Is Everyone Selling More Books Than You?

A Literal Literary Loser Looks Longingly

It’s tough out there for a self-published author. According to a cross-section of reports….

• 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.

• 20% of self-published authors report making no income from their books.

It seems that many books sell less than 100 copies in the first year, with some selling only 5 or 10 in the first month of publication. Apparently the average yearly sales of books in the US is less than 200 a year, with less than 1000 in a book’s lifetime….

Most self-published authors sell 250 books or less, regardless of how many different books they write….

A few years ago, the industry was buzzing when statistics revealed that the average self-published author earns less than $500 from her books….

In the interest of complete transparency and helping my fellow authors, I have written posts like:

• I Make the Book Marketing Mistakes - So You Don’t Have To

• This Little Author Went To Market-(ing)

• By the Numbers: Marketing Fiction v. Non-Fiction Self-Published Books

• Show Me the Money: Large Publisher v. Small Publisher v. Self-Publishing

This week, however, I am going to focus on my self-published books, total copies sold and total monies earned. I will be talking about Amazon sales only, since the other platforms barely sell enough copies to qualify as rounding errors.

My all-time self-published best seller is a non-fiction title, “Getting Into NYC Kindergarten.” I paid nothing to edit it, nothing to create the cover, nothing to market it. All sales are a combination of word of mouth, social media promotion, open to the public workshops, a mailing list, and a website.

Over eight years, “Getting Into NYC Kindergarten,” priced at $9.99 and in the 70% royalty category, has sold 1,772 copies and earned $12,204.36. That puts it above the industry average.

Now here is where it gets interesting:

My most-profitable fiction title is “Figure Skating Mystery Series: 5 Books in 1.” In nine years of sales, priced at $9.99 and in the 70% royalty category, it has earned $1,886.66. But as outlined here, I spent so much marketing it, there was barely a profit to be made.

While “Figure Skating Mystery Series” is my most profitable self-published fiction title, it is not my best-selling self-published fiction title.

That distinction goes to “Murder on Ice,” the first book in the series. In 12 years, it has sold 707 copies. But, at $.99 cents and at 30% royalty, it’s only earned $436.15, which makes it pretty much the poster child for “less than $500 per book.”

A non-skating title that hit almost the exact average is “The Fictitious Marquis.” Since 2016, in a combination of print and e-books, it’s sold 262 copies and earned $588.99. And this was after it got some major press play as a Jewish version of “Bridgerton.”

So those are my relative successes. What about my failures?

“Thieves at Heart,” another Regency romance, has been out since 2016. It has sold a total of 25 copies (way, way below average) and earned $51.21 (ditto). Though it has sold two copies in the last two days, which I find strange, to say the least. The main upside to “Thieves at Heart’s” meager sales is that, as the book was originally published by AVON, I did not need to pay to have the book professionally edited, and I did make more money off it in the original, paperback sale.

So that’s my story. Above average, average, and way below average. Hopefully, this tally will help aspiring writers get a realistic sense of their book’s potential, and guide your choices accordingly.

Good luck and let me know how it works out for you!