1. Qistina binti Ami Azrul

    Qistina binti Ami Azrul New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    In my room, thinking of something

    How much does one make on Kindle?

    Discussion in 'Self-Publishing' started by Qistina binti Ami Azrul, Nov 26, 2015.

    How much do self-publishers on Amazon Kindle make? Especially the ones that publish only through kindle and not through any other channel.
     
  2. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    Depends. There are people making very like and people making next to nothing. One guy I know recently self-published his first novel and made around $1000 in a month or so. I don't know what the average is.
     
  3. Qistina binti Ami Azrul

    Qistina binti Ami Azrul New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    In my room, thinking of something
    Thank you for the quick reply! How did he market the book though?
     
  4. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    Blogging, Facebook, kboards, and I think some ad campaigns. I can ask for the details.
     
  5. Qistina binti Ami Azrul

    Qistina binti Ami Azrul New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    In my room, thinking of something
    Please do, and thanks a bunch :)
     
  6. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2011
    Messages:
    1,526
    Likes Received:
    477
    Location:
    Rotorua, New Zealand
    Hi,

    Only Amazon would have an average figure and as far as I know they aren't reporting it. For me my figures are very up and down. Most months it's between a few hundred and few thousand bucks. In August I put out the Arcanist which coincided perfectly with Amazon's launch of Kindle Unlimited 2 and pulled in 15K.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
    Clair. likes this.
  7. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2011
    Messages:
    1,526
    Likes Received:
    477
    Location:
    Rotorua, New Zealand
    Hi,

    Only Amazon would have an average figure and as far as I know they aren't reporting it. For me my figures are very up and down. Most months it's between a few hundred and few thousand bucks. In August I put out the Arcanist which coincided perfectly with Amazon's launch of Kindle Unlimited 2 and pulled in 15K.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  8. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2014
    Messages:
    383
    Likes Received:
    128
    Since publishing in March, I've made just over £6 on Kindle. I only have one book out, so hopefully the figures will go up with the second book.
     
    KennyAndTheDog and BayView like this.
  9. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    My impression is that most people are seeing more like @ToeKneeBlack's numbers rather than @psychotick's, but that's just an impression. There are certainly some people who are doing very well.

    Remember to look at the net rather than the gross income, though. You need to subtract editing, cover costs, advertising, etc. before you really have a good idea of self-publishing as an income source. There are people who do ALL of that themselves, but my impression is that most of them are at the lower end of the gross income pool.

    This is all just impressions, though. As @psychotick said, only Amazon knows for sure.
     
    Lilly James Haro likes this.
  10. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2014
    Messages:
    383
    Likes Received:
    128
    Subtract advertising? -£4 then.
     
  11. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    10,462
    Likes Received:
    11,689
    And you did your own covers and editing?
     
  12. DefinitelyMaybe

    DefinitelyMaybe Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2012
    Messages:
    856
    Likes Received:
    238
    Location:
    Leicester, UK
    You've published a lot of books! Congratulations. Would it be rude to ask if you're making enough to quit the day job? Your blurb on Amazon mentions a day job.
     
  13. Qistina binti Ami Azrul

    Qistina binti Ami Azrul New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    In my room, thinking of something
    Thanks for the reply guys!
     
  14. Qistina binti Ami Azrul

    Qistina binti Ami Azrul New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    In my room, thinking of something
    And @ToeKneeBlack , did you market your book well? Maybe with more marketing more people will buy your book?
     
  15. Edward M. Grant

    Edward M. Grant Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2012
    Messages:
    711
    Likes Received:
    348
    Location:
    Canada
    Somewhere between $0 and $1,000,000,000.

    The Author Earnings report gives numbers you could use to estimate average income, but they still only cover the top few tens of thousands of writers.

    Edit: the other thing I would say is that Amazon change things so often that you can be selling well one month, then sell nothing the next. Between regular changes to their recommendation engine and pushing out poorly thought out subscription services, it's just not a reliable source of income unless you're a best-selling writer who can make a lot of money anywhere.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2015
  16. RikWriter

    RikWriter Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2015
    Messages:
    82
    Likes Received:
    34
    Location:
    Central Florida, USA
    I've made about $30,000 on Kindle over the last four years. Started with two books at 99 cents each, now I have five at prices ranging from $2.99 to $6.99. I marketed them via a couple message boards I frequent and via social media. How much you make depends on your genre, how good of a writer you are and how much word of mouth you get. Certain genres perform better than others.
    Science fiction, particularly military science fiction, does very well for independent authors on Kindle. Fantasy can do very well also and romance does incredibly well (it's a shame I can't write it). Mystery and general fiction, not as much.
     
