Kindle anyone?

[RgrPett]

There are previously unpublished authors earning over a million dollars a year from their Amazon Kindle books.

Amanda Hocking, 28, has become the icon of Kindle success. Until 2010 she worked in a group home in Austin, MN. In her spare time she wrote paranormal romance young-adult fiction and collected rejection letters from publishers.

Needing to raise $300 for a trip to Chicago to see a Muppets exhibition she followed marketing tips gleaned from other self-published authors and put her novels on Kindle on April 15, 2010. Less than a year later she had sold over a million copies of her nine books and earned two million dollars in commissions from Amazon. She did it all by herself, without a book agent, without a publishing house, without a sales force or marketing manager or bookshop anywhere in sight.

Unknown author Tracey Garvis Graves earned a $612,000 commission from Amazon from the 146,170 copies of her Kindle book “On the Island: A Novel” she sold in just one month. The book was priced at $5.99, which means she earned a 70% commission on each sale.

J A Konrath had had some success as a traditionally published author. That is until 2009 when he become aware of the Kindle. From 2009 thru August 2012, he's sold 632,501 self-published ebooks on Kindle, Nook, others earning him $912,138. Six of his novels--all rejected by legacy publishers, have sold 362,783 copies, earning him $600,501.

By putting their books on Kindle, authors can put out books quicker than the Big 6 publishers, earn more money (up to 70% vs. the 17.5% from traditional book sales), reach more readers and have more control over the entire process.

Roger