Who is the youngest independent self-published author to make money on Amazon?

The answer is hard to come by unless, that is, every young author on Amazon were to put their age in their author bio. And … well, they don’t. Old authors don’t put their age on Amazon either.

How to Write a Book for Middle Graders

Seldom, or never do you see 39-year old author publishes … or 26-year old author publishes … or 88-year old publishes … and so on, and so forth.

Youngest Self-published Author on Amazon’s Age

What I do know is that my co-author, Mia, is just 11-years old. I know this because she wasn’t around 11 years ago. I have firsthand knowledge.

And, I know that she and I published our first full-fledged novel (55,000 words) this year. And we have made money with the book … not enough to pay for college tuition or her high school tuition or, gosh, even her current middle school tuition. She attends a private Christian school, The King’s Academy, in Silicon Valley, CA. But our book does make money.

Mia is also a first. In an email this morning from her school –

This will be a first for our school – Lunch with a 6th grader published author from TKA.

Our book is cataloged in the school library. The book, The Giant Forest, is being actively passed around by her friends, teachers and administrators at her school. One of the school administrators said:

I loved the stories within the story!

Who’s Reading This Little Girl & Her Dad’s Book?

There’s a large camp book store in Silicon Valley that is looking at it with an eye to putting in on their shelves for campers and retreaters. The setting of the book is this camp.

There are several overseas missions – India, Uganda, Nigeria that are using our book for training and education in their children’s homes, a modern day euphemism for orphanages. One of them wrote:

“It can serve as a whole project for kids development.“

Book 2 in the series – The Camelot Labyrinth – starts off in India. We are still writing this and hope to have it done before Thanksgiving.

Dad Made Out of Money

All that to say that Mia and I have written a legitimate novel. It’s getting book reviews for middle grade novels. And, it’s making her some pocket money. And what middle schooler doesn’t wish she could have more money to buy t-shirts that make a statement to wear when she goes to school?

What We Did with Her First Book on Amazon

More than the pocket money, of course, is that Mia is on her way in a career path that she can continue on or divert from as she pleases. And her dad is happy to help out.

This website – The Giant Forest – that you are reading this on has had well over 50,000 unique visitors.

What’s going on here?

The answer is, “Not sure. But … Mia has options. She has a platform. She has history. And she is making money as an independent self-published author on Amazon. Where it goes from here, who knows? But, I’ll say again, she has options.

Who Do You Know?

Do you know someone else who is younger and is making money with their books on Amazon?

Do tell.

Not because we want to be proven wrong or right, but because we’d like to encourage them on their journey. And, hey! Maybe we can hang out together sometimes.

Check out our book … or not.