Why self-publish on Amazon? The Kindle e-reader is the company’s number one selling product. According to Jared Newman of PC World.com, Amazon sold more than a million devices a week for three consecutive weeks during the 2011 holiday season. Millions of Kindles have been sold, but only 3 to 4 percent of those sold. readers use electronic readers. This is a market that is still growing and there is still plenty of room for entrepreneurial freelance writers.

The $50,000 Formula

Six self-published Kindle books or reports priced at $4.99 selling 200 each per month yield $5,988 or $71,856 annually. Of that, authors receive 70 percent. Here are the eight steps to earn $50,000 a year self-publishing on Kindle:

1) Find your niche – Without finding a profitable niche, you won’t sell many books. Amazon has millions of titles available and some authors have not sold a book. Finding Kindle niches requires finding topics that Kindle readers are already paying to read about. Check out the Kindle Best Sellers list for topic ideas.

2) Write your e-book, e-article, or e-report: Write about topics that solve problems. Nonfiction bestsellers on Kindle show readers how to solve specific problems, like making more money, improving photography skills, or even creating a thriving garden.

3) Create a website for each niche: If you write six titles in the “improve your photography” category, create a website for your photography niche where you promote all your titles. Having a niche website helps you further identify your brand.

4) Open an Amazon Associate Account – Becoming an Amazon Associate through Amazon.com gives you a great way to share other Amazon Recommended Reads that relate to your book on your niche website. Create a resource page that lists all of your work and the work of other Kindle authors that your website users might find useful.

5) Self Publish on Kindle-Kindle accepts Word, ePub, Plain Text, Adobe PDF, Compressed HTML, and Mobipocket manuscripts. While other outlets offer POD (Publishing On Demand) services for a fee, Kindle publishing is completely free. It’s also pretty easy.

6) Sign up for the popular KDP Select-Amazon program, Amazon Prime allows members to receive special benefits. Members can borrow books through the Kindle Lending Library. Entering your Kindle works into the program helps create word of mouth which generally leads to more sales.

7) Promote, promote, promote: Readers can’t buy books they don’t know exist. Promotion equals sales. There are plenty of opportunities online to market your work, including blogging, article marketing, and social marketing.

8) Rinse and Repeat – Once you write your manuscript and successfully market it, simply repeat the process. Advertise upcoming books on your website and continue to grow your brand. It usually doesn’t happen overnight, but consistent marketing and persistence will go a long way in promoting your works.