If you’re looking for ways to make money from home, you’ve probably heard of the eBook (electronic book). An eBook is digital book that can be read on a wide variety of devices (mostly digital devices such as smartphones and tablets).
With just a few clicks of a mouse or a tap of a screen, you can publish your eBook and start earning money from it. If you want to write and publish your own eBook for free, there are no rules (at least, not many rules) that you need to follow. The only real requirements are that you must be an author and you must have a good story to tell.
Let’s get started by looking at the various platforms that you can use to publish your ebook.
Apple
Speaking of stories, didn’t we just talk about them? If you’re looking to make money from home, you probably approached the topic of stories already. Well, it turns out that you can’t discuss making money from home without including Apple in the conversation. Apple has made it very easy for anyone to write and publish an eBook, and they even have publishers lining up to work with them. You can use iBooks to write and publish your eBook for free in Apple’s iTunes Store. Just head over to www.apple.com/itunes and click the iBooksstore button.
Once you’re in the iTunes Store, you’ll see the option to Write and Publish an eBook on the left. Just click on that and you’ll be taken to the Get Started page. Here, you’ll find all the information you need to get started including tips on how to write a winning story and the proper format for your eBook (kindle or apple books).
On the right side of the page, you’ll see a Publish button. Just click on that to get started publishing your eBook. Don’t worry, this is as easy as it looks. iTunes will guide you through the entire process and even send you a few sample chapters to get you started. Once you’re finished, you can either Download the finished product or Read it on your computer (if you choose, you can also read an eBook on your iPad or iPhone).
Amazon
If you’re a fan of Jeff Bezos, you’ll probably be happy to learn that he owns a big chunk of the eBook publishing industry. If you’ve ever shopped for books online, you may have visited Amazon.com. If not, you probably know what Amazon is. It’s the company that owns the online bookstore (with more than a million books in stock, at any given time), and they’ve also got a digital magazine subsidiary (known as Kindle Publishing).
Since Jeff Bezos bought the company in 1998, it has expanded from an online store into a multimedia company with a digital magazine, an online bookstore, and a podcasting network. In 2016 alone, Amazon’s digital news venture (besides Kindle Publishing) grew its audience by 55% year over year.
You can use Amazon’s publishing service to write and publish your eBook for free. Just head over to www.amazon.com/kindle and click the Get Started button on the left side of the page.
As with Apple’s publishing service, Amazon’s publishing service is quick and easy to use. You’ll see a Publish button on the right side of the page. Just click on that and you’ll be taken to a new page where you can enter information about your book (including its plot, characters, and so on).
Once you’ve finished entering that information, you can either Download the finished product or Read it on your computer (if you choose, you can also read an eBook on your iPhone or iPad).
Google Play Store
Speaking of devices, did you know that Google owns the Google Play Store? Yes, that’s the place you can buy all kinds of apps and games for smartphones and tablets. If you’ve ever shopped for apps or games online, you may have visited the Google Play Store. If not, you probably know what it is. It’s the place where all Android users go to buy apps and games.
Since the Google Play Store was founded in 2008, it has grown from a humble beginning as a place for Android users to buy games and apps to become a legitimate alternative to Apple’s App Store. In September 2016, the Google Play Store had more than 30 million monthly active users (as compared to 25 million for the Apple App Store).
You can use the Google Play Store to write and publish your eBook for free. Just head over to https://play.google.com/store/ and click the Get Started button on the left side of the page.
As with Apple and Amazon’s publishing services, Google’s publishing service is simple to use and has a limited number of prepublished sample chapters to get you started. Once you’re finished, you can either Download the finished product or Read it on your computer (if you choose, you can also read an eBook on your iPhone or iPad).
The various platforms that you can use to publish your eBook for free (and how to write and publish your own eBook for free) were just some of the topics discussed in this week’s How to Make Money Online podcast. If you’re interested in exploring this further, be sure to check out the show’s archive where you can find all the episodes from this and other helpful podcasts.