Understanding How To Self-Publish And Make Money

Books equal Money

Whether you have a book published or you’re still considering how best to go to print, I’ve got no doubt that you’ve stopped and wondered, “How long until I’m the next Stephen King?”

I don’t want to shatter any dreams here, but the answer is probably never. Achieving that level of success is an outlier. But that doesn’t mean you can’t earn a living creating the content you’re passionate about!

How Much Money Can You Make by Self-Publishing?

That’s not a simple question to answer because the amount varies widely. Digital Book World did a study in 2014 that found, among responding authors, that the majority earned between $1,000 and $2,999 a year. More recently, we partnered with The Tilt to conduct creator research—encompassing all kinds of creatives, though most include publishing in their business. That research found that the average total income for creators exceeds $60,000 per year. 

That’s a pretty wide chasm. Fortunately, we’ve got one more resource to consider: the Authors Guild’s 2023 Author Income Survey. They estimate that authors earn around $10,000 a year in revenue just from book sales.

What this means is something content entrepreneurs, speakers, and influencers have known for a few years now: books are a great source of income, but shouldn’t be your only source of income. If you’re a fiction author, your book will probably be your primary source of income and the product you build your marketing around, but you need to be aware of options to supplement book sales to ensure you earn enough.

The Amazon Conundrum

With an understanding that you—the self-published author—want to make the most from each sale of your book, we have to take a moment to talk about the retail giant Amazon.

There’s a misconception about Amazon in the self-publishing world. Many authors see Amazon as a boon for making their books available to the huge community of buyers who visit the site every day. While Amazon makes books easy to buy, their publishing division (now exclusively Kindle Direct, as CreateSpace has been shuttered) is less a means to publish and more an avenue to get on Amazon.

Are those two things really different? For a lot of authors, the answer is no. Being published means being for sale on Amazon.

And that’s great. There’s really no reason not to have your product for sale on Amazon. No matter what you sell, you should be selling it on Amazon. 

But you have to appreciate the premium Amazon extracts. Selling your book through Amazon directly or through another self-publisher on Amazon means accepting a massive reduction in your earnings.

For example, let’s consider this very standard paperback:

It costs $6.41 to print. For this example, let’s say you want the retail price set at $14.95. At that retail price, here’s you’re Amazon earnings breakdown:

You’ll earn just $0.85 selling on Amazon. Of course, you could publish directly through KDP to earn a better return:

$5.57 is better, but you lose out on distribution through other retailers like Ingram. Or the Lulu Bookstore, where you’ll earn better than KDP pays (and get much higher quality printing):

Making lower revenues does not mean you should avoid Amazon. Don’t misunderstand me on that. Your book should absolutely be for sale on Amazon because they have the largest and broadest marketplace available. 

The mistake I see self-published authors making time and again is prioritizing Amazon. Luckily, there’s a solution.

The Solution To Earning More From Your Books

Imagine you’re a voracious reader browsing solution media. They come across an ad for your latest book. The cover speaks to them. The blurb catches their attention. So they click the link.

Where do they go? If it’s Amazon, you’re doing it wrong.

It’s a mistake I see again and again on more than just social media. Authors will make this mistake on their blogs and websites too. A banner link or ‘buy now’ button will send their new reader to Amazon to buy their book.

Consider that customer’s journey. They discover you on social media, click a link to your website, and finally have to leave your site to go to Amazon to complete the purchase. Where you’ll earn less money. That’s literally throwing money away.

Some authors are doing this because Amazon is how they publish, so it makes sense to direct buyers there. Others are simply using the notoriety and ease of Amazon’s shopping to entice buyers. Regardless, the last thing anyone should be doing is directing their reader (or would-be reader) to a different site to buy their book.

Imagine going to a shoe store for a new pair of sneakers. You check the selection, talk to a clerk, and find a pair you love. Try them on and damn they fit great! So, you ask the clerk to box them up and send you to the register. And the clerk just smiles and says, “Oh no, you have to go to Target to actually buy these.”

Look, I get it. Amazon is awesome. I’m not trying to convince anyone to cancel their account or delete their shopping app. Hell, I took a break while writing this post to buy a case of dog food and a jar of ink on Amazon.

The mistake for authors isn’t listing their books on Amazon. It’s in using Amazon as their only or primary sales channel.

Watch Ecommerce 101

The Best Way To Sell Books

You always have to make the best choice for you, your brand, and your content business. There might be some creators who really do benefit from relying on Amazon as their sales channel.

But for most authors and creators, you need to widen your sales plan to include a variety of options.

