There are a lot of ways to put it. You could say that Kindle has “democratized” publishing. Or, you could say Kindle “disrupted” publishing. What this means is Kindle ebooks are cheap and lots of people can write and publish them without any big shot in a New York City publishing company suite decide whether other people should read the book, or not.
But, what all of this means for you and me is that some people have decided to write and publish books for us that are absolutely free. Other books are super cheap. And still other writers put together books that are expensive, but you can pick them up for nothing as an Amazon Prime member.
But that alone won’t necessarily make you rich.
What might make you rich are the free and super inexpensive books that are now available on Kindle. Here are some free — or almost free — books that might just make you rich. Some are classic money-making and investing tracts, other books explore ways to make money in the new economy.
Think and Grow Rich — Napolean Hill
Napoleon Hill has become THE name in success-based mind power. The story goes that Andrew Carnegie, one of the world’s richest tycoons of the era whose relative wealth then would easily outpace any of today’s tech moguls, urged Hill to interview the wealthiest and most successful people and dilute their secrets down so that everyone could understand them. After talking with, in Hill’s estimation, 500 of the world’s super rich, he created a massive multi-volume Laws of Success. Pressed to make it even more accessible, in 1937 the author reduced it to “Think and Grow Rich,” which became a bestseller and, after decades, still is a bestseller.
The book is built around 13 simple steps, including forming a mastermind group and creating a definite chief aim. Wealthy people today still say they use Hill’s advice.
And now you can, for a couple of bucks, “achieve your goals, change your life, and join the ranks of the rich and successful.”
Choose Yourself — James Altucher
If you’re trying to do everything right to make money and still not getting rich, it may be because the things you think are right are actually wrong. That’s where James Altucher comes in. Altucher, a talking head on financial television networks and serial entrepreneur, has made and lost fortunes. He says that gives him a unique insight on wealth creation and adds that some of the financial advice — in fact, most of the financial advice — that we receive is faulty. Get a college degree so you can find a good job? Both of those ideas are wrong, according to Altucher.
College degree? Not necessary and too expensive to justify the “investment.”
A job? Rapid technological change is making more and more people obsolete. Altucher explains how you don’t have to be one of them. As he says in the book, “New tools and economic forces have emerged to make it possible for individuals to create art, make millions of dollars and change the world without “help.” More and more opportunities are rising out of the ashes of the broken system to generate real inward success (personal happiness and health) and outward success (fulfilling work and wealth).
Altucher is clear, concise, and funny. Some of the things he says are deliciously contrarian:
“Every time you say yes to something you don’t want to do, this will happen: you will resent people, you will do a bad job, you will have less energy for the things you were doing a good job on, you will make less money, and yet another small percentage of your life will be used up, burned up, a smoke signal to the future saying, ‘I did it again.’”
Do I agree with everything Altucher says here? Not always and definitely not to the extreme in his rhetoric. But I think that’s the point. Having your own opinion and finding your own financial path what Choose Yourself is all about?
The Intelligent Investor — Benjamin Graham
“Buy low, sell high, make a killing” is a chant most investors have heard. Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett’s investment mentor, had a different take. His was: “Buy when the market has priced a security lower than its intrinsic value, Hold onto it until those conditions change, and grow your wealth reasonably over time.”
Sure it’s not catchy or quick, but lots of investors have made wads of money following the advice from this British-born Columbia Business School professor. Now you can invest in the book that Buffett called, “the best book about investing ever written,” for a little under $10.
In it, you’ll learn from Graham’s plainspoken advice. Here are just a few gems:
“Investing isn’t about beating others at their game. It’s about controlling yourself at your own game.”
“The sillier the market’s behavior, the greater the opportunity for the businesslike investor.”
“In the short run the market is a voting machine, but in the long run it is a weighing machine.”
“The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.”
Rocket Stocks by Matthew R. Kratter
If you’re looking more for tactical ways to make money and you can afford to take risks, you may want to try Matthew Kratter’s Kindles. Kratter is the founder of Trader University and claims to have a few sure-fired strategies to make money with trading. Maybe so, maybe not. But he has produced a bunch of good e-books that serve as primers about often complex trading maneuvers, like covered calls and option trading strategies.
One of Kratter’s key principles is that investors can make money in any market — bear, bull, and anything in between. Investors can access lots of tools to make sure he or she can navigate any of those markets successfully, the investor says.
Some of Kratter’s titles include: Monthly Cash Machine, Invest Like Warren Buffett, Rocket Stocks, and Covered Calls Made Easy. As Kratter puts it, “each book is short, easy-to-read, and packed with all of the specific details that you will need to trade the strategy.”
Lessons Learned from Timothy Ferriss
Timothy Ferriss wrote the book — literally — on lifestyle design. Essentially, his book, The Four Hour Work Week, opened up the eyes of millions of readers to the possibilities that technology held for productivity enhancement and wealth creation. After reading his book, along with other titles, such as the recent Tools for Titans, people never looked at the 40-hour work week grind as the only option.
I highly recommend Tim’s books.
However, he doesn’t make the list. His books, even the Kindle versions, are really expensive. (Tools for Titans, by the way, goes for about $15.99 — and that’s the cheap Kindle version.)
There is a work-around, though. And it’s one that I think even Tim, who is always looking for ways to make money and improve efficiency, would approve of. Try one of the Timothy Ferris summaries. For instance, Lessons Learned from Timothy Ferriss, which is about $2.99, introduces key insights and principles of the author. Mark Givens, the author of the summary, offers the following:
- Timothy Ferriss Biographical Sketch
- Lessons Learned From The Four Hour Work Week
- Lessons Learned From The Four Hour Body
- Lessons Learned From The Four Hour Chef
In a lot of ways, Givens perfectly embodies the Ferriss spirit. He’s created a niche by solving a problem for a busy reader. Tim shouldn’t just approve, he should be proud.
The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime
If you’ve been told to:
Go to college.
Get a good job.
Save 10 percent of your money.
Don’t buy a lot of luxury goods and pretty much sit around all day and watch your pennies
Then, according to MJ DeMarco, you’ve been lied to.
In the Millionaire Fastlane, DeMarco attempts to prove that this is what he calls slowlane financial thinking and, he says, it never works. He promotes Fastlane thinking, which he claims will help you make money fast and not require you to skimp any of the luxuries. At one time, DeMarco lived with his mother and mopped floors for a living. But, after learning the fastlane lesson, founded a startup called Limos.com. Then, he sold the company. Then he bought the company again. Then, he sold it again!
If you want to “change lanes,” DeMarco says that this book might be the turn signal.
The Side Hustle Path — 10 Proven Ways to Make Money Outside of Your Day Job
Author and entrepreneur Nick Loper says he wants to help people. This 75-page free guide to starting a side hustle business is one of the ways he’s showing just how helpful he can be. The side hustle is a part-time job you can start while working a full-time job, or going to school, or whatever. Most people say the side hustle works because there’s nothing to risk. If it doesn’t work, you just find another side hustle. If it does work, there’s no limit to how far you can take your side hustle. Nick says that his fellow side hustlers have achieved considerable heights of fame and fortune.
Nick is also the “Chief Side Hustler” at SideHustleNation.com, a great resource for you. It includes articles, profiles, and a top-rated podcast.