Welcome to the second edition of Royalties on Demand - your one-stop guide to generating consistent income online. I’m thrilled that you're joining me on this journey towards financial independence and creative entrepreneurship.

In this week’s newsletter, you will find:

• My New Ebook

• Interview With A Six Figure KDP Publisher

• Niche Of The Week

• AI News

• Subscribers Corner

My New Ebook- The AI Advantage

I’m super excited to let you know about my first Ebook launch today for The AI Advantage V2. I’ve poured out all my valuable information about creating coloring books with AI

What Is The AI Advantage?

The AI Advantage unveils the power of AI in the world of publishing, this is your step-by-step guide to maximizing profits by selling coloring books on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Whether you're a beginner or an experienced seller, this eBook will enlighten you on the vast opportunities that await in the Amazon KDP space, particularly within the lucrative realm of coloring books.

Main Key Features:

• Extensive Research Methods: Learn to utilize tools to identify market trends and consumer demands. Including my favourite research method.

• Navigating Copyright and Trademark: Understand the legal landscape of publishing.

• Stand Out from the Crowd: Master unique tips and tricks to ensure your coloring book stands out.

• Midjourney Hacks: Equip yourself with AI solutions to overcome mid-journey obstacles, including 3 easy ways to craft prompts and create unique images not shared on my channel.

• Quick Fixes: Learn how to rapidly address and rectify issues with your coloring pages

• Bonus Material: 7 High Demand Low Competition Niches To Start

The AI Advantage truly offers a unique blend of AI-powered insights, industry secrets, and practical strategies to transform your coloring book ideas into top-selling products on Amazon KDP. This indispensable resource is currently available at a discounted rate, so get your copy now and start leveraging the power of AI in your KDP journey!

You can get it now on my website: https://royaltiesondemand.com/b/fA1nG My newsletter subscribers can use DANNY20 to get 20% off. This is only valid for the first 48 hours and the price will be going up.

Interview With A Six Figure KDP Publisher

Today we have the privilege of interviewing Ben, a six-figure Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) author, who, against all odds, has built a successful self-publishing career while juggling family life and a full-time job.

Ben not only has a flourishing publishing career on Amazon KDP but also runs a monetised YouTube channel, an Etsy store, and is developing an in-depth Amazon advertising course.

He has a wealth of knowledge to share about self-publishing, time management, and developing a resilient mindset. Let's delve into his inspiring journey.

1. Can you share your journey to becoming a successful book publisher on Amazon KDP?

I've always aspired to achieve wealth since a young age. Over the years, I've attempted numerous money-making ventures, many of which failed. Some of these included drop shipping, writing blogs, and trying to sell various products online, to name a few.

Always on the hunt for fresh ideas for earning money, I first stumbled upon 'Merch by Amazon'. This platform, not too dissimilar from Amazon KDP, allows you to create designs and upload them to Amazon, from where you can choose which clothing products to display your designs on.

Despite trying this for several months, I didn't experience much success. However, within the various Merch Facebook groups I had joined, I noticed the admins promoting a course on Amazon KDP. I decided to take the plunge. I enrolled in the course and, as they say, the rest is history.

2. Why have you been able to have success must faster than most self-published authors?

Like I mentioned before, I've tried a lot of different ways to make money, but most of them didn't work out. To be honest, I was usually the one to blame for these failures. I often gave up too quickly and would point fingers at the ventures, saying they were ineffective or too saturated. The real difference for me has been changing my mindset and how I approach things.

In July 2019, I learned that my partner was pregnant with our first child. Even though we were planning on it, it happened much faster than either of us expected! This news really shook me and put a rocket up my behind.

I wanted my partner to be able to take a year off from work to spend time with our child. This meant I would have to handle most of our financial responsibilities. So, I became obsessed with self-publishing, hoping that I could at least make up for some of my partner's lost income.

What really sped up my success was finally having a real, tangible reason to earn more money, not just the vague idea of wanting to be rich so I could buy expensive things. The thought of providing financial stability for my family was, and still is, a powerful motivation for me. Without the news of my partner's pregnancy, I might not have found a strong enough reason to push for success.