  17. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2014
    Messages:
    383
    Likes Received:
    128
    I did my own covers and editing, and spent £10 on Facebook advertising.
    I've published on Nook, Kobo and Smashwords, but so far haven't seen a penny in royalties from these avenues.
    CreateSpace has sent me £0.01 in royalties after a book was sold through their "expanded distribution" network.
    But so far the biggest earner has been Amazon, with just over £6 (not sure of the exact figure, I have the records at home) in royalties.

    I've got a second book coming out in March, so we'll see if that does anything to boost sales on any of the above channels.
     
  18. RikWriter

    RikWriter Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2015
    Messages:
    82
    Likes Received:
    34
    Location:
    Central Florida, USA
    Oh sorry, forgot about the covers and editing questions. I did my own covers from drawings I bought from iStock and I did all my own editing. I try to spend as little as possible on the books to maximize profit and minimize expenses. As it is, it's not a great return on the time I spent writing so I don't want to drop any money into it if I can help it.
     
  19. R.P. Kraul

    R.P. Kraul Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2015
    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    25
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    You can do pretty well on Kindle, provided that you know the tricks of the game.
     
  20. DefinitelyMaybe

    DefinitelyMaybe Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2012
    Messages:
    856
    Likes Received:
    238
    Location:
    Leicester, UK
    Which are?
     
    GingerCoffee likes this.
  21. Justin Rocket 2

    Justin Rocket 2 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2013
    Messages:
    1,030
    Likes Received:
    204
    Buying a book on Kindle is a bit of a crap-shoot. I have Amazon Prime and, so, can usually read a book before buying it. My experience is that there's some truly impressive shit out there. Sadly, there's some truly impressively shitty shit out there, too.

    If you want to make money self-publishing, then you have to figure out how to get consumer confidence. For that reason, talented authors who publish under one pen name and offer free previews and have a lot of books/series on Amazon are probably going to make exponentially more.

    Also, read this http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/the-new-world-of-publishing-making-a-living-with-your-short-fiction-updated-2013/
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 26, 2015
    Lozboz and DefinitelyMaybe like this.
  22. Qistina binti Ami Azrul

    Qistina binti Ami Azrul New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    In my room, thinking of something
    Thanks!
     
  23. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2011
    Messages:
    1,526
    Likes Received:
    477
    Location:
    Rotorua, New Zealand
    Hi,

    Definitely Maybe - the tricks are for me at least: Write the best book you can, get it beta read and edited to the best you can, get the cover and blurb done to the best level you can, and then publish and be damned.

    That's where you start. But the real mantra is to remember this is a marathon not a sprint. You don't write one book and done. You keep writing and over the years as you put out more and more books you build a following.

    There are also some do's and don'ts in this business. Don't for example write under more than one name - a pen name is fine - but it's you for life so think very carefully about it. Stick to one genre. Trilogies etc do better than singles. Novels do better than short stories. (I just wish I could stick to all those do's!)

    As for the other stuff - marketing etc. Don't know. It seems to me to be hit and miss.(Pretty much like writing to begin with!) Do it or don't do it, I'd rather concentrate on writing more books.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  24. DeadMoon

    DeadMoon The light side of the dark side Contributor

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2014
    Messages:
    817
    Likes Received:
    519
    Location:
    fargo, ND
    What does everyone think of giving away a few freebies on kindle to gain an readers? (sorry if this has already been brought up and I missed it) There has been a few free stories that, after reading, I would definitely pay for there next book. They were all short stories but still it worked. Of course there have been some free ones that left but deleting their books of my kindle before I was able to finish the book as well.
     
  25. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    I've bought books after downloading and enjoying free ones from the same author, whereas I rare bother downloading free samples of paid books. Some of them have been full novels but most have been short story collections. Not single short stories, I wouldn't bother spending the time searching and downloading for a few pages.

    Beware I have heard on here that short stories aren't popular with readers (no idea why, I love them) so offering a novel free might be the best strategy.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice