Ever dreamt of a fun, independent and creative way to make passive income? If you’re thinking “yes”, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) may the side hustle glow up you’ve been looking for. If you love designing, writing or creating fun activities or art, the self-publishing game may be for you. Amazon KDP offers a unique way to build passive income by self-publishing books on Amazon. There’s no inventory, no shipping, and no upfront printing costs. The bonus? It’s a side hustle income that is fully digital until the book is in your hands!
Keep reading to learn how to start your Amazon KDP side hustle below.
But First, What Is Amazon KDP?
Amazon KDP is a free platform that allows anyone to publish books. You can publish anything from novels and journals to coloring and puzzle books, selling them directly on Amazon. They do the printing, shipping, and customer service. You simply upload your files and earn royalties from each sale.
It’s kind of like opening your own mini publishing business, all from your computer!
Why start a KDP business? (And why I started…)
As I was researching passive incomes, Amazon KDP jumped out at me due to the relative ease of the creation process, that it was creative and as I mentioned above, that it’s entirely digital until the book is in your hands. There’s truly so much opportunity when publishing your own books through KDP, it’s been an exciting journey to start.
Why Amazon KDP is so appealing:
- Low Startup Cost – You can start with just a computer and free design tools.
- No Inventory Needed – Amazon prints your book only when a customer buys it.
- Global Reach – Your books are available to millions of Amazon customers worldwide.
- Passive Income Potential – Once your books are live, they can earn you income for years.
- Creative Freedom – You can publish books that match your interests.
My recent inspiration to start Amazon KDP came through my Youtube algorithm. I ended up watching one tutorial on how to make a coloring book and the rest was history. I started making my own books right after watching that video, and all for free too! In my next blog post, I’ll be talking about how to use free tools like Canva and Book Bolt.
But What Type Of Books Would You Make?
Good question! There are low-content, medium-content and high-content books. Low to medium-content books are:
- Journals and planners
- Coloring books
- Puzzle books (like word searches, crosswords, cryptograms)
- Logbooks (fitness, travel, gratitude)
- Workbooks and activity books
These books focus more on design and layout than on long-form writing, which makes them great for beginners. As a beginner myself, I may try something with high-content in the future (e.g. a cookbook), but right now I’m sticking with low to medium-content such as coloring and puzzle books. They’re fun for me to make and gets my creative juices flowing.
What Do You Need To Get Started?
First, a curious mind for a bit of a learning curve. I suggest watching Ivy Hang and Greg Gottfried for tutorials prior to starting. You’ll also need:
- An Amazon KDP account – Sign up free at kdp.amazon.com
- Book ideas – Choose a niche that people search for (e.g., “cute animal coloring book,” “self-care journal,” “UK trivia”)
- Design tools – I use Canva and BookBolt (no affiliates in post at the time of publishing)
- Book interior and cover – Make sure your file matches Amazon’s size and bleed settings (Book Bolt has this built in – but a future tutorial is coming!)
- Keyword research – I use Book Bolt and Self Publishings Titans Chrome extension
It might seem overwhelming with all this information, but I promise it’s worth it to do the research first. When it comes to making a book, you’ll know exactly what to do and it will be a quick process!
Personal note: I dove into the coloring book craze when I first started, and I think that many do. I used both Canva Pro (free trial) and Creative Fabrica (free trial) to create many books. I also made a few puzzle books, one low-content recipe book and two journals, all on Book Bolt. I’ve already gotten a few sales and it’s only been about a week! So yes, you do get wins right away as a KDP self-publisher.
Now let’s get into the steps to launching your first book!
Steps To Launching Your First KDP Book
- Pick a niche and book type
Find something people already buy but where you can offer an interesting twist. - Create your interior pages
Design the inside pages and save them as a print-ready PDF. You can flatten the PDF as well. Do this in Canva or more easily, Book Bolt. - Design your cover
The cover is everything! Use bright, clear titles and appealing visuals that match your niche. You can DIY it or utilize AI such as ChatGPT for creating an image. Just be very specific about what you want on it. - Upload your files to KDP (manuscript and cover)
- Set your price and publish!
Choose your royalty rate and hit publish. Amazon will review your book and make it live in about 72 hours.
So…How Do You Make Money Through KDP?
Every time someone buys your book, Amazon prints it and ships it. You then get a royalty from every sale. Most paperback authors earn 60% of the list price minus printing costs.
Example:
- Your book sells for $9.99
- Printing cost is $2.84
- You earn around $3.15 per sale
In some cases of pricing below 9.99, Amazon now only provides 50% of the list price.
Tips For Success
As I’m just starting out with this business, I’m still learning a lot. However, these are the things I’ve done so far that I believe are a recipe for success:
- Publish consistently
- Focus on quality (especially with the cover page)
- Research keywords
- Diversify
- Have patience (this one is key!)
- Believe in yourself!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I believe starting a KDP business is a great way to turn your creativity into a passive income and fun side hustle. You don’t need to be a writer, just someone willing to learn, create, and experiment. It’s really fun too!
Once you publish your first book and see it on Amazon, I know you’ll realize just how amazing self-publishing can be. It was SO incredible seeing my published books on Amazon, and even better having them in my hands!
So I say, let’s start our KDP journey together, and let your creativity earn for you!