3. You still have a full-time job alongside KDP and a family, how are you to manage your time?

Yes, I do. I work on the railway; my role involves replacing and repairing the overhead electrical lines and equipment. My shifts are mostly during the night.

Balance has always been one of my biggest challenges. It's incredibly hard to juggle a "regular" job, being a good dad and partner, running a business, and maintaining good health all at once.

I am blessed that my partner is so understanding and that we are on the same page in terms of our future. She allows me to work hard, and to do that she takes on most of the jobs around the house such as, shopping, cleaning, cooking, as well as looking after our son (more than I do)

If I had a demanding partner, I doubt I would be able to earn as much as I do.

I am very strict with my time management and ruthlessly eliminate distractions and wasteful activities. I rarely watch TV and avoid wasting hours scrolling through social media. These are the two biggest time-drains for most people. My only hobbies are going to the gym and running my business (sad, I know).

I try to use my time as efficiently as possible. For instance, I listen to entrepreneurial podcasts and audiobooks during my commute.

While my son is at school, I get as much work done as possible so that I can spend time with him and my partner after school. Once my son goes to bed, I try to squeeze in some more work before I have to leave for my night shift.

Until I leave my 'regular' job, achieving a work-life balance will remain a challenge. Luckily, quitting my job is becoming an increasingly viable option, and with every month that passes, I am closer to making that leap. 

4. What advice do you have for aspiring self-publishers looking for success with Amazon KDP?

Brush aside self-doubt and commit to being consistent with it for at least a year. Work hard, strive to create quality books instead of settling for easy-to-make lined journals. Consume as much self-publishing content as you can, never stop learning!

Be patient, as success requires time. During my first year with Amazon KDP, my highest earning month brought in $1500, while in my third year, my biggest month yielded $14,000. Trust the process. If you put in the effort, the results will materialize over time.

5. What was your biggest challenge while publishing on Amazon KDP, and how did you overcome it?

I nearly quit self-publishing about 6 months after I started. After my earnings drastically dropped after the peak of Christmas, I began to wonder if all of my time and effort was worth the earnings I was getting. I earned about $350 one month and I remember being so disappointed, because I was putting in at least 30 hours a week. Luckily, I choose to keep on publishing and see if it was just a bad patch. My royalties began to rise after a few months and I am extremely glad I didn’t give up.

Fortunately, I chose to keep publishing to see if it was just a temporary slump. After a few months, my royalties began to rise again, and I'm so glad I didn't give up.

Like most things, KDP has its own cycles that I didn't understand at the time. The fourth quarter (October to December) tends to be the best period for self-publishers, thanks to the surge in Christmas shoppers. After December, sales typically drop off, and then the cycle starts again. 

6. Do you have any other successful side hustles?

I have a YouTube channel which is monetised. I have an Etsy store which sells digital downloads. I’m also in the process of creating an in-depth Amazon advertising course which will bring me another source of income. In addition, I earn a little bit of affiliate commission for promoting self-publishing tools that I use.

Although I rarely push the affiliate stuff. I will if there is a special offer that will save my community money.

I’m not sure if you consider investing a side hustle, but I funnel most of my income into various investments that will help my net worth grow over time.

7. What are your future plans and goals for your publishing career on Amazon KDP? 

That's a great question!

It really depends on the time I have available. My goal is to increase my average monthly royalties each year. However, as I'm dedicated to diversifying my income streams, I find my time for publishing is decreasing more and more each month. That's why I'm smarter with my time and focus on running ads to maintain or even boost my books' positions on Amazon.

If I decide to leave my full-time job, I would likely publish more, create additional courses to support my community, as well as offering mentoring. 

Thanks, Ben for this outstanding interview. You can find him on these social media platforms below, make sure you give him a follow:

Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/MoneyonTheSide7

Free KDP Facebook Community Group (12,000+ members) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/kdpsecrets

Website - https://getmoneyontheside.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/moneyontheside7/

Niche Of The Week: Activity Books

This week we will continue to follow on from last week’s theme of activity books. We will take a deep dive into one of my favourite books to publish.

