How Much Money Can You Make by Self Publishing a Book? (2024)

FAQs

How Much Money Can You Make by Self Publishing a Book? ›

Self-published authors can earn up to 70% royalties from their books, while most traditionally published authors make 5-18% royalties which they only receive after 'earning out'. That means the books sales have “paid back” their advances and the publishers then start giving them a cut of book sales.

It may take more legwork, but you get to make money writing a book on your terms. As you can see from above, traditional publishers only give you around 10 to 15% of royalties. Self-publishing gives you anywhere from 35 to 70%.

So how much profit can you earn from a self-published book? An April 2023 study by the Alliance of Independent Authors found that the median earnings for self-published authors were $12,749. By comparison, the median income for traditionally published authors was less than half of that figure—$6,080.

The average self-published book sells 250 copies. The average self-published author makes $1,000 per year from their books. 33% of self-published authors make less than $500 per year. 90% of self-published books sell less than 100 copies.

How much money does a first-time author make off a book? A first-time author of a traditionally published book can usually expect an advance of $1,000 to $10,000 and a 5% to 18% cut of the royalties.

Under U.S. copyright law, your self published work is protected as soon as you put the pen to paper. Copyright is based on your creative authorship and is not dependent on any formal agreement with a book publisher or self publishing company, although registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is beneficial.

Selling a million copies would earn you a million dollars. Depending on your contract, you may get a book deal advance, which is an advance payment made to authors in traditional publishing. If you don't make enough money to pay back the advance, you're not required to pay the advance back.

The average self-published book sells 250 copies. The average self-published author makes $1,000 per year from their books. 33% of self-published authors make less than $500 per year. 90% of self-published books sell less than 100 copies.

Self-published authors receive royalties on a monthly basis, with a delay of about three months on the sale. eBooks bring in more royalties than print books, so you may find a lot of self-published authors only offer that format. (Did you know you can buy my books, directly from my website?)

Higher Earning Potential

Traditionally published authors receive royalties for books sold—typically between 10-15 percent of a book's list price. Conversely, self-published authors can keep every dollar earned from sold books.

How many copies should a book sell to be successful? ›

For a first-time author, selling a few thousand copies can be considered a success, while for a well-established author, selling hundreds of thousands of copies might be the benchmark. However, a general rule of thumb in the publishing industry is that a book that sells more than 5,000 copies is considered successful.

The longer the book, the more it will cost to edit and format and print and that can be a deterrent. So while the number of pages in a book for different genre varies, a debut author is more likely to get a positive response if they stick to a book of 200-250 pages.

BookScan found that only 6.7 percent of the new titles released by these companies were selling more that 10,000 copies in their first year of sales, only 12.3 percent were selling more than 5,000 copies in their first year, and only 33.9 percent of these titles were selling more than 1,000 copies in their first year ( ...

Self-published authors can earn 40% to 60% royalties for the selling price of a book, while traditionally published authors typically earn 10% to 12% royalties. First-time authors willing to publish traditionally will receive a prepayment. This is usually $10,000 (not so much for first-time authors).

The short answer is yes. Everybody who ever wrote their first book did so with no experience of writing a book. Think about that… As long as you are willing to learn, humble enough to know your writing isn't perfect, and disciplined enough to continue working on honing your creative writing skills, you can do it.

“You can make a living as an author, but it might not be what you expect,” Williams said in an exclusive interview with me. “When you start writing, if you plan on landing a publishing advance that will allow you to move to a lake-side cottage and retire from your day job, then you're likely to be disappointed.

Self-published authors can earn 40% to 60% royalties for the selling price of a book, while traditionally published authors typically earn 10% to 12% royalties. First-time authors willing to publish traditionally will receive a prepayment. This is usually $10,000 (not so much for first-time authors).

making $1.8 million in a year self-publishing on A... Dakota Krout was a newly married full-time student ... Nobles and several other online stores. Everyone who reads it seems to like it.

While in 2022, the median book-related income for full-time self-published authors was $10,200—much less than full-time traditionally published trade authors, who earned $15,000—established (five-plus years of publishing experience) full-time self-published authors more than doubled their book income in 2022 compared ...

Self-published authors receive royalties on a monthly basis, with a delay of about three months on the sale. eBooks bring in more royalties than print books, so you may find a lot of self-published authors only offer that format. (Did you know you can buy my books, directly from my website?)