That’s where tools like Lulu Direct come into play. Using our direct connections to WooCommerce and Shopify (or our developer API), you can sell your books directly to your fans. That means no more links from your blog, website, or social profiles to Amazon. Your newest fans can buy directly from you—allowing you to earn more from each sale and collect their contact information so you can market your next book.

Your Book, Your Way

Sell books on your website with Lulu Direct.

Sell Your Book,
Your Way

Sell books on your own
website with Lulu Direct.

Using direct sales on your website and social profiles doesn’t stop you from distributing to retailers like Amazon or through the Ingram network. It’s often the right choice to offer both—giving your readers free rein to shop the way they want. 

Finding the Balance

The most successful creators and authors leverage a variety of products and retail options to ensure they’re consistently offering their fans ways to support them. For authors like you, that likely means integrating direct sales into your own author site while distributing through retailers. 

That is literally giving you the best of both worlds. You get access to Amazon’s marketplace and you get to sell directly to readers who come to your branded website or through social media at a significantly higher return.We know consumers prefer to buy directly from brands when given the option. And we know that you need to think of yourself as a brand to increase book sales and grow an audience. All of this means you need to make the smartest choices for you and your book.

Paul H, Content Marketing Manager

Paul is the Content Marketing Manager at Lulu. When he's not entrenched in the publishing and print-on-demand world, he likes to hike the scenic North Carolina landscape, read, sample the fanciest micro-brewed beer, and collect fountain pens. Paul is a dog person but considers himself cat tolerant.

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I have a book, published by Lulu in 2008, currently sold in print format on Amazon for $19.95. Sales are over 3000 books, the problem? My revenue from each sale, through Lulu, my POD publisher, is $.04. Yes, 4 (four) cents. There is a problem here for authors.

Hi I am looking Foward to publishing my book with lulu but what sort of income will I make if I am paying for lulu to do marketing for my book does lulu just put my book on the websites and wait for it to get a sale or lulu look for distributors to buy my books

Hi Nirvanie,

First off, congratulations on nearing completion of your book!

When it comes to marketing, there are a ton of different paths you can take. Once you publish with Lulu, your book can be sold on our bookstore and online with retailers like Amazon. The only cost to this is the purchase of a single copy of your book to review and approve. Paid marketing services are a different matter and generally involve drafting a plan with your marketer to determine where, when, and how often your work will be promoted.

More often than not, marketing plans like this (which can be fairly expensive) will only end up earning you money if you already have a substantial following who are either already interested or likely to be interested in buying your book.

I need a representative to talk to. +234 8063035513

Lulu is by far THE BEST

Hello. I tried getting published with vary comic book places but these guys care for realistic art and not cartoon art. Good thing I self publish my first issue. Is it worth selling?

I went to Shopify and attempted to go the route, but nothing is clearly explained about how Shopify works, what the “shop” they offer you is, or what options you have for “decorating” it, or how I will be more visible than with my Lulu website, or anything else really: and suddenly I was confronted with having to accept a “plan” of paying $29 per month for…what exactly, I had no idea…and as you can imagine, I backed off! It may all be perfectly legitimate, and may have good prospects, but it’s presented like a scam, and certainly the customer is treated like an idiot. No thanks.

“the numbers you list as comparison for what you’d make publishing//selling thru LULU vs AmAZON are a joke. for a 200 page book, at 14.95, they don’t only give u a 1.58$. ((not to mention the ridiculous idea that someone would sell a 200 page book for 14.95)) ((and the fact that you don’t mention the overhead cost of publishing thru LULU, vs virtually no overhead if you format your own book yourself and publish thru amazon//CS//Kindle))”
I think you’re being a bit harsh. I’ve published 7 books with between 550 & 700 pages and would challenge anyone to find a more cost effective & flexible distribution system than Lulu – I’m not interested in E-books so can`t comment.
It’s sensible to buy a preview copy before distribution anyway (at the author rate) and that is all that Lulu demands – I don`t work for Lulu, but I have published many of my own books with them and assisted a number of other people to do the same – if there is an easier or cheaper route I’d like to know about it. (remember that Lulu books can be created with no specialist software or applications – Word or Open Office will do)
But this thread is about being rewarded for sales, and as others have noted the hard bit is getting in front of your potential customers. As mentioned before my own books are specialist and I know my target customers and where they hang out –
– but the novelists have a harder job getting noticed in the first place as simple descriptions and keyword searches are unlikely to get noticed in the clutter on major platforms. Success is often as not who you know or how much you have to spend. That’s life, I get it. But I don`t read fiction so have no idea what’s good and what’s not but to sell you need to attract the attention of potential readers. Website visitors are hard to come by and a “Buy Now” button is a valuable tool. (e.g. Shopify / PayPal)
Clearly nobody expects Lulu to promote their books beyond their own website and specialist marketing services, but I’ve often thought that they could play a part in developing a network of regional user groups to showcase their work through live events? Just a thought.

