After the book was approved and listed on Amazon KDP, the person made their first sale on the fourth day and ended up selling 10 books, earning a total of $149.90. After deducting Amazon's costs and the Book Bolt membership fee, the net profit was $26.91.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Making Money with Low Content Books on Amazon

The speaker discusses the lucrative potential of selling blank or low content books on Amazon, highlighting personal experiences of earning significant royalties. They set a challenge to create and sell their own low content book, adhering to three rules: no writing, all work done from a laptop, and completion within an hour. The process begins with finding an easy-to-use software, opting for Book Bolt, and deciding on the type of book to sell. The speaker uses Book Bolt's research tab to identify popular low content books, settling on planners due to their year-round demand and evergreen nature. They emphasize the importance of market research to find high search volume, low competition, and high monthly sales products. The video also covers creating a book cover, avoiding copyrighted photos, and using royalty-free images. The speaker promotes the idea of branding for better customer recognition and potential sales.

05:01

📈 Launching a Low Content Book on Amazon KDP

The speaker continues their journey by detailing the process of creating a book cover and interior pages using Book Bolt. They choose a standard 6x9 paperback size and a minimalistic black design for the cover, emphasizing the importance of avoiding copyrighted material. The book is set to be 365 pages long, formatted as a daily planner. The speaker discusses the benefits of using Amazon KDP for publishing, which only prints books upon order, eliminating upfront costs. They guide through setting up an Amazon KDP account, filling out necessary details, and choosing an authorial name. The video covers selecting a compelling title and description based on market research, using high search volume tags, and choosing less popular categories for better visibility. The speaker also explains the importance of not using an ISBN for low content books and previews the book before publishing. Finally, they set a price for the book, calculate potential earnings, and discuss the initial sales and profits, suggesting the scalability of this business model.

Keywords

💡Passive Income

Passive income refers to money earned with little to no effort by the recipient, often resulting from investments or automated systems. In the video's context, it is the income generated from selling low-content books on Amazon without the need for ongoing work. The script mentions people making 'thousands of dollars each month' as an example of passive income from this business model.

💡Royalties

Royalties are payments made to the creators of intellectual property, such as authors, for each copy sold of their work. In the script, the narrator mentions receiving '$4,333 in royalties,' illustrating the passive income aspect of selling books on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

💡Low Content Book

A low content book is a publication that contains minimal original written content, often consisting of templates, forms, or blank pages. The video's theme revolves around creating and selling such books, with the narrator setting a challenge to make one without writing any sentences.

💡Amazon KDP

Amazon KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing, a platform that allows authors and publishers to make their books available through Amazon. The script discusses using Amazon KDP to publish and sell low-content books, highlighting its benefits like no minimum sales requirement for receiving payments.

💡Book Bolt

Book Bolt is a software mentioned in the script as an easy-to-use tool for designing books, particularly useful for those without computer design skills. The narrator uses it to create the cover and interior of their low-content book, emphasizing its user-friendly interface.

💡Planner

A planner is a type of book used for organizing schedules, goals, and tasks. In the script, the narrator decides to create a 'daily planner' after researching popular low-content book types, noting that planners sell well and are not seasonal, making them a good choice for a sustainable product.

💡Evergreen

In marketing, an evergreen product is one that maintains relevance and demand over time, regardless of season or trends. The video script mentions evergreen book options like 'manifestation, prayer, and dream journals,' suggesting that such books can generate consistent sales.

💡Search Volume

Search volume refers to the number of times a particular keyword or phrase is searched for on the internet. The script emphasizes the importance of choosing a book with 'high search volume' to ensure it is discoverable by potential buyers, which is crucial for driving sales.

💡Competition

Competition in this context refers to the rivalry among sellers offering similar products in the market. Despite high competition in selling planners, the narrator argues that it's possible to make sales by establishing trust and a sales history, indicating the importance of market positioning.

💡Branding

Branding is the process of creating a unique name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a product or service from others. The script suggests creating a brand for the books to increase recognition and potential cross-sales, using the brand 'Strike It Big' from the narrator's podcast as an example.

💡Template

A template is a pre-designed layout or pattern used as a model for the creation of other objects. In the script, the narrator uses templates from Book Bolt for the book's interior, allowing for the creation of a planner without writing any content, which aligns with the low-content book concept.

💡CMYK

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black), which are the four process colors used in color printing. The script mentions downloading the project in CMYK format, which is important for ensuring the book's colors appear correctly when printed.

💡ISBN

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, a unique identifier for books. The script notes that an ISBN is not necessary for low-content books like diaries and planners when publishing on Amazon, which simplifies the publishing process.

💡Preview

A preview is a sample or demonstration of a product before it is finalized. The narrator emphasizes the importance of checking the book preview on Amazon to ensure everything is perfect before publishing, highlighting the need for quality assurance in the self-publishing process.

