Write a non-fiction book. Industry insiders say that it's much easier to sell a non-fiction title than it is to sell fiction from an unknown author. If you want to earn money from your self-published book, non-fiction is the way to go.
Know your target audience. Define an audience for your book sales. Identify a special interest group such as cat lovers and then be more specific in your definition. Eg., cat lovers who are female, without children, between 25 to 45 years of age. Don't just stop at one audience group, list two or three more. Write and design your book with your target audience in mind to improve your odds for selling your book.
Create high quality content. In my opinion, there are too many people trying to "self-publish an e-book in 30 days". People spend three years thinking about publishing a book and then when they decide to finally do it, they want a finished book in a month. Haste makes waste or in this case, a crappy book that's not too appealing to readers. Take the time to organize, edit, re-read and re-write your book to make the best book you can.
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Have at least two friends proofread your manuscript as well. Then proofread it again and again yourself.
All of the book promoting and marketing in the world will not generate sales or make you money if the book is of poor quality.
Make sure you have an attractive cover for your book. An ugly cover will not help to market your book and can cause you to lose a sale. If you're not gifted with design skills, go to the bookstore and look at the books on the table displays. Publishers pay to have their books placed there. This indicates that they've invested a lot into developing and promoting these books. Do whatever it takes to make your book cover look as good as these books.
Use a low-cost print-on-demand publishing service. Look at the upfront costs, the cost to print each book and the cost to sell each book. Don't be swayed by the promise of higher quality printing to order a small print run or you'll be out a few thousand dollars and have several hundred books in your garage. Print-on-demand quality is quite good these days.
I chose a service that had a partnership with Amazon, resulting in a 15% reduction in Amazon's commission. Thus, I could keep more money in my pocket while also reducing the price of the book.
If you keep your costs low, when you start making money from your self-published book, you'll be profitable much sooner.
Price your self-published book competitively. Base it not just on the list price of similar books, but also on the discounted price you see on Amazon. If your book is priced too low, people will question the quality and you'll have to sell more. If it's priced too high, fewer people will want to buy it.
List your book on Amazon first. Worry about distributing in physical stores later. Many publishing services charge a few hundred dollars to have your book "distributed" internationally. This just makes your book available to stores, but it doesn't mean they'll buy it. Book promotion and marketing is still up to you.
As well, physical bookstores offer a very low profit margin. They also can return purchased books for full credit if the books aren't selling so a sale could turn into a return very easily, costing you more money. By reducing costs for your self-published book, you'll be more likely to make money and build a passive income stream.
Set up an attractive book details page on Amazon. Spend time writing out a compelling book description. Use their "Search Inside" feature. If people you know enjoyed your book, ask them if they'd be willing to write a review on Amazon.
Tell everyone you know about your self-published book via Amazon's "Share with friends" link. You want to encourage people to buy through Amazon as opposed to direct from you. This will result in sales data being compiled on your book. When I hit sales of about 50 books on Amazon, I noticed my title began to appear in the "Customers who bought this also bought..." feature for related titles.
Start blogging regularly about your book's subject matter. Offer your self-published title for sale in a visible spot on the blog, but it shouldn't be the primary focus of your blog. It's okay to occasionally mention your book, just don't turn your blog into an advertorial. As your blog starts to build a following, people will be more engaged in what you write and thus more interested in your book. Marketing and promotion experts claim that people need to see seven impressions of a product you make a sale.
Check out the Resources section down below for more articles I've written about self-publishing as well as links to my book's website and Amazon Details page.