How To Start An Online Business with Amazon: A Beginner's Guide

Do you ever get the feeling that you could make money online but you’re not quite sure how?

Maybe you have an idea to start an online business, but you just haven’t gotten it off the ground yet. You might have even Shark-tanked it in front of friends and family and they’ve been supportive. But you’re not really sure how to turn your ideas into profit.

How do you actually make money online in 2023? What’s the best way? And wow do you monetize the experience or skills you have, besides working a 9-to-5 job?

The world of Internet commerce and businesses can be complicated and overwhelming. It’s hard to know where to start or what to focus on. You look around and see other people making money online and think, “I know I could do that, too!”

If you’re ready to break out of the rat race and ditch that corporate job, you’re in the right place.

Our beginner’s guide will show you how to start an online Amazon business. It’s easier than you might think.

Let’s jump in!

These are all great ways to make money online. But there is one online business in particular that takes the cake. And here at Publishing.com, we believe it’s (by far) the best online business to start in 2023.

Self-publishing eBooks on Amazon!

Let’s look at what makes Amazon’s self-publishing platform so awesome and how you can start an online Amazon business.

Harnessing the Power of Amazon’s KDP

Some people are vaguely familiar with Amazon’s KDP self-publishing platform but don’t really know what it is or how powerful it can be. First, “KDP” stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s a way for people to become publishers from the comfort of their living room with just an idea and an Internet connection (and maybe some coffee!).

Let’s look at some of the exciting aspects of Amazon’s KDP.

• KDP is the world’s largest self-publishing platform. (Yes, you read that right!) Amazon controls an estimated 80% of the eBook market.
• It’s free! (Who doesn’t love that?)
• Publishers can earn up to 70% in passive-income royalties for every sale of their eBook.
• You can publish as many eBooks as you want. You’re only limited by your imagination.
• Publishing on KDP is fast and easy—it can take as little as five minutes to publish.
• KDP gives publishers access to a massive audience of readers. One-third of Americans are reading eBooks, and that’s just in the United States, never mind the rest of the world. 
• Publishers enjoy full control over their work to change anything they want, whenever they want.

Because of Amazon’s history and passion for bookselling, it has invested a ton of time, money and effort to build up KDP. And it’s time you learned how easy this platform is to use, and how you can make money on it. Read our Amazon KDP for beginners guide to get a sneak peek of the platform.

Millions of publishers are tapping into the power of Amazon’s KDP. And so can you!

Let’s see how.

Developing the Right Mindset

It all starts with the right mindset. You might think you need a $1 million idea to get started with self-publishing. You don’t. You first need the motivation and belief you can succeed at this. You need to want it. You need to develop the right mindset.

What do you really want out of life? Where do you want to be five years from now? Or 10 years from now? Wouldn’t it be amazing if you had your freedom and time back? If you were self-employed? If you could work from anywhere in the world? Make money that hits your bank account while you’re sleeping? No longer trade your time for a paycheck, grinding day in and day out?

All of this is possible through Amazon’s KDP. But you have to keep your eyes on the prize. You have to find your why. The motivation to get started and keep going in the face of challenges.

This is why we focus so much of our self-publishing course on developing the proper mindset. We explain how to have the right mindset to set yourself up for long-term success. It starts with belief—believing you can become a publisher and create a new path toward building your dream life.

Now you’re ready to learn the steps to start an online Amazon business.

How to Start an Online Amazon Business

Step one was shifting your mindset. Step two is coming up with an idea for your first short eBook. But don’t be too intimidated by this step. Even though we’ve all felt the feeling of being stuck, you don’t have to let it hold you back. Staring at a blank page can be daunting. But there are ways to break through this writer’s block. (If you already have an idea for your book, feel free to skip ahead to the next section.)

So, how do you come up with ideas for your first book?

Coming Up With an Idea for Your eBook

First, don’t be afraid to lean on artificial intelligence or use AI to write your book. AI is a great new way to help you find new and unique ideas for your book. Free software like Frase, Jasper, ChatGPT and Ryter can assist you in coming up with an interesting new idea that can be turned into an eBook. Just put in a few prompts and see what kind of topics or book titles it gives you. AI allows you to tap into an infinite pool of information to create something never-before-done.

Besides AI, you can also sign up for our free self-publishing course where we show you ways to find new ideas for your book. (Students of our courses are making an extra $1,000 a month from eBook sales all the way up to multiple books earning $10,000 a month!)

A good place to start is in your own backyard, figuratively speaking. Think of what you’ve been through in your life so far. Have you traveled somewhere interesting, met cool people, or seen things that would make for a good non-fiction story? Or maybe you have some family history that would make for a great book.

The key to success in self-publishing is finding a niche that you can market to the right audience. In other words, be specific. Don’t pick a broad topic like, “10 Best Summer Recipes.” Drill down deeper. Otherwise, you will find yourself competing against every single cookbook known to man. (And that’s a lot!) Think of it this way. The more narrow your category or topic is, the less competition you’ll have. The last thing you want to do is compete against the top bestsellers.

