The internet has been responsible for the revolutionization of businesses and industries the world over. Take the publishing world for example. At long last, with the advent of services like Amazon Publishing, the playing field has finally been leveled. Authors have far more control over their work and can publish it as they see fit, without the need to go through one of the big traditional publishers first. And, as an aside, you might be interested to know that 99% of the books placed onto bookshelves by a traditional publisher never show any profit and that means the author gets nothing.

Online publishing is easier than you think and there are a few ways to do it and earn out of it. The one service that the bulk of authors go to now, because it is so easy to use and offers a high potential for profit, is Amazon self-publishing.

You don’t need to be a professional author. You don’t need to have published books under your belt. You don’t even need to have any experience of running an internet business to start using Amazon self-publishing. Anyone can use it regardless of experience.

You can write anything you want, be it a fictional novel, a non-fiction self-help book, a biography, children’s book, anything. Some of the more popular and high-selling categories on the Amazon platform include self-help, cooking, recipes, health and fitness, travel, romance, young adult, and so on. It’s a pretty safe bet that with Amazon there is an audience for just about any topic.

You may already have an idea in mind, you may already have written your book. Even if you don’t have any ideas, have a look through Amazon; look at the bestseller lists for both fiction and non-fiction books; check out the categories you could write in. This will give you an idea of what sells and what could bring profit. If an idea springs out at you while doing this, go with it. If not, choose a topic that has a proven audience.

You might also spot where the gaps in the market are, popular topics that haven’t been covered properly or for which you have a new and unique angle.

All that said, if you want a decent income from Amazon self-publishing you do need to do some things for yourself because your book won’t sell itself. Not only are you the publisher, but you are also the marketer too. It's up to you to get the word out and it's no good expecting success to happen overnight either because it won’t. You can make money though and, if you do it right, you can have a steady income.

One more thing of note; when you use Amazon for self-publishing you don’t have to spend months writing books. Start with a couple of short ones on a specific topic and put a lower price on them. Research shows that books priced between $2.99 and $4.99 on Amazon seem to generate the most revenue.

Check out part 2 to find out how to make money using Amazon for self-publishing.