What are activity books:

In case you missed last week, activity books are hugely popular on Amazon and they encompass a wide variety of activities, you can include coloring pages, mazes, sudoku, word searches, crosswords and much more.

Diving Deeper:

When creating activity books, I’ve noticed that too many publishers will spend time creating books without any audience in mind that don’t get noticed and lost in the sea of books on Amazon KDP.

You need to make sure that you target a specific audience when creating an activity book and include the right puzzles for them. The same activities that interest a toddler won’t be the same activities that excite a teen.

Let’s take a look at activity books for 4-8 years olds.

If we base our judgement just on these results by Self Publishing Titans, this keyword has over 30,000 results and it would be hard for us to compete with.

However, if I filter the results and take a look at the last 90 days then I notice that many new books are still selling under this keyword.

Too often, we can get sidetracked by the number of results instead of digging down deeper to find out what new sellers are doing differently in a market. There are always sub-sections of a niche you can delve down into.

This activity book was released on March 14th and it has a BSR of 10,624 with four, five-star review. This book is already heading in the right direction.

It has an attractive cover, suited towards it’s age range. You can see in the subtitle the activities such as mazes, dot to dot, color by number, word searches, matches and sudoku included that are suited towards the target audience.

I also notice a breakdown of the ages in the subtitle, 3-5 and 6-8 as these keywords are already highly searched for on Amazon and will help the book show up under these keywords. The benefits of the book are clearly explained ‘to improve children’s cognitive development, learning and relaxing.

Using the book scout tool on Book Bolt gives us further insight into some of the keywords this book is ranking for and the search volume. This is a huge reason why the backend keywords are so important as some of these words do not appear in the title or subtitle but this book is still found to be ranking for them.

This is why I spend the most time during the research process as you should be looking for high-demand keywords that will help your book rank better once it starts getting sales.

I noticed the lower price point for this book, although I don’t do this myself, there are several reasons why a low price point can be beneficial:

• Increased Sales Volume: Lowering the price of a book may make it more accessible to a wider audience, potentially resulting in increased sales volume.

• Higher Rankings: On platforms like Amazon, a high volume of sales can boost a book's rankings, making it more visible to potential buyers. This can create a positive cycle where higher visibility leads to more sales, which in turn leads to higher visibility.

• Competitive Edge: A lower price point can give your book a competitive edge, especially in genres where there is a lot of competition.

You can always increase the price of your book once it has several reviews and it ranks highly on Amazon.

It’s easy to assume when a book takes off in a competitive niche that it’s all because of ads but I hope I have shown you that it’s not all down to ads. I believe it’s more important to have the right foundations before you run ads. Do the research, niche down, find in-demand keywords, create an attractive cover, consider the price point and all these factors together combined with ads will lead to you more success.

_{AI Tool Of The Week- What The Font}

One of the most difficult things when publishing a book is to know what type of font to use. This makes a huge difference and attracts more buyers to your book.

This AI tool saves you the headache of having to find the right or when you see a font on Amazon but you have no idea of it’s name.

What The Font is very easy to use. Start by looking through the listings on Amazon and if you find a specific font that attracts you then take a screenshot of it.

Then go to https://www.myfonts.com/pages/whatthefont and upload the screenshot of your font to the website.

This website will provide you with several results for similar fonts that you can use for your book cover. You can search for these fonts on the design software that you use or download them from https://www.creativefabrica.com/fonts/

Helpful content for the week ahead

Find out how Ben @MoneyOnTheSide is dealing with the upcoming KDP price increase:

Subscribers Corner

This week I hope to provide some inspiration to beginners of Amazon KDP with a comment from one of my subscribers on Youtube.

@b3rt33 made $190 in their first month of publishing, all from coloring books. @b3rt33 did also spend money on ads and was still profitable after. It's really encouraging to hear stories like this when people decide to take action.

It also gives you the confidence to know Amazon KDP is not saturated and beginners can still make sales if they keep taking action.

Need Some Side Hustle Ideas?

In this article I talk about 7 different ways to make money with Amazon.

Share & Connect

Once again, thank you for joining me on this exciting journey. Have an awesome week ahead and I look forward to catching up with you next week.

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