Dear Mr. Paul,
I am glad connecting you tonight. I am registered with Lulu and I am interested to publish with Lulu. And I have ready books waiting for publishing and others nearing completion.
Please guide me on how to start to publish m book(s) and sell them both in Amazon and Lulu. Expecting to hear from you.
Thank you.

the numbers you list as comparison for what you’d make publishing//selling thru LULU vs AmAZON are a joke. for a 200 page book, at 14.95, they don’t only give u a 1.58$. ((not to mention the ridiculous idea that someone would sell a 200 page book for 14.95)) ((and the fact that you don’t mention the overhead cost of publishing thru LULU, vs virtually no overhead if you format your own book yourself and publish thru amazon//CS//Kindle))

Reading these reviews really changed my mind about lulu amazon it is ! Do u they really have a charge and dont tell u ?

Yeah, it’s true even though i am still fresh with lulu.

I have published 2 books through Createspace and of course they are on Amazon. Two questions:
#! Since Createspace is gone, do I have to do something technical for my book to continue to be listed? and #2 How do I make my books available on Lulu or is it Shoptify? Totally Confused…

Even when a user finds your book on Amazon 90% of the page is trying to divert the users’ attention elsewhere – but of my last 10 sales all were directed directly to Lulu and 7 ended up going to Amazon – In the only case where I could ask the buyer why, they said it’s all to do with Amazon’s 1 Click purchase. (i.e. no new account required.
Shopify isn`t for me because it’s a subscription service which doesn`t confer me with any benefit that I can`t have with PayPal with less commitment. It’s probably a good solution for others.
Getting people to find your book in the first place in a crowded market place is hard enough, but losing revenue in this way is hard to take.
I’m now working hard to sell directly to distributors and retail outlets. This is relatively easy for me as my books are specialist in nature, and I know the target market well. Anything that sells online now will be a bonus. (a standing Lulu discount for say 5 books would be good – although Lulu offer codes can equally attractive.)
For fiction writers it must be a several orders of magnitude more difficult. I’m a big fan of Lulu and am anxious to see them achieve more direct sales for ordinary authors.
OK we all agree there’s a problem, so I’ll try to make some constructive if impractical suggestions.
I don`t have any social medias accounts, but I understand that such logins can work across multiple platforms – could Lulu engineer some sort of login with Amazon? – PayPal payment options should be stressed.
Make ISBN number on the book description an image or difficult to copy/paste as I believe this is the fastest way to get to the book directly through an Amazon search.
This isn`t about cost to the buyer.. it’s about one-click purchase and prime shipping.

I have to agree with Stuart W. Mirsky. There is little point in selling books directly from a website no one visits. However it’s a useful extra string to our author bows. Possibly we can use social media links (Such as Twitter Stuart) to direct readers to the page the book is offered at. It’s also possible to optimize site web pages so that they will be indexed by search engines. I’ve written blogs on that but they come with a ‘technical stuff’ warning.

I have published four books with Lulu and never made a nickel. Yet I see all four titles on the Internet all the time. What gives?

to get best Author revenue send your print book to Shopify and your ebook to amazon , is it well?

You make good points but when you say this:
“Some authors are . . . using the notoriety and ease of Amazon’s shopping to entice buyers. Regardless, the last thing anyone should be doing is directing their reader (or would-be reader) to a different site to buy their book.”
I think you are missing something that matters in book selling. Amazon not only has the traffic, it has developed credibility over the years as a first stop book seller. People feel comfortable because Amazon has a great fulfillment track record and a robust, professional looking site. If one wants to sell one’s books to more than friends and relatives one needs that sort of platform. You can’t expect to sell a lot of books in most cases by creating and using your own website, at least not until you have the public profile that prompts people to seek YOU out. Getting that kind of profile depends a lot on the demand you can generate which significant sales on amazon demonstrate, Absent that, you are stuck in a rut.
Perhaps your link with Shopify will prove itself as a way to circumvent the amazon monopoly claim on the book buying public but I am not very sanguine about it.
If we want to develop presence in the marketplace for books we have to have it on places where the marketplace happens, like Amazon.com. And yes, they do take a huge portion of the profits. That’s the downside to selling through them. But the upside is that they ARE the big gorilla on today’s block and, unfortunately, it looks like they will remain so for the foreseeable future unless innovators like Lulu can find the crack in their amour through which to leverage a platform that can compete.

Tutto troppo difficile per me seguire un percorso per il mio lavoro – ci sto provando Nadia Masello

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