Be sure to also pick something you’re passionate about. If you don’t like cats, don’t write an eBook about how cats are such wonderful companions. Don’t choose a topic you’re not interested in or one you know very little about.

Now that you have your idea, your book topic or title, the next phase is writing it.

Writing Your First eBook

Writing your eBook might be the biggest challenge for you. But just like coming up with an idea, don’t let the writing process scare you away from achieving your dreams. Getting started is the hardest part. But once you get going, we know nothing will stop you!

You might not think of yourself as a writer, but just think about all the things you’ve written over the course of your lifetime. Emails, school papers, letters, articles, text messages. If you stop and think about it, you’ve probably written millions of words through the years.

Now it’s time to channel that energy into writing a short eBook. And we do mean short. Your first book doesn’t have to be long. It can be as short as 5,000 words—which is basically a few college essays strung together. You’re not writing the next Crime and Punishment.

We encourage first-time publishers to start with an outline. This is another area the robot writers can help out. AI writing tools are great at creating easy-to-follow and practical outlines on whatever topic you’ve chosen.

Once you have your article, set aside a block of time each day to write. Maybe it’s just one or two hours. You don’t have to spend all day every day writing. Just try to be as consistent as possible. Stick to it and you’ll have your first draft done in no time. You can even use AI writing tools to generate some of your content as well. Just be careful you don’t lean on it too heavily or it can come across as not being in your own voice and style.

Now that you have your first draft done, what next?

The Polishing Stage

Now it’s time to turn your eBook into something that sounds and looks professional. This stage involves proofreading, editing and formatting it. You’ll also need to create a book cover. You can create your own on free design platforms like Canva, or you can hire a freelance designer to make one. (We also show you how to do this in our self-publishing course.)

When it comes to the proofreading, editing and formatting of your book, you have a few options. You can do most of this yourself if you know what to look for and have the design skills. Or you can do some of it yourself and hire a freelancer to do the rest.

For instance, you can do most of the proofreading yourself if you’re careful and willing to go through the text with a fine-tooth comb. Or you can ask for help from a friend or family member who has strong attention to detail.

Whichever direction you take, just realize that you shouldn’t spend too much time on these steps. This is because it is only your first eBook and you’re just practicing and getting to know the self-publishing process. Once you publish your first book, you’ll get the hang of it and can start to focus on a full-length book that will really make you money.

After your book looks professional, you’re ready to publish it and share it with the world! Thankfully, Amazon has made this step super easy. Like falling-off-a-log-backward easy.

Publishing on Amazon’s KDP

This step is probably the most fun part. You’ve done the hard work of writing and prepping your book and now you just have to hit that “Publish” button. But there are a few sub-steps we’ll walk you through to show you what the process is like. (Check out our longer article here that details all the steps involved in publishing on KDP.)

First, make sure you have a Kindle Direct Publishing account set up. You can simply use your existing Amazon account. And remember, it’s totally free to sign up. Follow the steps to filling out your account information and payment details. Your KDP account will be the main place you go to upload your book and check in on sales.

Amazon divides the overall uploading process into three sections—Details, Content and Pricing. But don’t worry. None of these sections will take you that long to complete if you have your book files and details ready.

To publish, you’ll start by filling in the details of your eBook like the title, book description, language it’s written in, author name, etc. Then you’ll pick categories and keywords for your book. This will help Amazon know who to show your book to and help new readers find your work. Amazon KDP also gives you tips on how to choose the best categories to help your book be found.

Next, you will need to upload your manuscript. You’ll also be able to preview how it will look online before publishing it. Keep in mind that you can update your book’s info later if you need to change or fix anything.

Now you pick your book’s list price. Amazon gives you two pricing options for eBooks: (1) a 35% royalty rate for eBooks priced at $.99 up to $1.99 or (2) a 70% royalty rate for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99.

So if your eBook sells one copy (and we know it’s gonna sell more than that) at a price of $9.99, you’ll make $6.99.

Finally, hit the “Publish your Kindle eBook” button. Within 72 hours, your book will be available to readers across the United States, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, India and many other countries.

You’re now officially a published author! Congratulations! This is how to turn your idea into real profit. Now you can watch as the royalties start to roll in…

Choose Your Own Destiny!

The beauty of Amazon’s KDP self-publishing platform is that you no longer have to wait to be chosen by big-name publishing houses.

In the olden days, before KDP, you had to have a signed book deal to be published. This involved sending out query letters to literary agents in the hopes that they picked you. And then those agents had to sell you and your work to the publishing companies with the hope that they would offer you a book deal. No more. Now you can truly take matters into your own hands and start your own online publishing empire.

Don’t wait! Start down the path today toward self-publishing success. Sign up for our free self-publishing webinar to learn more about how to start an online business on Amazon and become a publisher.