Yes, YOU can become an Amazon best-selling author!

Here’s the thing, though: it’s not just you.  Anyone can become an Amazon best-selling author.  They don’t have to be a good writer, or tell an interesting and entertaining story.

Or even tell a story at all.

They just have to pick an obscure category, then get a few friends to purchase their book before its official release date.

Don’t believe me?

Next time you see a social-media post from a dubious-sounding “best-selling Amazon author”, go and have a little look at their book’s listing.  Often, it’ll be a bestseller in a category that you never knew existed, or if you did, has little to do with the book’s actual subject.

(Note: this can be a highly distracting game!)

Food the Obscure

Business books are the worst contenders for bestsellers in obscure categories, closely followed by cookery books… because who doesn’t dream of writing a super-hit title in ‘Vegan salad assembly’?

However, there’s something you should know before you rush to get your copy.  Rather than explaining how best to combine lettuce and tomatoes on a plate, the book in question only tells you how to whip up meaty meals in an air fryer.

One “#1 best-selling author and businessman” got the top-spot for a short collection of Dad jokes categorised under ‘Golf and putting trivia’, while another self-proclaimed business guru wrote a bestseller about how to manifest wealth, listed under ‘Almanacs’.

“Here’s what happened in the book industry over the last few years: As Amazon has become the big dog in the book world, the “Amazon Best Seller” status has come to be synonymous with being an actual best seller. This is not true, and I can prove it”.

(Brent Underwood, best-selling Amazon author)

In 2017, Brent Underwood published a page-less book that featured a picture of his left foot on the cover.  Called Putting My Foot Down: A Book Featuring My Foot, he selected the ‘Transpersonal’ and ‘Freemasonry & Secret Societies’ categories.

After selling just three copies of the ‘book’ – two of which he bought himself – he became a best-selling author.

Why is this GOOD news for aspiring authors?

The dream of one day becoming a “best-selling author” can be motivational fuel for many a writer.  But for others, it only fuels procrastination.  I frequently chat with budding writers who are too scared to put words onto the page, because they’ve set themselves what seems to be a sky-high target.

However, if a page-less book can make it to the top, so can yours!

All you have to do now is decide whether you want to play the “bestseller” game, or concentrate on writing a book that’s useful, entertaining, and personally fulfilling.  A book that other people actually want to read.

If it’s the former, any number of shiny-suited marketing agencies can help you out (Google is your friend).   If you’ve got a good idea for the latter, you might find my six-week Wondrous Writing Hub helpful for releasing it into the wild – or potentially, Waterstone’s.

Prefer something a little more one-to-one?  My Courses and Mentoring page details the myriad ways in which I can personally help you write the book you’ve always wanted to write.

Whether it’s an eventual bestseller or not.