💡Pricing Strategy

Pricing strategy refers to the method or approach used to set the price of a product or service. The script describes setting the book's price at '$14.99,' resulting in a profit of '$3.69 per sale,' illustrating a simple pricing strategy that considers production costs and desired profit margin.

Highlights

People are earning thousands of dollars monthly in passive income by selling blank books on Amazon.

Individual received $4,333 in royalties from selling low content books.

The presenter aims to test the viability of selling low content books by creating and selling their own.

Three rules are set for the challenge: no writing, all work on a laptop, and completion within an hour.

Book Bolt is chosen for its ease of use for non-designers to create books.

Research is conducted using Book Bolt's research tab to identify popular low content books like planners.

Planners are chosen for their evergreen nature and consistent demand throughout the year.

The presenter emphasizes the importance of market research to find gaps with high search volume and low competition.

Creating a book cover involves using copyright-free images from Pixelbay to avoid legal issues.

A brand is created to potentially boost sales of other books in the series.

Book Bolt's template options are used for the book's interior, eliminating the need to write content.

Amazon KDP is used for publishing, with no minimum sales requirement and monthly payments.

The presenter lists as an author, despite being dyslexic, highlighting the accessibility of the platform.

Book titles and descriptions are informed by researching top sellers on Amazon to optimize for sales.

The importance of using the correct tags for better searchability on Amazon is discussed.

Choosing less popular categories can help rank higher and be more discoverable.

The presenter sets a price point of $14.99, aiming for a profit of $3.69 per sale with no upfront costs.

Sales began on the fourth day, and within weeks, 10 books were sold for a total of $149.90.

After costs and a discount code, the net profit from the book sales was $26.91.

The potential for scaling this side hustle to thousands of dollars per month is highlighted.

Transcripts

People are making thousands of dollars each month

in passive income by selling blank books on Amazon.

- I received $4,333 in royalties.

- I am generating a decent income every single month.

- That is doing $78,000 a month on Amazon kdp.

- But is this too good to be true?

Today, I want to put this to the test

by making and selling my own low content book.

And I'm setting myself three rules.

One, I'm not allowed to write a single sentence in the book.

Two, I have to do it all from my laptop.

And three, I need to finish it in less than an hour.

The first thing on my plan is to find

an easy to use software.

So I'm just gonna log into Book Bolt

as it appears to be the most straightforward

for someone like me with no computer design skills.

Right, so now we need to decide

what kind of book we want to sell.

There are lots of different low content books

such as notebooks, journals, and diaries.

But instead of just guessing,

I'm gonna use Book Bolts research tab

to find out what's actually popular.

After searching products and keywords,

it seems like planners sell very well.

Obviously, I've set myself a bit of a challenge to do this

as quickly as possible, however,

you can spend as much time as you'd like to research

and find gaps in the market to dominate.

This should do well all year round

as it isn't seasonal like a 2023 New Year's Planner

for example, and won't become outdated.

There's a lot of other evergreen book options too

such as of manifestation, prayer and dream journals.

It's probably a smart idea to make sure

the book you sell has a high search volume,

low competition and high monthly sales.

Saying this, there are a lot of competing products

when it comes to selling planners.

But I know for my many years in business

that high competition in the market doesn't necessarily mean

that you can't make sales.

It might cost us a few sales initially

because we don't have the trust and sales history

that others do, but once we get the ball rolling,

then we're in business

because obviously there's a massive market.

Next, let's make the cover.

I'm gonna name my project, daily planner,

to keep it simple.

I'm gonna use standard 6x9 paperback size

and keep the bleed option on for the best result.

Since it's a yearly planner, I'll make it 365 pages long.

If you are making a different kind of book,

it may be best to keep it shorter, around a hundred pages,

to reduce printing costs and improve your profits.

As you can see, we've got two sides.

The right hand side is the front cover

and the left hand side is the back.

Now we've gotta add some personality to this front cover.

If you are doing this as well,

make sure to avoid copyrighted photos

as you aren't allowed to legally use these.

By clicking on this picture icon,

it actually brings up Pixelbay

which has thousands of copyright and royalty free images

that we can use on our cover.

I'll be honest, instead of using a fancy photo,

I feel like going for a black minimalistic feel

with my journal.

So I'm gonna drag this dark background to fit the cover.

I'm even gonna expand it over the edges a bit

to make sure it prints correctly

because the last thing we want is a load of refunds.

To further promote sales,

it's a good idea to create a brand for these books.

This way, if one book sells well,

customers may recognize the brand and purchase the others.

I'll use the brand I've already created for my podcast,

Strike It Big.

So, I'll write my heading, and I think I could do

a bit of imagery to bring it to life.

Let's see what we can find on Pixelbay.

Oh, this is quite nice.

Let's drag this in and see how it looks.

Obviously, there's not much personality on this cover

but I'm on a time limit, so you get the idea.

