4 years ago something BIG happened.

A magical tablet was born. A tablet that can store a library’s worth of books, fits in your jacket pocket and weighs less than a banana.

I’m talking about the Amazon Kindle.

This clever little device is changing everything – the way we read, write and sell books.

In this article I’m looking at how you can profit from the Kindle, because this could be one of the most lucrative home business opportunities of 2012.

The good news is it’s extremely easy to create a Kindle book and publish it online – and it doesn’t cost you a penny.

There’s no fancy software required and if you’ve got Microsoft Word and an Internet connection you already have everything you need.

The real trick is creating something that sells and continues to bring you a ‘hands free’ income. If you want the master course in how to do this I recommend taking a look at this:

Richard Bullivant’s Ultimate Kindle Profits Programme

He estimates that you can make £12,000 a year from this for just 3 hours work a week. You can see my full review on this site. I will say that this is one course that has seriously impressed me.

Right, on with business.

We already have the upper hand from our dabblings with Internet marketing. We know a few insider tricks about how to catch a reader’s attention, most Kindle publishers don’t. That gives us a huge advantage.

With that in mind, let’s get cracking.

Here are 6 steps to help you publish a profitable Kindle book.

1. Choose fact rather than fiction

Fiction is hard to write and even harder to sell. You have to invent a tale, characters, individual plotlines and everything else that goes with it. It’s also very subjective. One person might be into Dickensian fables, another into pint sized goblin slayers with hairy feet.

If you’re looking at Kindle purely as a potential money spinner it’s far better to focus on info-books that you can rustle up in a few hours. Books that help people and, most importantly, books that sell.

2. Focus on niche subjects

We know that people LOVE niche subjects. They particularily love ‘How to’ guides and anything that provides a solution to a problem.

Got a cat? Write a short info book on cat grooming. Love golf? Write an info book on getting the perfect swing.

I personally wouldn’t recommend creating books about Internet marketing. That’s more ClickBank’s domain.

3. Do some research online

Take a look at what’s already selling on Amazon and eBay. Specifically in the ‘bestsellers’ on Amazon (in paper and digital books) and what’s trending on eBay pulse.

Here are the links:

Amazon Bestsellers – Once you’re in there you can drill down by category.

eBay Pulse – At the bottom of the page there’s a link to “See more eBay Pulse Categories”.

4. Check out the competition

Once you’ve found your popular niche take a look at who you’re up against on the Kindle store. Is it a crowded market already? If so get even more niche, or pick a different area altogether.

You can browse the Kindle Store here.

5. Grab the info you need and get writing

Here’s the muscle work – the actual doing it bit. And this is another area where Richard Bullivant’s course offers a lot of useful information.

The thing to bear in mind is that you don’t need to write an opus. If you’re writing a book called “25 tips you can use to keep your home clean” and each tip is a couple of paragraphs, it shouldn’t take you too long.

There’s also a lot of free content out there that you can tweak and use (though always check the legalities and rules). It’s called ‘public domain’ material. Here’s a good resource for finding public domain books:

Project Gutenberg

6. Include keywords and benefits in your title

People will find your books using the search facility on Amazon, so give them a helping hand. If you’re writing about golf swings make sure you get all the words in the title. For example:

Instead of “Perfecting Your Swing” use…

“How to Perfect Your Golf Swing”

You might then want to add a benefit which shows the reader why your book has the edge. In this case it could be because you’re showing them how to perfect your golf swing in just a few simple steps. So it could be:

“How to Perfect Your Golf Swing in 3 Easy Steps”

Hopefully you get the idea and that’s enough to get you started.

If you want a ‘walkthrough’ guide to this then I cannot recommend Richard Bullivant’s guide enough. He shows you how to go through everything in simple steps on screen.

Ultimate Kindle Profits Programme

I’ve put up my review of his programme on the Insider’s Edge website. You can see it here:

Review of Richard Bullivant’s Ultimate Kindle Profit Programme

He gets the full thumbs up from me.