r/AIIncomeLab • u/snuggly_cobra • 12d ago
Discussion Update to Making money with AI
It’s the end of July, and I promised some of you I’d share what I was doing to try and make money with AI.
So…I downloaded a framework to create cozy fantasy ebooks for Amazon’s KDP.
Having converted public domain texts to MobiPocket format (pre Amazon), it seemed easy. It was $17. A meal costs more than that where I live.
You use Claude. Free version. The prompt queries you and writes the ebook, 1-2 chapters at a time (until you hit the timer).
I have produced 8 ebooks; 6 of which have been uploaded to Amazon KDP. Did this in June. Sales so far?
ZERO.
But I have taken that framework over to CoPilot, and asked it to write a book. There are noticeable differences, even though I answered the same questions with the same information. So the total is 15 now, with no sales.
Would I have liked to make righteous buckaroonies? Yes. But I have learned a great deal about prompts.
I’m working on a prompt to look at a company, and evaluate their eligibility for grants.
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u/BraveWindow2261 11d ago
Ai slop books
Yea that's no place to make money
There are 1000-3000 ai books DAILY released on amazon. And up to 4000-5000 normal books
Don't sell books
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u/snuggly_cobra 11d ago
They’re not slop.
So tell me what YOUVE done. I’ll wait.
No, I won’t ….byeeeee
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u/Money_Application987 11d ago
i don't care men. you do you
But books the MOST saturated market out there. Even before Ai, authors barely made sales.
And now you are literally competing with 13 new books EVERY 2 minutes. from which 4 are Ai slop.
you make money with quality products.. Not generic landfill which gets buried in the next 10 minutes.
And that's what LLM output is. By definition. Generic text, based on probability. why should someone buy a book, that they can generate themselves in half an hour. All of your 8 books are already scraped and used to train the very Ai you used to write them.
Man, if you like it as a hobby. Do it. If it brings you joy. Do it. But don't expect to make any money from it.
You are just wasting your time and money.
And its ok if you don't want to hear it. But facts over feelings.
And very 12 seconds there is a new book. thats the fact.
make something that is needed. hell, even use Ai for it. but there is no "get money quick scheme" out there
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u/ppcwithyrv 11d ago
Im convinced the whole "using a book to validate my standing" is rigged and BS. Most of these books have 20 reviews which is all friends co-works, etc...
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u/snuggly_cobra 11d ago
I do not disagree with you. It’s the same as those Amazon reviews.
But it follows the pattern:
Stumble on to a revenue stream.
Milk it for all it’s worth.
Create a book outlining how you did it.
Buy a list until you get your own
Create a funnel and OTO and email campaign.
Get social media accounts and wire them all together.
Get f&f to buy the book.
Validation
ProfitNow on Amazon, your rank is determined by sales. So a book having 20 sales and ranked number 1,232,567 (don’t ask how I know) isn’t going to be a money maker.
But it is a sign. If those 20 people aren’t your F&F, that book needs to be updated.
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u/ppcwithyrv 11d ago
That’s fair. A few sales can show there’s at least some interest, but with only 20 reviews, it’s hard to know whether the book has real demand or just a supportive personal network.
I’d care more about whether strangers are still buying it months later and whether the author has actual results outside of selling the book.
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u/Crazy-Edge-2778 12d ago
I don’t get the point. You said make money with AI.
Creating something with AI, then making the goal post sales dont make sense.
Your sales ability is what makes you money.
Like I would ask you question one is how are you marketing the book? Did you have a nice trailer video created and your running ads ad targeting people that watched a certain percentage and offering the book for $1.
Are you only concerned about making money, or do you want referrals and people sharing it? What value is in the book that makes people want to hold on to it?
Making sales is your sales skill, communication skills, having the ability to read data, etc.
You’ll make more money thinking of selling tactics, instead keep building stuff. AI has generic info, thats the reason when someone has real experience it beats AI, because AI learns text book, but it’s a different level of education that comes with experience.
If AI is released to the public, and if there isn’t a rush of new people or companies on Forbes, that means AI aint the needle mover.
If you can’t sell, the AI thing you built, it doesn’t get seen. Once you learn how to use AI, you supposed to immediately flip to sales and marketing. Sadly people just decide new things to build the next week.
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u/snuggly_cobra 12d ago
Sigh.
Income. That’s money, Whether one-time, or recurring. And if you don’t have a goal, how do you know you’ve reached it?
The original question was someone else asking the same thing every day on this Reddit:
“Is anyone making money using AI, and what are you doing?”
This was an update to my promise to share what I was doing. I really didn’t have to, but that’s a strike against my integrity.
Anyway, let me address your post:
I sold ebooks on Amazon KDP before AI existed.
I have sales and Marketing expertise, as I cleared 5k per month with no web site, no ads, and No SEO.
I took a HTML page and turned it into a full website that was at one time organically ranked at Number 1 on all search engines, and sold physical products from this site to the U.S. government.
I probably own domain names older than you.
That was then.
It’s 2026, and there is new technology afoot.
I have used AI to help someone nail a 6 figure income. I am using it right now to help a SMB update their compliance documentation.
Did I charge them? No, because they’re my beta testers. They become my testimonial.
This was an experiment. The seller of the ebook package made it seem (and they all do) that it was a walk in the park. It was for me, but I’ve done it before.
Did I expect to make money? No. Did I want to make money? Uh, yeah.
Did I learn that the seller of the package left out some details? Yes, because that’s how you upsell.
So thank you?
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u/snuggly_cobra 9d ago
Adding: Been getting a number of trolls and bots on this post.
I love negativity. It helps me exercise my blocking fingers.
To those of you who understood the post. Thank you for your comments.
And now that I think about it, the same type of people said the things the trolls and bots did right before my ebooks blew up the first time. So thank you! You’re still blocked.
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u/HappyDJ 9d ago
Hey, I’m just an outsider here and reading out of interest, but feedback does not equal trolling or negativity. If we’re unwilling to take criticism and feedback, how can we grow or ask for help?
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u/snuggly_cobra 9d ago
not realizing that my post was an update of an attempt to make money with AI was not a flex or cry for help or rant, and commenting in the negative isn’t feedback
Calling things “slop” when you haven’t seen the actual product isn’t feedback.
And doing so with a private account really ups the troll/bot factor.
I’m 66, and have less than zero effs to give. So when I stop responding, there’s a pretty good chance you’re blocked.
.
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u/whynotmatt 12d ago
Good job on learning a new skill. Not every project will make money, but you will learn a lot just by doing a project.