I'm sure you could probably make it look nicer

but as I said, computer design isn't my strong suit.

At least you know if this sells,

then yours will probably do better.

Now we're onto the inside.

So, if I click on this icon and select #planner,

it gives me a lot of different template options

for the inside of the book.

This means I don't have to write a single sentence.

You can create as many pages as you wish,

have every page the same, every page unique,

whatever you want,

but as my book is a planner,

I need something designed in a way

for people to lay out their schedule and goals.

There are so many different options in here

but I'm settling on this one and adding it

to all pages as I like how it allows you

to plan your day down to the hour.

I always get distracted by different things

so this would really help me out.

Actually, I think it'd be nice

for people to be able to make some notes

so I'm gonna add a few extra pages for that.

So that's the inside pretty much done.

I've obviously whipped this up fairly quickly

but with some proper planning and time,

you could create a real masterpiece.

The moment has finally arrived to export my book

and get it live on Amazon kdp.

This is where all the magic happens.

It's free to sign up to, and most importantly,

you don't have to make a minimum amount of sales

to get paid.

The money starts rolling in monthly,

60 days after the month in which you make your first sale.

Say you made your first sale in May,

you'd get paid 60 days after the end of that month,

so the end of July.

I'm gonna go back to Book Bolt

and select download current projects CMYK.

This splits the book into two different files,

one for the interior and one for the cover.

We'll need both of these later on.

Next, I just need to go back to Amazon

which will only print my book when someone orders it,

meaning I don't lose any money if it doesn't sell.

They ask for all the usual details like name, address

and payment preferences.

Once I'm on the homepage,

I'm just gonna hit create, select paperback

and fill out all the necessary details.

And you know what's really cool?

I get to list myself as an author.

I mean, I bet my teachers wouldn't believe it

as I'm the most dyslexic person there is.

Well, they probably would believe it looking

at my cover design and a lack of content in the book.

I also need to write a title.

If I head over to the research tab and click on the cloud

then Book Bolt will search for the top 100 bestsellers

in whichever category we pick.

Obviously, we're gonna be looking at the planners

and this gives us a ton of information

about what titles are actually working.

So, I'm gonna call it,

Strike It Big Daily Productivity Planner,

because those are some of the key words

that seem to be working.

For the description, I'm gonna do the same

and search on Amazon to see what's working

on the most popular ones and add something similar.

Now, we've gotta talk

about the main reason people don't get sales,

and from my research,

this seems to be that they don't use tags correctly.

I can go to keywords and search for daily planners

and see exactly what is being searched

for most on Amazon and Google.

You can use up to seven tags,

so I'm gonna make sure to pick the ones

with the high search volume.

Another way to actually rank on Amazon and be found

is to use categories that are not as popular.

Then you'll start to rank higher.

The rest of this page is quite self-explanatory

so let's crack on with the next.

You wanna make sure that publish without ISBN is selected

because an ISBN number doesn't apply

to low content books like diaries and planners.

It's important to have a look at the preview of the book

and make sure everything is perfect.

It might take a while for the preview to load, but trust me,

it's worth the wait.

And the moment of truth arrives,

and that all looks pretty good to me.

Now it's time to set the price.

I'm gonna go with $14.99 cents,

which means I'll make $3.69 cents per sale.

There's absolutely no risk for me

because Amazon only prints the books

once they've been ordered,

so I don't have to buy in bulk

and pay for stock that might not sell.

After it's been checked by Amazon,

It'll be live and ready to make sales.

(gentle music) (pen scribbling)

So it's a couple of weeks later and I've got some good news,

we've made some sales.

The book took around 72 hours to be approved,

but for the first three days, we made zero sales.

I actually thought after going through all of this

I was gonna have to tell you not to bother

but something crazy happened on the fourth day,

we made our first sale.

I've made millions of dollars from my businesses

but honestly, making my first book sale, it felt brilliant.

At the moment, we're sitting at 10 books sold,

bringing in a total of $149.90.

Of course, this isn't all profit.

We have to take away $113 for Amazon's costs,

and also I used Book Bolts free trial

of the newbie membership, which usually costs 9.99.

You can get the pro version

if you want to take this more seriously

but for what I wanted to do, the newbie was enough.

They've also hooked me up with a discount code

because I've used them so much in this video.

So if you use the code MARKTILBURY

then you can actually get an additional 20% discount.

I'll drop the link in the description.

So if we take that into account,

we've made a total profit of $26.91.

I'm going partying.

I get it, this might not sound amazing

but just think how quickly I made this book

and it's already making around $27 per week.

Imagine if I had 20 books with loads of reviews,

all making 10 sales a day.

You could scale this side hustle

to making thousands every month if you put your mind to it.

If you wanna discover seven more passive income ideas

then I'm gonna leave that video right up there

but don't click on it just yet.

Make sure to subscribe if you wanna grow your wealth.

Okay, I'll see you over there.