- 30-34% of all ebooks sold are self-published.
- 300 million self-published books are sold each year.
- $1.25 billion worth of self-published books is sold each year.
- Amazon pays $520 million in royalties to self-published authors each year.
- Only 1% of audiobooks on Audible are self-published.
- 67% of top-rated, self-published books are written by women, compared to just 39% of traditionally published books.
- The global publishing market is expected to grow at 1% CAGR per year, whereas the self-publishing market is expected to grow at 17%.
- The number of self-published books has increased by 264% in the last five years.
The market for self-published books
- 300 million self-published books are sold each year.
- The number of self-published books has increased by 264% in the last five years.
- $1.25 billion worth of self-published books is sold each year.
- The average self-published book sells for $4.16.
How much do self-published authors earn per book?
- Self-publishing platforms pay up to 70% of each book sold to authors (fantasy authors get between 40% and 60%).
- Self-published authors do not receive an advance and have to put up the costs of publishing and advertising themselves.
- Independent authors who sell their books on their own websites receive up to 96%.
- 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.
- More than 1,000 self-published authors made $100,000 last year from Amazon.
- Of authors who have published their first book in the last 10 years:
- 1,200 traditionally published authors have earned $25,000+ a year
- 1,600 self-published authors have earned $25,000+ a year
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Self-published ebook statistics
- 30-34% of all ebooks sold are self-published.
- Amazon pays $250 million in royalties to self-published authors each year.
- 85% of Kindle Unlimited books are self-published.
- Self-published books account for 31% of Amazon’s ebook sales.
Do self-published authors own the rights to their books if they are published on Amazon?
- When selling an ebook on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, an author licenses the right to sell an ebook to Amazon.
- This means Amazon and only Amazon has the right to sell the digital version of the book.
- An author cannot sell the ebook version of their book elsewhere — not even on their own website.
- The only way to do so is to cancel the contract by written notice.
- The book can be sold in other formats (e.g. print or audio) in other places.